A Porsche With Brakes

Being intelligently unstoppable

Not to be able to stop thinking is an affliction, but we don’t realize this because almost everybody is suffering from it. — Eckhart Tolle

(The thing in the image couldn’t be a Porsche, sorry ’bout that!)

1st law of motion? Does anyone recall that law? I apologize to you for bringing Physics here. But trust me, it’s beyond doubts relevant here.

My first law of motion, also known as the law of inertia, states that an object at rest will stay at rest and an object in motion will stay in motion with the same speed and direction unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. I also hate you guys for not studying my laws well back in school! 😖 —Sir Isaac Newton

Much obliged, Newton sir!

The Inertia Of The Mind

Although Newton never linked his 1st law of motion with the human mind, we can. Since there’s a special relationship between the two.

Once I start, I don’t feel like stopping! I feel Unstoppable!
Once I stop, it takes a lot of willpower for me to retract!

These are the two statements which we hear many times from ourselves.

Once the work gets in motion, it needs a greater external force to stand against the flow. And once the work comes to rest, it again needs a larger force to overcome inactivity.

Why?

Our minds’ have such a forceful flow of action or stagnation, that we find it hard to stand against it. Like a rock.

I have this inertia syndrome in me. Once I sit over the laptop, I find it hard to get up and take a break.

Getting your body to move isn’t tough. But breaking a thought chain could get nerve-racking at times.

I just can’t disconnect myself from what I’m writing or what I’m doing. I can’t afford to take a break. And it has been labeled as losing time.

I turn so compulsive, that I grow unaware of the uncomfortable posture I’ve been sitting in. My head bending down into the screen. My eyes having a burning sensation. My fingers becoming sore after an hour of typing.

But I don’t stop.

Taking a break

As work is important for your survival, so is rest for a peaceful mind. — Unknown

Get it?

The above quote says it all for this subtopic.

Taking a break is beyond doubt important for a healthy and peaceful mind.

Only a mind that is peaceful and healthy can create quality.

My father has always encouraged us to take breaks. I never understood why was he after us on this thing? After all, wouldn’t taking breaks make us lazy?

But I never paid attention to what he said,

“Don’t work too much at a stretch, take a break. But don’t make a break too long that you can’t get to work.”

When he used to ask us to take a break, behind it was his two-fold intentions. One was to break our mental streams. And the other was to make us more aware.

To take breaks at intervals, you need to be aware enough of your work and body. When you’re lost in your mind, it is tough to break out of it. So taking breaks was supposed to cultivate our awareness.

The second advantage of awareness is that you’re able to step out of your mental stream. And then check whether there’s any trash flowing in it.

I’ve experienced this a number of times. When I interrupt my mental stream and come after a break, I get to see what I was writing. Was it just simple blabbering of thoughts, or am I adding any meaning?

So I add a little mark that will remind me to edit this part. Since the first draft is supposed to be uninterrupted!

Why is editing after a day or so useful? Because we are in a fresh perspective and out of the old mental stream. This allows us to rethink. And not just rethink, but do it with a fresh mindset.

Conclusion

Once we start our Porsche, it gets tougher and tougher to put a brake on it.

Once we start thinking, we can’t stop thinking. Once we start writing, we can’t stop writing. Once we start watching television, we can’t stop watching.

The inertia is sucking out all the quality from us.

In a musical band that I’ve joined, I take a break whenever I get tired. People around me coax to play, but I stay as I am. I just give them a gentle smile, so that they don’t feel offended, but I stay firm.

“I’ve got to make coffee. And then breakfast. Oh right, I forgot to trash those files. I’ll do that. Yes, yes. Come on. Oh shit! That toast! Oh dammit. I’ve got to keep a fresh one now. Now, WHERE’S THAT PACKET OF BREAD!? Wait, I’ll eat pretzels instead.”

This is just an example of how our minds keep instilling hurry into us. And we keep hurrying. Denying every situation to take a break.

So if you need one of those 👇, take them. And take them time and again!

Take a chill pill!


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13 thoughts on “A Porsche With Brakes

  1. Really enjoyed what you wrote! I love the “breaking it up” format. It fits the theme of your message. Great work – can’t wait to see more!

  2. I absolutely love this article! This weekend, I had been digging so deeply uncovering layers upon layers of research for a study that I’m working on that I had to pull my daughter in to keep me from getting lost in there. She gave me a fresh perspective and helped me focus and declutter in order keep from taking the Dr I’m writing this for down the rabbit hole. She showed me how to wade through and whittle down my rough draft in order for it to be more effective. If I hadn’t taken a break, I would have produced a thick document that would probably never been read or taken seriously.

      1. Well, it was an experiment. I wanted to test your thesis. I noticed something about myself; set it in motion, if you like. Then I sent a message about it to you. When you replied I checked if I still had a shoulder ache. I did not. The thing that had been set in motion stopped all by itself. Inertia took a break.
        I notice that a good many things are cyclical. How does this fit in with your thesis?

      2. Well…Nice experiment…but I still don’t have a complete understanding…(really sorry about that) I got your conclusion. But I couldn’t understand your experiment. If you don’t mind, can we get over the mail to discuss this? I’d be more than happy to welcome a fresh perspective! Here’s my email address…

        aspiringauthor830@gmail.com

        Thanks for keeping patience…

      3. 🙂 No – I don’t do DM, sorry.
        If it helps, perhaps we can both just pretend that I said: “great article, thanks for sharing!” 😉

  3. Ouch! So no more tunnel vision for 10 hours, eh? Thank you for the good read and advice. I must keep it close to my mind and heart! (Taking a break…NOW) 😉

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