Inertia

"The vis insita, or innate force of matter is a power of resisting, by which every body, as much as in it lies, endeavors to preserve in its present state, whether it be of rest, or of moving uniformly forward in a straight line."

Have you ever considered how hard it is to change?

New Year's Resolutions come to mind.  Loosing weight, quiting smoking, paying off debt.  All worthy goals, but somehow or other we get side tracked.  By a really good piece of Coca Cola Chocolate Cake (guilty, last night, it was soooooo yum!); a stressful moment where only a  ciggerette will calm you down; those really pretty colors of soft yarn begging to be a sweater (don't even get me started with the bead store, I get into so much trouble at the bead store).  We get side tracked by our inertia. 

Newton's First Law of Motion states "an object will always continue moving at its current speed and in its current direction until some force causes its speed or direction to change".  In the natural world the forces acting against inertia are friction and gravitiy. Unlike objects, we humans "create" our own inertia in changing our habits or situations. Like objects, we have forces acting against the inertia we wish to create or direction we wish to pursue, our habits.

Habits are a known entity, like old friends or comfy socks.  And they are always there ready to make us feel better (the cake was really yum!).  But are they good for us?

I want to be kinder to people, but I find I'm fighting my own habit of flippancy in situations where I'm too comfortable.  I'm noticing a trend in my personal friendships of trivializing the life experiences of others in order to appear more worldly. Being funny or silly to fit in isn't always the best policy.

Nor is being frustrated when I have to repeat myself in a conversation. I suppose this may come from paying strict attention to others as I grew up so I could fit in, but I really hate having to repeat myself. I get the impression that the person asking me to repeat myself wasn't interested enough to listen the first time. Perhaps I should take it more to mean what I'm saying is important enough not to be missed. And there is the fact that I talk a lot.

I guess I'm saying change is hard. Its really hard. Perhaps that's why the espression "the more things change the more they stay the same" is so true. Because real change is hard.

And Peace today requires a real change in our Gobal inertia (okay, I had to tie it in, I haven't talked Peace in months). I'm trying to start by being kinder. Thinking before I open my mouth (or send that text/email).

Be seein' ya! Peace!