I read the book “The Art of War” by Steven Pressfield, where he talks about Resistance being the enemy to all that we seek.
Further, he goes on to create a “Resistance Greatest Hits” – which I’d like to share with you just in case you haven’t read his book.
As Pressfield writes: “The following is in no particular order, of those activities that most commonly elicit Resistance:”
- The pursuit of any calling in writing, painting, music, film, dance, or any creative art, however marginal or unconventional.
- The launching of any entrepreneurial venture or enterprise, for profit or otherwise.
- Any diet or health regimen.
- Any program of spiritual advancement.
- Any activity whose aim is tighter abdominals.
- Any course or program designed to overcome an unwholesome habit or addiction.
- Education of every kind.
- Any act of political, moral, or ethical courage, including the decision to change for the better some unworthy pattern of thought or conduct in ourselves.
- The undertaking of any enterprise or endeavor whose aim is to help others.
- Any act that entails commitment of the heart. The decision to get married, to have a child, to weather a rocky patch in a relationship.
- The taking of any principled stand in the face of adversity.
Pressfield continues to write; “In other words, any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. Or, expressed in another way, any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower. Any of these will elicit Resistance.”
Not only is this enlightening, he has a great sense of humor about it all.
What he’s getting at is that Resistance is a negative force that keeps us from doing our work. And if we take Resistance at its word, we deserve everything we get. Resistance is always lying to us, and always full of hot air.
It’s actually very helpful to better understand what’s holding us back. An it’s, Resistance.
It doesn’t make it any easier, however. What it does do is have us realize that Resistance is not to be trusted. It is our mortal enemy.
Pressfield goes on to say that the “Rule of Thumb: The more important a call or action is to our soul’s evolution, the more Resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
Now THAT’S good to know. He’s basically saying that if you feel Resistance toward something you know to be true … do it anyway.
Resistance by definition is self-sabotage. Master our fear of Resistance, and we conquer Resistance. The only person fueling this fear, is us.
So, when I’m constantly writing about, “It Starts With You” and “What’s Holding You Back,” guess what? It’s Resistance.
Life is a struggle. No human being is immune to Resistance. No one.
What’s sad is if we give into Resistance and leave this world without giving it all that we’ve got.
You’d think that we would wake up to the fact that we truly have nothing to lose if we just did the work. If we actioned what needed to be done. If we trusted ourselves enough to muffle out the noise.
I wonder how many times we’d need to do this before it would go away completely.
Ok, reality check – Resistance is NEVER going away. We just need to manage it in a way where we’re not drawn to give it any attention.
This way we can go on with our lives in a way that best serves us.
I’m all for that!