Do you eat liver? Do you drink juice smoothies? People consume them because they are good for their bodies. Some people enjoy them while other’s force feed themselves. Both for the same reason.
They have a dream.
What about mental and emotional food?
I’m reading a book right now that is good for me.
Actually, I’m not reading it, I have it on CD so I’m listening to it.
I’m thankful the library didn’t have the paperback because I don’t think I‘d be able to make myself read it. It’s difficult. But I have a dream.
Difficulty isn’t bad. It’s just difficult.
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity”― Albert Einstein
Difficulty isn’t bad. It’s just difficult. Share on X
When we’re faced with difficulty we have a choice.
The book I’m reading is called The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. His writing style is not my flavor, but I need the message he shares.
The main point of the book is a thing he calls resistance and our war with it.
Over and over he says resistance is resistance is resistance is.
It gets monotonous but when you’re listening to learn you understand why.
We learn by repetition.
I’m consuming mental liver and juice smoothies. I need it.
You need it too.
Resistance fights everyone. It makes following our dreams difficult, but it doesn’t have to win.
Sometimes we’re aware of it and sometimes it silently steals from us because we fail to recognize what is going on.
Let’s open our eyes.
Resistance is why your new treadmill becomes a clothes hanger.
Resistance is why you procrastinate.
Resistance is why you go on Facebook instead of…
Resistance is why you hit the snooze twelve times in the morning.
Resistance is why what’s difficult feels impossible.
Resistance is the thing inside you trying to stop you from succeeding.
It both lies and tells the truth. Whatever will work to stop you from doing what is in your heart.
It will say you can’t, it’s too late, you’re not good enough, or smart enough.
It will point out every obstacle and dream up excuses.
It will remind you of every failure and highlight other people’s successes.
It is insidious.
It lives in us all.
It wants to destroy our life, our joy and our purpose.
If we will recognize it as a thing and give it a name we can push through and achieve our dreams.
It is resistance. And you can beat it.
What brings it on?
Taken from the Look Inside feature on Amazon here is what Steven Pressfield says will elicit resistance.
1 – The pursuit of any calling in writing, painting, music, film, dance, or any creative art, however marginal or unconventional.
2 – The launching of any entrepreneurial venture or enterprise, for profit or otherwise.
3 – Any diet or health regimen.
4 – Any program of spiritual advancement.
5 – Any activity whose aim is tighter abdominals.
6 – Any course or program designed to overcome an unwholesome habit or addiction.
7 – Education of every kind.
8 – Any act political, moral or ethical courage, including the decision to change for the better some unworthy pattern of thought or conduct in ourselves.
9 – The undertaking of any enterprise or endeavor whose aim is to help others.
10 – Any act that entails commitment of the heart. The decision to get married, to have a child, to weather a rocky patch in a relationship.
11 – The taking of any principled stand in the face of adversity.
In other words, any act that rejects immediate gratification in favor of long-term growth, health, or integrity. Or, expressed another way, any act that derives from our higher nature instead of our lower. Any of these will elicit Resistance. (emphasis mine)
The list covers anyone who wants to do anything of value.
This means you.
You matter and your dreams matter.
And resistance is nothing in the face of resolve.
Your dream is yours alone.
It lives in you.
The bigger the dream, the bigger the resistance.
But to achieve your dreams you are not alone.
The Spirit of Grace, also known as the Helper desires to assist. You can have help and you can win against resistance.
The choice is yours.
Resistance is nothing in the face of resolve. Share on X
When things are difficult you have a choice.
You can resist the difficulty, give in and quit—resistance wins.
You can persist through the difficulty, one step at a time—you win.
Answer these questions in the comments – lets talk.
- What is your current dream?
- Do you see yourself worthy of winning?
- Where can you see resistance at work in your life?
- Do you choose to resist or persist?
- What mental or emotional food are you consuming?
- Do you want some smoothie recipes? Get my friend’s book here.
- Are you part of our community here? If not please join us here and get your FREE eBook.
Real good stuff today, Danielle! So glad I discovered your blog!!
Thank you, Jim! I’m glad you did you – happy to have you a part of the community here.
Very insightful article. It is so easy to start off strong and then be met with hardships along the way. Great encouragement.
Thank you, Kayla. I’m glad you were encouraged!
I definitely needed to hear this today. Not only is writing difficult, but all the work associated with marketing myself as a writer (and the technology part of it–ugh!) makes me want to give up multiple times a day. I have to remind myself that the path to anything worthwhile is rarely easy.
I’m so happy to hear my words were timely for you, Kate. You CAN keep going, just one step at a time. Pausing for a deep breath helps too. Thanks for sharing!
I love “The War of Art!” I try to read it every year. Resistance is the devil.
Excellent work, Danielle!
Thank you, Shayne.
I am loving the compassionate, kind and non-judgemental tone of your writing <3 I also loved the metaphor of "mental liver and juice smoothies" 🙂 Thank you for sharing!
That is such a big compliment, Meg. I’m so happy the tone I’m aiming for comes through well.
You’re welcome. I’m glad you liked my metaphor 🙂
Thank you for this blog post. It is exactly what I needed right now. 💗
You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing. Stop by any time! 🙂
Hi Danielle, very informative information. I to have a hard time reading Steven Pressfields’s style, but I get it. Also, you said you self host your own site. I am very impressed how you are able to do that. I’m assuming you are self taught? Thank you.John.
Thank you, John. I’m not familiar with other things he’s written.
Self-hosting simply means I pay a company to host my site instead of a free site. I don’t know all that IT stuff. 🙂
They do a nice job. I like how you can tweet quotes within your post. Anyway, please keep the mental liver and juice smoothies coming. 😊
I think they do too.
The tweets of quotes I put in there with a “plug in” called “click to tweet”. I love it. It makes it so simple.
Thanks – I have two more posts after this one! 🙂 And been working on next Tuesday’s post.
thanks for sharing!!
Extremely helpful information. I am going to visit this link everyday to try and reinforce my need to fight through my resistance. Thank you very much!!
You’re welcome, Mary. So happy to hear it’s helpful for you!