The Resistance

There’s a secret that real writers know that wannabe writers don’t, and the secret is this: It’s not the writing part that’s hard. What’s hard is sitting down to write.

What keeps us from sitting down is Resistance

Steven Pressfield in The War of Art is the author that has been most successful (IMO) in describing that mysterious energy that keeps us from doing the things that we ought to be doing, that silent voice that tells you to watch one more episode of your new favorite TV show instead of working on your latest book, or pushes you to take a look at what’s going on twitter instead of working out, doing yoga, meditating, learning to draw, a new language or playing an instrument. He calls that obscure force The Resistance.

Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands The Resitance.

A dark force that prevents us from reaching our true potential as human beings.

Resistance is the most toxic force on the planet. It is the root of more unhappiness than poverty, disease, and erectile dysfunction. To yield to Resistance deforms our spirit. It stunts us and makes us less that we are and we were born to be.

Any act that ejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. Any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower will summon The Resistance. You know this. You’ve certainly experienced it every day of your life. It’s every time you choose to watch one more Netflix episode instead of doing what you really want to do.

It’s an invisible force that arises from within and will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work.

Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard or smelled. But it can be felt. We experience it as an energy field radiating from a work-in-potential. It’s a repelling force. It’s negative. Its aim is to shove us away, distract us, prevent us from doing our work.

To be continued…

Read more about The Resistance on The War of Art.