Thursday, May 8, 2014

Resistance is futile...

Unspoken Rule

The more important a call or action is to our soul's evolution, the more resistance we will feel toward pursuing it.”
Steven Pressfield (The War of Art)

Do you ever wonder why you have so much resistance to doing something you know you should do? I catch myself thinking, “I should do that,” and the next thing I know, I'm involved in something totally different, as though I'd never had the thought. There seems to be an innate mechanism that automatically deflects thoughts and actions that would move us along a path to individuation and freedom. We have resistance to opening our minds and hearts to people who are different, for instance. We close down in the face of ideas and positions that challenge us. We want always to stay the course and keep the equilibrium. Living open is difficult; it requires something of us. We can't just cruise along on a calm sea.

Ralph Waldo Emerson is quoted as saying, “All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better.” Instead of cruising, we could do what Thoreau suggested and “live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life...” We could, instead of living on the superficial surface of life, obsessed with looks and clothing and status, dive into it and discover the deep oceans available each day. Then at the end of life, whether short or long in years, we would know that we had lived well and experienced much. We could consider the Dalai Lama's teaching: “A tree with strong roots can withstand the most violent storm. But a tree cannot grow roots just as the storm appears on the horizon.” Don't wait to live life. Buck the resistance you feel and jump in with both feet.

                                        In the Spirit,

                                              Jane

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