Newton’s first law of motion states that an object in motion will continue to move in the same direction and speed unless acted upon by an outside force. This tendency to resist a change in motion is called inertia. Mass is a measurement of how much matter an object has, but it can also be thought of as the measurement of an object’s inertia—the more massive an object, the more inertia it has, and therefore a greater force is required to make a change in its motion.
Sometimes, people get stuck moving in the same direction for a period of time. They keep repeating the same mistakes over and over again, even when they don’t want to and would rather things be different. Over time, they have accumulated this rather large mass of baggage, emotional or otherwise, and now they can’t seem to muster up enough force to counteract the resulting inertia. They seem to be careening down a path leading to infinity, stuck with no way to turn back.
Sometimes, all we need is a little shove.