What is Momentum?

According to Merriam-Webster, Inc. 2013, momentum is defined 1: a property of a moving body that the body has by virtue of its mass and motion and that is equal to the product of the body’s mass and velocity 2:strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events.

How do we create momentum in our lives?

Our momentum is made up of our mass and our motion. For the purpose of this post, we are going to look at soul mass rather than our physical mass. Soul mass is how full we are on the inside. What do we fill ourselves up with?

Whether we are trying to increase the momentum in our lives or not, we have to be very careful. This is because we can very easily create negative momentum rather than positive momentum, and it is positive momentum that most of us want.

Negative momentum takes things from being mediocre to bad or from bad to worse. Positive momentum take things from being bad to good or from good to great.

Negative momentum builds when we fill our soul with bitterness, resentment, and harsh judgments of ourselves and others. This destructive force becomes stronger when we beat ourselves up, refuse to acknowledge and learn from our mistakes, and continue to hold on to patterns of behavior that just aren’t working for us. Negative momentum thrives on apathy, envy, and hate. When we allow those things to corrupt our soul, our soul mass grows larger in a destructive way.

Positive momentum, on the other hand, builds when we fill our soul with things that inspire us- God, love, forgiveness, self-compassion, personal accountability, gratitude… This positive force becomes stronger when we treat ourselves and others with kindness, give up harsh judgments, let go of resentments, and learn to pause and think before we speak or do something that we will later regret.

According to the dictionary, momentum is strength or force gained by motion or by a series of events. This means that we need to get active to create positive momentum. If we sit still and live a sedentary life, we may think that we are not creating any momentum at all. But when we neglect ourselves, things are rapidly deteriorating on our inside, creating negative momentum.

To gain positive momentum, we need to get active and string together a serious of events that will get the ball rolling in the right direction. We can start small and build. Small change often leads to much larger change. Isn’t that really what creating positive momentum in our lives is really about?

Now I have an exercise for you. I want you to draw two sets of stairs. And no, you do not need any artistic ability to do this. Draw an arrow by each set. Make one set going up and one set going down. On the stairs going down, write one thing on each stair that will have you spiraling down in the wrong direction. And on the stairs going up, write one thing on each stair that will have you heading in an upward spiral.

Each stair may contain something fairly large or something very small. But you should be able to look at the stairs that you have created and see how quickly you can gain positive or negative momentum in your life. If you have been on a downhill spiral, lets say that you have given up your exercise routine, stopped growing spiritually, and have become unbalanced in your life, it is time for the momentum to change.

I challenge you to focus on your upward spiral staircase. Fill your soul with those things that will get your momentum moving in a positive direction.