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It’s a physical
law, and now a cliché as well, that an object at rest tends to stay at rest,
and an object in motion tends to stay in motion---unless acted upon by some
outside influence of course. But what many of us may not realize is that
Newton’s First Law of Motion explains more than just physics, it explains the
couch potato phenomenon and why, if we want something done, we should give it to
a busy person. On every plane of existence---physical, mental and
spiritual---everything tends to keep doing what it’s doing. If what
we’re doing makes us happy, then this law works in our favor. But like
all laws of the universe, inertia is neutral and works whether we’re happy or
not. This is why when we’re in overdrive it can be hard to slow down,
and when we’re in a slump it can be overwhelming to try something new even
though we desperately want a change. But again, like all laws of the
universe, it’s much more effective to work with inertia than to fight against
it.
How do we do this?
One way is to wait for some outside influence to kick us into gear, like a kid
slumped over watching cartoons until Mom or Dad makes us turn off the TV and go
outside to play. But the downside is that we have to wait to
be fired to look for a better job, or wait till we develop an ulcer before
making time to relax. Intelligent beings that we are, we don’t need an
outside force to change our course, we can do it ourselves. Newton’s
First Law tells us that we tend to follow the familiar. So the trick to
embarking on something new is to get familiar with it first. Read about
it, imagine what it would be like to have it or be it, face all those "what’s
the worst that could happen" scenarios until they’ve lost some of their
bite. When we take our attention off of our unsatisfying situation and
become more comfortable with our new direction, we are no longer slaves to
inertia. Instead, we’re free to allow this great law to take
us where we want to go.
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