Resistance builds muscle
Resistance.
We’ve all experienced it.
It’s that opposing force pushing against us when we are inching toward what makes our Soul sing.
It’s the chasm standing in between the life we live and the unlived life within us.
The author Stephen Pressfield calls it “The Resistance,” meaning the more resistance you feel with something, the more certain you can be that there’s a big dream there that you are called to do.
It’s like the blog you’ve been thinking to start but find a hundred ways to keep putting it off. Or that hard conversation you need to have but find excuses to have it. Or it’s making the decision to leave the job that makes you miserable and taking a leap at something else.
The more resistance you feel toward that calling, the more you should focus on inching toward it. It means there’s something there.
The shadow is proportionate to the dream.
What is that dream?
It’s the unfolding of who you are. Like a flower blooming. It’s figuring out what is uniquely yours to do in this world.
And it’s already inside you.
But The Resistance never goes away. It just fills whatever vacancy you have in your life.
Like water, it and adapts to whatever environment you’re in. It tries to prevent you from accessing higher consciousness.
Resistance is this force of self-sabotage that works against us every time we try to move to a place of low vibration to one of high vibration (ethically, morally, creatively, socially.)
Resistance takes shape of those distractions placed in front of us that take our focus away from our own calling.
Alright, alright, alright… so why is Resistance a good thing?
“We need resistance in order to find our form and create structure,” says Matthew McConaughey.
Instead of running away when we feel a bit of resistance, even if it comes from inside us, how can we use it to our advantage? See it as a breadcrumb, an indicator that there’s something there worth working toward.
Each obstacle, each time something goes wrong, each time we’re out of our depths— it’s an opportunity to practice virtue. A chance to strengthen our non-dominant hand.
When faced with two choices, choose the one that challenges you the most. Iron sharpens iron. Resistance builds muscle.
Observe when The Resistance creeps into your life. Learn to identify it. Use it as an indicator that if you are feeling any resistance to your dream or idea, it means you should challenge yourself to pursue that dream or idea. There might be something there.
Wishing everyone light and kindness,
❤️ Maria
Photo of the week:
Song I’m jamming to:
Great piece Maria, we laugh in the face of adversity am I right? If you are at that job that you dread and can't stand being at, and have a goal and dream to get to, you just have got to take the leap of faith and go for it, life is too short, because then what is the point?
Great song choice too haha