As I was sitting in my physics lecture, fighting a losing battle against my attention span, the professor said something that caught my attention, “When you solve these problems, start by taking friction out of the equation.” Now I know I should have paid attention to what he said after that (as it will most likely be on the quiz), but something about that phrase jump-started my sleep deprived mind. Take friction out of the equation.
In the context of the class, this simply meant that if you were struggling with drawing the free-body diagrams, ignore friction to start. Sound advice — the perks of running on three hours of sleep: what went through my head was something completely different. I started remembering different events in my life over the last year and imagining if there had been no resistance to my actions. No friction to stop me.
It started with a few trivial ideas. If there had been no mental resistance in my class, I would have been the valedictorian instead of the 32nd-place-torian. If there had been no challenge in my FBLA event I would have been the national champion for the UX Design test instead of just a national competitor. If there had been no friction, I would have gone to Massachusetts in mid-October instead of the end and thus missed spending Halloween night in Salem.
Then, as the professor switched to an example with an inclined plane, my mind switched from the trivial to the more impactful. If there was no friction, I wouldn’t have been late to my brother’s soccer game and I would have seen him score his first goal of the season.
If there was no friction, my plans for after our winter formal dance would have stayed the same and I wouldn’t have wrecked my car en route to my cousins’ house. If there was no friction in my college applications, I wouldn’t be writing this right now let alone be in this country.
As I continued to ignore the lecture, the scenarios got more and more complex. It got to a point where I was imagining where my life would be if I had gotten that last seat at that lunch table in 5th grade. Would I still have the same friends? Would I still do the same activities? Then, through the fog that was filling my brain, the professor’s words cut through. “So now we add the force times the friction coefficient, and we…”\
My mind snapped back to earth. Who cares if there was no friction? What does it matter that I failed a goal or two? Why should I dwell on mistakes I made with friends? Why would I take friction out of the equation if it’s just going to be put back in later?
Sure, in some aspects my life would be better if there was no resistance. I am confident every single person reading can name something that would have made their life better if it had gone their way, even if it is as trivial as getting that last scoop of ice cream. Here’s the thing though, it does not matter in the slightest.
We are a summation of every single event that has happened to us. Through the good, the bad, the ugly, and the beautiful, you still came out on the other side. It is pointless to dream of a what-if scenario. Instead be proud of the person you are, the mistakes you’ve made, and what lies ahead of you because of it. Don’t assume friction is negligible because it is the friction that has formed who you are today.
