Time, Patience, and Momentum

 
There never seems to be enough time no matter what you are doing or where you are. Leo Tolstoy writes in his popular novel War and Peace, “The strongest of all warriors are these two — Time and Patience.” Leo Tolstoy was referring to the war tactics of the Russian General Kutuzov to engage with Napoleon’s troops at the Battle of Borodino 200 years ago. It was a blood-soaked ground as several thousand died on both sides. Unlike the game of chess, in war a pawn is more powerful than the knights because each fighting man is a strong-spirited person. Although the Russian army was outnumbered and savagely attacked, with time and patience it survived to fight again and finally drove Napoleon out of Russia.
Patience can be truly vexatious. Patience is hard and needs a lot of practice. Patience is like having a strong spirit to stick to your guns, trust your instincts, and hope that things will work out in the end. If we rush to a decision, it might probably have negative consequences. Time is a valuable asset that we have. The best theories of physics say that time appears to pass regularly unperturbed. But the direction of time is pretty obvious in our macroscopic world, like scrambled eggs can’t be unscrambled and shattered porcelain don’t gather together again. So, time moves forward. And we are at the “present”. But is your “present” the same as my “present”? According to relativity, you and I experience time differently. Time and space exist together, so every place has its own “present”. Someone clinks their glasses and drinks a toast in one hemisphere while someone grieves in another.
Our lives have momentum which requires a jumpstart at some point. Momentum actually requires a lot of fair effort to get the ball rolling. This reminds me of the postulate in classical physics, Newton’s law of inertia. It says that an object at rest/in motion, continues to do so until an external force acts on it. The amount of energy in an object by virtue of being in motion is called momentum. A flywheel is the best example of a mechanical device that gains momentum while spinning and drives an engine by transferring energy. Like a flywheel, the momentum we gain or create is helpful to bring about a change. This means that we can do a little more of something that helps us move forward. And that can be done with a strong spirit.
The battle of Borodino shows that battles are won by the spirit of the army and the composure of people who face death. The French could’ve won this battle easily if only Napoleon Bonaparte hadn’t been blinded by his comfortable fantasy in hastening a massacre. The Russian army kept retreating, buying time, remaining patient, and gaining momentum. Napoleon’s weary army finally fled Russia. If one can slow down and not rush around letting time play out, victory is inevitable. So, what is it? Life is either a daring feat or nothing at all.