Have you ever spent a long time not having written anything with a pen or pencil? It feels strange getting used to writing again. Almost like it’s a completely novel experience.

We usually view the world as a static background to which living beings apply dynamic change. Nature is like the board game in which all of the players play on.

But the world can oftentimes be more dynamic than us. And that means there is never a time for a static movement on our part. As the Red Queen says to Alice, “In my kingdom, you have to run as fast as you can just to stay in place.” Because if we are static, it’s not that we are staying the same. It’s that our situation keeps getting worse.

You lose your progress in the gym. Your knowledge deteriorates. Your habits are gone. It’s the natural law of entropy. There’s a tremendous amount of effort needed just stop of system from collapsing.

But the curious thing is that there tends to be no middle ground. It’s pretty difficult to put in effort only to stay the same. And it’s very likely that the effort will push you forward and make your progress better.

The world isn’t exactly like the Red Queen’s kingdom, fortunately. But you do have to decide whether you’re putting in the effort or not. Action or inaction. Better or worse. There is no static.