The great physicist, Isaac Newton had very beautifully highlighted an amazing philosophy of life in his 1st Law of Motion. It reads, ‘Anything at Rest will continue to be at rest and anything in Motion will continue to be in motion, until and unless it is acted upon by an External Force’. This law revolutionized the entire field of mechanics but its relevance in human lives is far deeper than what normally appears to naked eyes.
Moments of Inertia
When every single object on earth obeys this law, then how can the most amazing creation of nature be an exception to it. Yes, we human beings too are affected by it. No, the effect is not only physical. Inertia has its impacts way beyond the field of physics. ‘Phycological Inertia’ is a reality. We do feel it at every walk of our lives, but knowingly or unknowingly we tend to overlook it. Inertia is nothing but a resistance to change. And, our minds are quite aware of its significance. We can sense it every morning when we try to adopt a habit of morning-walk, as a Change. We can sense it every time we try to inculcate a habit of healthy eating by giving away the junk-foods, as a Change. Not only these, the effect of Inertia can be felt every single time whenever we think of changing a job, or moving to a new city, or opting a new course. Human mind tends to resist the change every time it senses ‘Any Eminent Change in the Way of Living’. As our societies, communities and countries are comprised of nothing but we individuals, inherently these too are not fond of radical changes, be it a deviation from their own culture and tradition or an option to adopt good practices non-native to them. So, what is the missing link here? It is the External Force.
Beauty of Relativity
A famous ghazal in Urdu language briefly translates to – “If it provides a cold comfort to your heart, the false thought; no matter how bad it is, is not bad at all”. It goes without saying that more often than not, we restrict our thoughts, our actions and our reactions on the basis of several ‘self-comforting-fabrications’ that we have construed in our minds. Deep down even if we are aware that such notions are restricting our advancement at large, we timidly accept those as our fate. This is nothing but yet another seed of Inertia. While Relativity plays a huge role in its germination, the Frame of Reference acts as a catalyst to the entire process. Let’s have one simple example to understand this complex phenomenon. At some point of our lives or the other, we all have travelled in trains. Ever noticed how do we gauge the speed of a running train? One cannot judge the speed of a train while sitting inside any of its closed compartment. For appreciating its speed, either one has to look outside through the windows or has to get down from the train to have a look on it. The inability of making a judgement of speed is due to Relativity and the subsequent resolutions by looking out of windows or getting down from train are the acts of switching the Frame of Reference.
Pursuit of Motion
Phenomenon of relativity is applicable to our lives too. We all are travelling in our individual trains of life. The speed of train is analogous to the progress of our lives. If we keep ourselves settled in closed compartments (read self-comforting-fabrications) assuming that our train (read life) is moving at nice and high speed (read progress), quite obviously we would miss-out on much needed efforts to enhance its speed. This becomes more dangerous if in actuality it is crawling at snail’s pace and we are unaware of it. So, to alter the motion of our lives, we are required to break the shackles of inertia. To break the shackles of inertia, we need to look out of the windows i.e. change our frame of reference and compare ourselves with changing and progressing world. But, why are not we readily doing the that. What is the missing link here? It is the External Force.
Probing the Missing Link
As a matter of fact, flora and fauna face extreme difficulty in accepting any form of change. They are highly inertial to alteration in their habitats, their surroundings, their food, and their climate. But, it is equally true that they do not need to pursue progressiveness for survival, as much as we human do. Human beings are slightly more flexible to changes as compared to other forms of life on earth. So, it is quite obvious to conclude that the difference lies in education and awareness that emboldens us with this perspective.
The biggest problem that we are facing now days is the ‘sense of denial’ inside our minds. Not only we love our state of ‘Rest’ but also, we keep convincing ourselves that we are actually moving at good pace and life is so good. All this is happening because we are missing the cue of relativity and getting trapped in our own frame of reference. The absence of requisite external force in form of proper awareness further adds to this conundrum. If we feel that life is so easy, quite possibly we are not challenging ourselves at all. State of Rest is not our destiny. Progressiveness shall be our way of life. All we need to do is to keep educating our minds and keep refreshing our thoughts with recent advancements happening across the globe. Education is the External Force that will help us getting rid of Inertia. Awareness is the External Force that will enable us changing our Frame of Reference. Let us embrace this Force and race on the track of self-improvements. Let us seek new changes and run on the path of progressiveness. Let us be the individuals we are destined to be.
– Nupur
