What you resist persists ~ Carl Jung
Resistance is the quicksand that takes avoidance behaviour one step deeper into missing out on life’s joy and fulfilment. It can stop your creative idea from ever seeing the light of day and it can keep change from happening where it is needed.
Consider these situations:
o Do you ever notice yourself struggling with commitment in relationships? Do you have difficulty finding a partner, starting or ending a connection with another, or keeping friendships?
o Do you change jobs often, never finding quite the right fit, or the right boss, or the right career?
o Are decisions difficult for you to make? Do you spend a lot of time thinking about your options but finding it almost impossible to make a choice because you are concerned it will be the wrong one?
o When it comes to making a change in your life, do you take extreme amounts of time because you believe you are not quite ready to jump into the deep end of the pool quite yet? or you think you haven’t looked at enough options to make a good decision?
o Do you recognise that you are stuck in a life you don’t really want but cannot take the steps to transition to something more rewarding for you?
If you can see yourself in small or big ways in the above, then you may be in the grip of resistance in your life.
Resistance can be at the core of those inspiring ideas that blow through your mind occasionally and then just as quickly evaporate with the next thought that judges it as a ‘foolish idea’ or ‘impossible for you to execute’. It doesn’t take long before your passion and self-esteem are gone and the limitless possibilities and vitality in life fade into emptiness and hopelessness.
“Whatever you resist you become. If you resist anger, you are always angry. If you resist sadness, you are always sad. […] We think that we resist certain states because they are there, but actually they are there because we resist them.” ~Ady
How Can You Push Through Your Resistance? What’s In It For You?
When self-doubt, overthinking, fear of taking the next step or lack of clarity about your direction takes you over, try these strategies:
- Focus on your vision and why you want to pursue what is behind the resistance that stops you.
- Spend time in silence to quietly focus and align with your true purpose. Use your breath to access your deepest truth.
- Share your ideas with trusted people who will listen, support and offer feedback to empower you.
- Follow and trust your own authentic impulses – believe in your thoughts as coming from your soul inspiration.
- Do one thing – take a step toward what you are resisting. Action multiplies the ability to take more action.
- Acknowledge the resistance and carry on with your plan.
- Change your response to any negativity of inner or external voices with positive perspectives on your goals.
As you learn to identify the where and why of resistance in your life, you can use it as a tool toward self-discovery. Your awareness of resistance can keep you motivated to stay on track with the inspired vision that generated the resistance in the first place.
“Learn to recognize the resistance and say, ‘No, thank you. I’d rather move onward.”
~ Mark W. Guay
