Gravity

There is a reason why we don’t get to fly like eagles, and its not just wings, there is a reason why the highest an average male can jump is only up to 19.5 inches high. There is a reason why we are stuck on the surface of the earth and its simple- gravity. According to Newton, Gravity exists between any two bodies in the universe, be it a me and the computer I’m writing on, you and the device you and the device you are reading from, you and a star you have never thought about, the list goes on.  Gravity is a natural force and we’ve become accustomed to it that we don’t notice it.

            When I think of gravity, I think of circumstance.  Like gravity, circumstances are always directed downwards. Most people like to use the metaphor ‘as free as a bird’ and it clearly indicates our love for freedom. No one likes being forced around, it’s the reason there are many conventions to promote freedom. I believe it’s human nature to want to soar, and it’s also very natural to have circumstances blocking the way. There are far too many people who give up on their dreams with the excuse that there was no other option, or that they were so caught up. Well, guess what? It happens to everyone and it doesn’t have to be a hindrance.

            Isaac Newton discovered the universal law of gravitation when the university he was studying (University of Cambridge) was temporarily closed due to plague. I’m sure most people would use this opportunity to chill at home; Newton saw this as an opportunity to answer questions that had for a long time troubled his brain. Just a few months ago I learned that Neil Armstrong- the first man on the moon, learnt piloting lessons even before he knew how to drive a car. That’s what I call the extra leap.

            Rockets are fascinating machines, the only machines so far that can escape the earth’s gravity. They have become our vehicles to the rest of the universe and they don’t do that by submitting to gravity but by using lots and lots of energy to overcome it; the same way we should be overcoming circumstance.  In the long end, it’s the little extra that makes us extraordinary.

             “Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius — and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.”
― E.F. Schumacher.