written by JOHN MARK MINES | GROWTH, GOAL-SETTING, QUANTUM MECHANICS
If we do not aim at the highest, we shall certainly fall short.
J.R.R. Tolkien
New Year, New Me
New Year’s resolutions feel an awful lot like cramming for a final exam. Though the opportunity for personal change persisted all year long, we waited until the very last minute to study. Like Santa Claus, we expect all the hard work to be done in one night.
The blank canvas of a new year inspires new possibilities. Alas, celestial bodies do not dictate our decisions. This revolution will be much like the last four billion. If anything, New Year’s resolutions reveal our inability to understand change.
To match the flare of Times Square, resolutions tend to be grandiose. Running a few miles is mundane; marathons and triathlons are more like it. When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, the bigger the better.
Which is why most resolutions fail. Sadly, we are not Santa Claus. Nevertheless, the allure of radical personal change is salivating. If New Year’s resolutions aren’t the catalyst for the change we crave, then what is?
When Did That Happen?
Despite the 12-hour runtime, Peter Jackson omitted my favorite chapter, “The Scourging of the Shire”, from The Lord of the Rings movies. When the most famousest of Hobbits return home, they find it ablaze. After saving Middle-Earth, they must save their hometown, too.
When the evil and disgraced wizard Saruman moved in, the gentle and peace-loving Shire-folk moved over. But not the fearsome foursome. In fact, their year-long journey to hell and back transformed Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin so radically their countrymen didn’t even recognize them.
Within two days, Saruman is dethroned and dispatched. Importantly, the Hobbits did it all by themselves. No mystical elves or magical rings required.
“The Scourging of the Shire” is my favorite chapter because it punctuates the definitive evolution of Frodo and co. But when exactly did this change happen? When did these ordinary Hobbits turn into extraordinary heroes?
The Quantum Realm
Life is change. The only constant is change, as the saying goes. Days turn into years just like children turn into adults. Yet change is so small and gradual that it’s practically invisible, rendering the mechanism of change imperceptible.
Thankfully, we have a field of science that studies small changes called quantum mechanics. The problem, though, is that we don’t like what it has to say.
The field of quantum mechanics began when scientists realized that change at subatomic levels is not continuous; it is discrete. Change is like an uneven staircase rather than a smooth slide. Electrons, for example, exist at specific energy states separated by a set quantity, or “quantum,” hence the name.
quan·tum /ˈkwän(t)əm/
noun: a discrete quantity; a required or allowed amount
We love discrete changes. Life’s best moments are events that mark step-change, like birthdays, graduations, and, of course, New Year’s. Romantic journeys are marked by idyllic moments like a kiss, wedding, or birth. For these discrete events, change is clear, satisfying, and memorable.
When it comes to resolutions, the discrete event steals the show. We resolve to cross a finish line, get a promotion, or buy a house. The tiny, quantum moments between now and then can be smooshed into a montage. New Year’s resolutions skip to the end.
This is why we hate quantum mechanics: in nature, discrete change is imperceivably small. Change takes tiny steps over a large period. Of course, there is a way to induce large discrete changes in a short period: that’s called an explosion.
This is why reality punches us in the face when we attempt large step-changes on New Year’s. Attempting large changes in a short period causes destruction or failure. Nature prefers small steps. Like quantum mechanics, progress is invisible.
Until, one day, it isn’t.
Even the Best Fall Down Sometimes
“The Scourging of the Shire” was a graduation ceremony for Frodo and co. It revealed a major transformation that occurred one step at a time over a 1,779 mile journey. But there’s another reason why quantum mechanics is frustrating: it is uncertain. In fact, that’s how Frodo, the great hero of Middle-Earth, almost became just another villain.
When Frodo finally arrived at the very active volcano of Mount Doom, he got cold feet. Having spent the last year getting chased, stabbed, and stung, he decided to keep the One Ring for himself.
If Frodo had been defined by this singular moment, he would have been just another failure. This moment could have ruined everything. But it didn’t.
Author J.R.R. Tolkien would later write that the temptation to keep the Ring was “impossible for any one to resist.”1 And yet, the Ring was destroyed. How?
On the road to Mordor, Frodo allowed the vile creature Gollum to tag along. He consistently showed mercy to a creature who deserved none. Then, at Frodo’s worst moment, Gollum chews off his finger and destroys the ring. Providence comes in strange ways.
To Tolkien, this was the whole point of the story. Frodo did not destroy the Ring himself, but he “produced a situation in which the object of his quest could be achieved.” Frodo’s daily grace became his saving grace.
So, this year, be like Frodo: give yourself a chance to be a hero. Make the quantum decisions to put yourself in a position to achieve the impossible. The process may appear invisible, but, in the end, the product is impossible to ignore.
