I just got off the phone with Kim and our conversation made me realize something. I've always complained that I'm lazy, that I'm never motivated to do anything in particular. However, that doesn't explain why I do things like writing an optional honors thesis and doing a year of nearly full-time unpaid lab work, or devoting my free time in college to things like PSP, or getting off my ass to go to Japan.
I've decided that I have a lot of inertia; it's not a matter of laziness at all.
In physics, inertia is defined as being: the tendency of a body to resist acceleration; the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest or of a body in straight line motion to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force (acceleration being the rate of change in the movement of the said object).
In laymans terms, inertia measures how much an object that is standing will want to continue standing still, or that a moving object will want to keep moving. A parked car has a lot of inertia. As does a car in neutral coasting down a hill. I think that this anaolgy applies to me perfectly. Once I get my mind set on something, it's difficult for me to stop or let it go or just take it easy. All my life I've been the runaway car. But in Japan, I find myself having come to a complete stop and I find it very difficult to apply enough force to get me moving again. It's going to take quite a bit of motivation for me to overcome my inertia and get a move on with my life.
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