Resistance

Have you ever had the brakes on your car seize up? If you continue to drive the engine has to work really hard against the resistance, the brakes grind, they smoke, it smells and you get no where fast. Not a good idea to keep driving against this resistance, but if the brakes let go (or when you get them fixed) its smooth sailing again. Your mechanic can explain what happened and why your brakes act like this, there is always a reason for resistance.

What do you resist, your work, honouring commitments, apologizing, exercising, eating right? 

All day long we dig our heels in and resist doing the things we know we could be doing, and then, to add   

                         insult to injury we reprimand ourselves for not doing these same thing. 

Why, why do we continually do that? It's a vicious cycle of resist, reprimand, regret, repeat!

That is why Steven Pressfield the author of  "The War of Art" calls resistance the enemy. He says that we resist taking action when we know we should for many reasons and most are based in fear.We fear being successful in our endeavors and having to change our current conditions, we fear making the wrong decision, we fear losing the attention we get from not doing, we fear no longer living the the tumultuous soap opera lifestyle we have created and we fear having to really look at ourselves and analyse what and who we have become, (scary).

So you would imagine that, as intelligent human beings, we would rise up and kick resistance in the ass and tell it to move over because we're coming through. Easier said then done because the enemy has its hooks in deep, we are comfortable, we are in a grove and in some perverse way we like it. Oh sure, on a subconscious level we are aware things could be better, we could be more creative, productive, effective, disciplined, healthier and enthusiastic about life, but what would we loose, how would we have to change, who would we have to alienate if we started acting without the fear?

The really interesting thing, however, is that when we push fear to the side and take that first step towards our goal or purpose the resistance begins to back down. I'm sure we can all think of an example, for instance sending out a resume, the hardest part is probably printing it out and actually dropping it in the mail box or delivering it in person. Once we have accomplished the task relief sets in and we think "that wasn't so bad". Or if we have a writing assignment due, the biggest challenge is sitting down, committing to doing it and writing down that first sentence.

                      Maybe it'll be crap but it kicks fear to the curb and gets us started.                                                                      

Think of someone you respect for the achievements they have made. Then imagine their process, do you honestly believe they got to where they are without some resistance?, not likely. It could have been self inflicted or external but they obviously took the steps to push through and achieve the task they set out to achieve. If they had continued to resist they would not be on your radar of respect.

Chronic patients- face fear everyday, fear of pain, fear of treatment failure, fear of death an they do it anyway. Performers, artists and writers face fear of of non-acceptance, criticism and /or failure but if they are following their passion they do it anyway. Parents fear not doing a good job and screwing up their kids, but have kids that turn out just fine (most of the time). We can come up with all kinds of reasons why we shouldn't do something and some will be legitimate, take fear out of the equation and check again, re-evaluate and take the pressure of the resistance off. 

Ask yourself what do I want to do? How can I get there? What small steps or changes have to happen? it doesn't have to be a radical thing, maybe start small, like buying a book on a subject you want to pursue or enrolling in a course. Face fear a little at a time and knock it down to a more manageable size, overcome resistance and before you know it you'll be ready let the brakes off completely and you'll coast all the way to your destination.