The Law of Non-Resistance
We cannot create the life we want by resisting what we don’t want. Isn’t it amazing how many people work to build the life of their dreams through resisting what they don’t want? If you watch the nightly news, you’ll find it full of reports of resistance. The only way to build the life of our dreams is to do just that. Construct, Build, Create a bigger, better me. When obstacles arise (and they inevitably will), it’s often important that we work with the obstacles, rather than putting our energies into resisting them. While it can at times feel good to resist (“I’m right, They’re wrong”), ultimately the act of resistance is usually not related to building the life of our dreams.
It took me a long time to fully learn this lesson. When “I’m right and they’re wrong”, isn’t resistance the right and noble thing to do? It took me years to understand the teaching of my elders, which says “What you resist, you give power to” – or – “What you resist, persists” – or – “When you resist, you get more of what you don’t want”.
Why is this so? Isn’t it right to resist that which seems against our highest good? The problems with resistance are these:
- While resistance does bring us moments of righteous indignation, for the larger part, resistance also brings feelings of frustration, anger, disappointment, and/or weakness into our lives.
- A second problem is that resistance actually strengthens the resolve of our “enemy”, and makes them more determined than ever to carry out their course of action. They push harder. They become more determined than they were previously to achieve their end goals – goals we don’t want them to achieve. Simply put, the opposition grows stronger. As the opposition grows stronger, we often feel our own resolve strengthening – and a titanic struggle often ensues.
- A third – and related – problem is harder to understand, and isn’t immediately intuitive to me, yet I know it’s true. The truth is that when you resist something, you are giving that problem or that person your personal power. You are in effect saying “This has power over me” or “I am afraid of you” – and you experience fear.
- A fourth problem is that we have only so much time and energy to expend in any given day. The way you spend that day is your legacy, your gift to the world. Every moment you have spent in resistance is a moment that you have not spent building the life and society of your dreams.
So, what do you want your life legacy to be? I encourage you to build the life of your dreams – always. Build your legacy. Grow. Become better. Create a better life. Understand that you have all that you need within you.
Something to think about….
Good Wolf / Bad Wolf
A traditional Native American story describes a boy who was feeling angry and upset at an injustice, who goes to his old Grandfather for advice. The Grandfather tells the boy that he, too has felt these feelings of hate and anger. The Grandfather shares that he has also realized how these feelings have no effect on his enemy, but they do cause him great pain.
“It is as if I have two wolves living inside me,” says the Grandfather. “One is good and does no harm. He lives in harmony with all around him and does not take offense when no offense was intended. He will only fight when it is right to do so, and in the right way.”
“But the other wolf,” Grandfather continues, “fights everyone, all the time, for no reason. The smallest thing will send him into a fury. He cannot think because his anger and rage are so great; however for all its fury, his anger changes nothing.
“Sometimes it is hard to live with these two wolves inside me, for both of them try to dominate my spirit.”
The boy looks into his Grandfather’s eyes and asks, “Which one wins, Grandfather?”
His grandfather replies, “Whichever one I feed.”
Kevin B. Burk http://www.therealastrology.com/ER/AMAZING/HTML/FeedingtheWolf.html
Have you experienced these wolves inside of you? If not, I congratulate you. For myself, I have certainly made friends with both of them. Over time, I too have come to realize that the angry wolf harms ME, and does not harm my “enemy”. Even if I act upon the angry wolf’s recommendations, my actions seem to hurt me more than they hurt someone else. On the other hand, the Good Wolf soothes me and makes me better able to handle the problems I face. Which one do I feed? Read more »
About
I decided to put this page together at the urging of friends. Several of them were encouraging me to do this, as they were sure that my words were needed to help counteract all of the negativity out there. I’m not a pollyanna. I understand the problems of the world. I also understand that most of our problems are of our own making, and that the only way for any of us to solve our problems is to start exactly where we are, and solve what we can. We made the problems. We can solve them.
I know we cannot improve our lives by being negative. I know we cannot create what we want by fighting what we don’t want. It just doesn’t work that way, though the nightly news is full of people who are determined to do so using just that method. The only way out is to find a path of cooperation, Love, and compassion. This Blog is written so we can find a way to do just that. I hope you join me.
I work as a Life Coach at GLORIUS LIFE Coaching. If you are interested in Life Coaching Services, you can find more information about the services we provide at www.gloriuslife.com.
Mark
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