Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. This is the most heard and most talked-about law of Newton. My science teacher explained it very interestingly in school. Friends also gave some interesting examples of it while the other two principles were found boring and difficult to memorise. For a ghokante (one who mugs up books) like me, the first law of motion (of inertia) as defined by Newton was super-boring.
Newton’s first law states that if a body is at rest, it will remain at rest unless acted by an external force and if a body is in motion, it will remain in motion unless acted by an external force. Almost two decades of coming across this principle, in the last few months, I have been repeatedly encountering what I called the boring principle of Newton in my everyday life. I mean I am able to understand the logic behind the principle of inertia of rest and motion but differently than how my science teacher and Newton described it. And, this has given me unprecedented strength.
Internal inertia
I can clearly notice that the principle behind inertia of rest and motion exactly fits into my state of mental and emotional well-being. My day-to-day energy largely rests on these two principles. For instance, when I have no energy, I tend to be in a state of lack of energy for a continuous period; it is the inertia of rest. The beginning of an energy-less phase takes away my smile and ultimately lowers my self-confidence. I find everyone neglecting me without my fault.
The low zone stays with me for a longer time. However, the best part is, it does not stay forever. The end of the energy-less phase marks the beginning of the energetic phase upon arrival of an intrinsic wake-up call. Once I get such a call, I am energetic, active and productive for some time, aligning with the principle of inertia of motion.
This phase is optimistic, confident, overwhelmingly beautiful and is all about self-worth. The intrinsic wake-up call is sometimes from the inner self, upon realising the self-worth and most of the time from the outer world when you encounter someone with the same wavelength as yours and radiating positive energy.
As I land in this phase and turn back to the days when I felt neglected and broken apart, I realise that ups and downs are parts of life and you have to appreciate it, but most of the time, I fail. To be honest, it is very difficult. Apart from feeling energetic and energy-less, I feel in between too but rarely. My experience says, it rarely happens after you enter 30, usually, you feel either high or low or very high or very low.
Turning inertia into strength
But, these days, I am trying to build up my awareness in understanding the type of inertia I am going through. Being able to recognise the state of mental and emotional inertia is my strength. I have known that the feeling of lowness stays over a longer period of time than the other one and I cannot avoid feeling low completely. Like people say, nothing is permanent, everything changes except the word ‘change’ itself, and so, I believe this phase will too.
Having reached a stage in life when you can recognise such a clue from within to wake up yourself, you cannot put yourself low for longer hours. That would be a form of self-punishment or self-harm. Recognise it as soon as you can and wake up from your lows. Also, I do not try to escape the low phase, but try to prolong my energetic days because once you are in motion, you will try to be in motion.
Nowadays, I am not a big fan of Newton’s third principle. I do not want to give an equal and opposite reaction upon receiving any action. I observe, analyse and act, if necessary. Cheers!
