Something weird happened to me this morning. I found myself on Instagram scrolling through reels explaining certain concepts in physics, and I happened upon the concept of gravity. This is what the concept talks about.
Gravity does not care about weight. The reason why a feather and a bowling ball will not fall at the same speed is because of Air Resistance. The mass and composition of the ball makes it less susceptible to air, while the feather, due to its composition and structure, is more susceptible to air resistance, causing it to fall at a slower speed than the ball even though they face the same amount of gravitational pull. In the video, the air was completely removed from the room and the same test was carried out again. This time, the ball and the feather fell at the same speed and hit the ground at almost exactly the same time. This got me thinking.
Is our potential actually the problem?
Because if you think about it, life gives everyone the same fundamental pull towards growth. We all have the same desire to be more than we are that’s the urge to rise, to improve, to love, to create and to evolve. But the difference between us is not talent, or luck, or favour.
The difference is RESISTANCE.
Just like the feather has to move through air resistance before hitting the floor, we too have to move through resistance, in the form of fear of failure and judgement, trauma caused by our troubled past, overthinking and procrastination, the need for validation, and unnecessary comparisons with others. Some people are not favoured by the Gods, or luckier, or more gifted than others. They simply carry less resistance.
Look back at anyone you admire. A mentor, an idol, or at the very least someone you want to become. If you study their life story closely enough, you will notice there was always a turning point, a moment where they stood at a crossroads and decided that things would be different from that day forward. They did not suddenly receive more talent or more time. They simply chose to put down what was weighing them down.
Going back to our concept, the bowling ball is not more deserving than the feather. It simply experiences less resistance.
So I would disagree when someone says you are not where you want to be because you lack motivation, or talent, or energy. We do not rise by pushing harder. We rise when we let go of the resistance that is holding us back.
Think about a rocket. It does not reach the stratosphere by carrying everything it launched with. At each stage of its journey, it sheds a part of itself the fuel tanks goes first, then goes the boosters, all the weight it no longer needs, because what got it off the ground is not what will take it to the stars. And we are no different. The version of you that survived your past was necessary. But that same version- the fear, the self-doubt, the need for approval, may be the very thing preventing you from reaching where you are going next. We do not need more fuel. We just need to shed some of the weight.
If you feel like you are moving slower than you should be, like you are behind in life. It does not mean gravity is not working for you. It means you are still moving through resistance. And that resistance can be cleared.
Gravity never stopped working on the feather. It was always pulling it down. The only thing slowing it down was the air resistance. And in life, the same force that pulls others forward is pulling us too.
Your job is not to become heavier. Your job is to become freer
