Honor the Resistance; Resistance is Futile
When we think of resistance it conjures up a fight against something or somebody. When we encounter resistance in ourselves, we are literally in our own struggle.
Our mind says, “Yes I agree to go with you to do this”. Yet our body says “No, you better not”.
Or our heart says “Yes, I want this” but our mind says “No, you better not – beyond there be dragons.”
My goodness - that mind sure has “a mind of its own”. I love the book The untethered soul by Michael Singer. In it I was introduced to the crazy roommate in my head who won’t shut up. She doesn’t know what she is talking about. She is just convinced she is right. However, true knowing doesn’t work that way. The body learns, the heart feels, and the mind interprets. That interpretation is based on a commitment of the ego defenses to stay safe and loved. But that interpretation could be flawed. It might not be the story that best serves you now.
I have often heard that the Chinese character for “Crisis” is derived from two characters that mean danger and opportunity. It turns out that is not the correct translation. The translation for danger is correct. The other character actually means “change point”. This makes more sense to me. A personal crisis happens when something that is longing to happen is trying to emerge and meets pushback or resistance from your crazy roommate. The resistance comes from trauma or fear. What is trying to emerge comes from nature - your nature, your truth. It is your best self, committing to be born.
Honor the resistance. It is informed by the stories, patterns and survivor skills that have protected you in the past. It is also a portal, a compass, a signaling towards where your work now lies. It is worthy of honoring but not obeying for it can slow down our journey of transformation.
Resistance is futile. Once you name what is wanting to emerge as well as what is holding your back, you have reached the change point. You don’t need to have any idea of how to go forward, only that you will let go of what no longer serves you.
The Decade Game is where danger meets the change point. It is the danger of living in the “If Only” state, filled with wishful thinking of what might have, could have, should have been if only…. It is the choice point of deciding to tell a different story of the future, filled with thoughtful wishes of “What if…”. It is the decision to take control of your destiny, to commit to an epic journey of human doing and being. It is the 20-20 hindsight and foresight to know that what was so “last decade”, is not determinative for the next decade and beyond. You stand at the precipice of your future, inspired by what you stand for, buoyed in the knowledge that unlike wishful thinking, thoughtful wishes can come true.