Inertia

I am getting older.  Yes I know with this youthful appearance it is unbelievable but it is true.  It occurred to me this afternoon what may be one of my biggest enemies – inertia.
I am really good at staring off meaningfully into the middle distance.  We have measured up the front, got the sleepers and cut and painted them.  But they are just sitting there waiting to be moved into position.  Have been for weeks.  Today we got pavers to support the car at the end of the carport.  Doing it Thursday seems good to us.
I have places to go, things to do and people to see but when I am not doing anything it is too easy to do nothing.  Which is the exact meaning of inertia “a tendency to do nothing.”  I guess it is not quite true that I do nothing, but once I have done stuff it is easy for me to do.
I appreciate that as I get older, I may not have the physical prowess I once did.  It amazes me how easy I cramp up or get an injury these days.  It is not how it used to be.  The fact I am getting older really came home to me when we played indoor soccer.  I was cactus in no time.  The younger ones just ran and kept running.  I am sure I would be much better if they would just stand still.  In table tennis I hit what I think are winners and they come back and they are not supposed to.  Younger ones seem to get better despite not practicing, but I need to practice just to stay the same.
Another example of inertia is in physics - “resistance to change in some other physical property.”  The example given is the sea showing an initial lack of change in temperature despite rises in temperature.  I guess that is why on the news the sea temperature is lower than is expected early in Spring, and warmer than expected in early Autumn.
Inertia comes from a Latin word “iners” which means “idle, sluggish.”  I do try to avoid idleness.  I find I get up to the most mischief if I am idle.  Depressed people tend to want to avoid doing anything, yet what is most needed is the exact opposite.
When mum passed away, I asked to go back to work early.  Now that did not happen often, but I felt I needed to be doing something rather than thinking all the time about my loss.
For me inertia is not the same as getting away and getting inspired and pumped up to do something.  I need time to think and plan.  But when I am suffering from inertia, I tend to work out ways to avoid doing anything – despite my experience that that is not good for me.  One of the best pieces of advice I got was “never make a decision when you are down.”
My experience is it is always better to do something than nothing.  It may just be reading or doing something in the yard.  Anything really to avoid an empty brain that too easily fills with rubbish.