Inertia

Why do people say no? Why are people always reluctant to change? Why is it that we don’t share the same vision of success? Why are people so quick to judge new ideas, immediately label them as failures? I don’t know what philosophers have to say about it but I do know what physics has to say. Inertia: it is the tendency of objects to remain in whatever state they are in. When Galileo Galilei defined inertia he left out the part that not only do objects but also humans have inertia.

           

            Galileo is probably the one person who knows exactly how scary human inertia get.  For him it means standing up for the truth even if religious authorities oppose it. When everyone was comfortable with the earth being the centre of the universe, he dared proclaim that we were actually revolving around the sun.  He had to endure threats, bans and house arrest for the rest of his life. That’s just how ugly inertia will get. The silver lining is that its 600 years down the line and heliocentrism is kindergarten science. J .K Rowling was turned down by many publishers, because they thought no one would be interested in a magical world. She kept trying and now it’s a decade of Hogwarts school  of wizardry and witchcraft.

            People always say no, and it doesn’t mean they are bad people. It’s just human nature. We all fear the unknown. We follow routines because they are familiar and hence easy. No risk is involved. It takes time until new ideas sink in and these ideas will be supported only with persistence. Yes, when people say no, it doesn’t mean they are bad people; they just want reassurance that you mean it. They just want to be sure that you have overcome the fear and are ready to take whatever comes your way. You need a force, a very good reason to break inertia and get it moving.

            Someone once said, “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.”  I don’t know who he/she is but I do know that he/she is familiar with inertia – lots of it. So, the next time you get rejection letters just know you have some convincing to do. You can live with success, but what you can’t live with are ‘What ifs’. It’s time to overcome inertia.