29. Inertia
Inertia :
- Noun: a tendency to do nothing or to remain unchanged
- Physics: a property of matter by which it continues in its existing state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line, unless that state is changed by an external force
o Oxford dictionary online remain unchanged
Health habits and lifestyle changes usually come when an external force disrupts our inertia. For me, that force was the COVID 19 pandemic + having a baby, my 3rd.
It wasn’t that I got sick from the COVID19 virus, in fact no one closest to me did. My work as a hospital-based psychiatrist went along as normally as could be expected, aside from obvious logistic adaptations. Still, I continued driving to work each day, while others were stranded at home. My kids were too young for public school, and our childcare provider generously came to our house every day as usual.
What struck me about the pandemic was our collective willingness to and commitment to accept our unnatural relationship with the animals we raise for food. Regardless of the exact origin of the COVID 19 vines, we know it is a zoonotic disease, meaning it jumped from non-human animal to humans.
Most of the animals we eat or derive various products from (milk, eggs, leather, cosmetics, etc.) are raised in cramped, dirty, uncomfortable conditions. This is an uncomfortable truth. They typically meet violent deaths. Agriculture has not always been this dramatic, but the number of humans on Earth, and our increasing demands for these products at low cost has pushed animal agriculture to the brink.
But I digress. After opening my mind to these realities while simultaneously learning that we do not need to consume animals, rather it is better not to for our own health, pushed me into the world of plant-based eating and eventually living as free from animal exploitation as possible. As a result, I am healthier and live with incredible peace of mind, having reduced one form of violence from my life.
Inertia is powerful. If we know better and want to live better, it will require applying force to our habits. Like gravity bringing down a ball that has been thrown in a straight line, the process of changing course will likely take continued application of effort and time before the ball hits the ground, or the animals are left out of the equation of human consumption. I take pleasure and have fun applying this pressure daily toward a worthy goal of self-improvement. By improving myself, I can bring more light to those around me.
Do you want to make a change, but you’re not sure how to start? Any force will do something. Imagine making a tiny change now and projecting a few years out to your future self. How might a tiny force applied now change your future?