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The Resistance



There is a destructive voice inside each one of us that promises safety and comfort, but ultimately only leads us astray. Renowned author Steve Pressfield calls this voice The Resistance. As I have mentioned before, The Resistance is the voice that compels you to avoid or at least put off the uncomfortable things that must be done. It pressures you into staying quiet in a meeting when you know you should speak up, to stay in bed when you are supposed to workout, to check your Facebook one more time when you need to begin the project and to avoid your coworker because you don’t want to have the difficult conversation. It’s the voice that keeps the writer from writing, the singer from singing, the artist from painting and the musician from making the melodies she was meant to share with the world. The Resistance strives to keep us from what we are supposed to do and who we are designed to be by tempting us to chase comfort and predictability.

The Resistance is relentless and crafty. It loves to take excuses and disguise them as reasons. You’re too young. Maybe you’re too old. You’re too uneducated. Or it’s just “not the right time” (whatever that means). Someone else can do it. The Resistance will provide you with a never-ending onslaught of justifications.

The Resistance can also attack you with doubt, distraction and even depression. But as powerful as The Resistance is, it has one glaring weakness: it requires your permission to affect your actions. While it certainly can make tasks more challenging, dreams seem more unapproachable and a goal more daunting, without your cooperation, The Resistance can only call out to you while you move forward. Only if you stop and listen to its Siren cry can it hold you back.

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