Inertia

Inertia. The first law of motion, stating that an object at rest stays at rest, and an object in motion stays in motion with the same speed and in the same direction unless acted upon by an external force.

If a ball stays at rest, it will not move. If a ball is rolling down a hill, it will keep rolling, at the same speed, in the same direction, until some external force, like friction or an obstacle blocking its way, makes it stop.

Human lives are also subject to inertia. When people choose to do nothing, the world doesn’t change. And when we do start something, it keeps rolling on and on, building momentum like a snowball. Here’s a story of inertia, how things can never change, and how things can keep changing.

A girl gets on a coach, heading to the airport. She’s tired and distracted, stuffing her bag in the overhead rack before sitting down with a sigh. A guy boards the coach too, and sits just behind her. He’s on the phone to his dad, telling him he’ll be home in a few hours. The girl overhears the conversation and smiles, as she’s heading to the airport to pick her mum up. She looks for her mobile phone to check the arrival time again, but her phone is nowhere to be seen. 

She panics, and starts rummaging around her handbag and coat pockets again and again, but to no avail. She checks her backpack in the overhead rack, still no phone. As her tears threaten to fall, she checks under her seat to see if her phone was there, and turns around to the guy behind her, asking: “Could you please check under your seat if my phone is there, I can’t seem to find it.” The guy, just finishing his phone conversation, immediately checks and looks around, but no phone was in sight. As he tells this to the girl, he notices her red watery eyes and her distress.

Inertia. If he had left it at there, this story ends just like that. The girl doesn’t find her phone, she cries silently, and nothing changes. The ball stays at rest.

However, an external force starts the ball rolling. He asks her: “Do you want me to call your phone and see if you can hear it ring?” She was so relieved at the offer, and gives her phone number to him. He dials, and at first they hear nothing. He tries again, and she hears a faint sound from the gap between the seats, and finds her phone. She cries in happiness, and thanks him profusely. They smile at each other, and he’s happy to have done a good deed.

Inertia. The ball keeps rolling.

She found her phone, and manages to call her mother at the airport, who had arrived early and didn’t know that her daughter was coming to pick her up as it was a surprise. If she hadn’t found her phone, that girl and her mum would likely have missed each other at the airport, and another sad event would have occurred. That one good deed has spread the happiness and spared two people from unhappiness.

Inertia. The ball keeps rolling.

The girl tells the story of the guy on the coach to her mum, and her mum insists on sending a message to the guy to thank him. She sends a thank you message, and he replies. That conversation somehow lengthened, and they became friends. He told her that he’d gone home and taken some time off because he couldn’t cope with life in university, and it turns out they went to the same university but different courses. She becomes a really good friend, and thanks to her support, he goes back to university, and they graduate in the same year.

That guy is now my husband. On the day of our wedding, he gave me a framed print of my thank you message, the one I sent him all those years ago. “This was the message that started it all, this is where our story started. This time, it’s my turn to thank you, for choosing me, and we’ll continue our story together from now on”.

Inertia. Our story is still going on, like the ball that keeps rolling, until the external force called death comes and parts us. In every moment of life, we hold the power to change the lives of people around us, we all own a force that can decide whether the world changes or stays the same. Love, kindness, and empathy can move people in the right directions; every good deed keeps going on and on, spreading like ripples. Don’t let the forces of anger, selfishness and envy stop the ripples. As long as we keep those ripples going strong, we can make the world a happier place, if only just by a little bit. 

A wise fool

The professor asked: "Does anyone NOT know the answer to this question?" 

I raised my hand. 

I was the only one who did. Everyone else stared; I heard a few snickering. 

I kept my hand straight in the air, and my head held high. The professor sneered and said:"Why do you look so proud to be the only one who doesn't know?" 

I answered: "I am not ashamed to be ignorant because I have the courage to seek knowledge. I pity those who are ignorant and remain so out of shame, and I pray that God may give courage to them. I pray that God bless those who are knowledgeable and give such knowledge to others freely just because they wish others to be knowledgeable too. And most of all, I pray that God forgive those who are knowledgeable, yet they look down upon the ignorant who wish to learn, and take foolish pride in their knowledge."

Silence reigned in the room.

"A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be a fool." -William Shakespeare

A Diagnosis of Love (for medics)

A patient comes in complaining of palpitations and dyspnoea (shortness of breath). She also mentions that occasionally she gets chest pains (stabbing pleuritic pain). 

Past medical history: Had asthma in childhood, but has been well for the past 3 years with an occasional attack once a year. 

Drug history: None. Tried paracetamol for the pain but didn't help. 

Family and social history: Lives alone, working as a nurse. No major illnesses in family. 

On examination, she is tachycardic (130/min), but otherwise fit and well. No other signs is observed. During history taking, she mentions that her palpitations get worse when she is with a certain person or talking to that person, and her chest pain worsens when that person looks happy with someone else.

Diagnosis: LOVE.

Treatment: ?

Doorknob

He has the most peculiar nose. It's really long, but it doesn't grow straight forward, it bends over to the right. His skin colour is very nice though, a sort of burnished coppery gold. 

He's not very young, probably as old as his house, and the years that have passed have left their marks on him, dulling his radiant complexion, but he insists to remain useful to others despite his age. 

He may seem cold at first, but once you get a firm grasp on him, he'll warm up to you quickly. He doesn't talk much, as if he's got a lock on his mouth, but his funny little nose can twist up and down, and that always makes me chuckle a little, so he's quite a pleasant man to be around.

Who is this "he" I'm talking about?

My Doorknob.

Shower

I stood there, every muscle in my body rigid, almost snapping under the tension. 

I could hear the blood pounding in my ears. 

Every drop of water falling sounded like a meteor hitting the ground. 

Every second felt like eternity. 

I took a deep breath. I knew I couldn't stay there forever. 

It was a risky move, and I knew that one small mistake could mean death, but there was no choice. It's now or never, I told myself. 

Screwing my eyes shut, in a flurry of movement I simultaneously pressed the off button and literally vaulted out of the tub into my towel. 

Bracing myself and gathering my courage, I did it.

I got out of the shower.

(P.S. Only people suffering from the freezing cold weather will understand this. My dear Malaysian family and friends, you can stop scratching your head.)

Tinted Glasses

I wish i could see myself from outside myself, to see what i look like from other people's eyes. But then, I would still be me, and I would judge me based on my own biases, which won't help. 

To truly know what other people think of me when they see me, I would need to see not just through their eyes, but through their minds: through their beliefs,biases,principles,experiences and standards. 

Only then I can truly know what they see when they see me. 

It's a scary thought at times, and makes me want to hide, because I fear what they may see. But then again, God sees me always, and sees me as I am. That can be the scariest thought of all, and could be the best thought of all. 

Lonely Imaginations

I always thank my imagination for keeping me company when I'm travelling alone. It makes even the mundane feel magical.

Going through a long dark tunnel in a train makes me feel like I'm floating in the darkness of outer space heading towards an unknown galaxy, like in Miyazawa's book "Night on the Galactic Railroad".

Being the only one awake in a bus (along with the driver, I hope :P) while everyone is asleep reminds me of a scene in an anime I once saw where an entire city fell asleep and only the heroes were awake fighting the enemy, and makes me feel like one of the heroes.

Watching the scenery go by while listening to the soundtrack song from a drama I love brings back my favourite scenes in my head, like my own personal TV running in my mind, putting a smile on my lips.

So as Kelly Clarkson's song says, "Doesn't mean I'm lonely when I'm alone"

On another note about loneliness:

Why do people get lonely? Because there is someone whose company they love and yearn for more than their own company. If there is no such person, then you don't get lonely. Theoretically speaking.

“Nobody likes being alone that much. I don't go out of my way to make friends, that's all. It just leads to disappointment. ”
― Haruki Murakami (one of my favourite authors) in Norwegian Wood

mile emoticon