“Resistance cannot be seen, touched, heard, or smelled. But it can be felt.”

A thought by Steven Pressfield (2010-08-30) from his book, The War Of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle (p. 7). PREMIERE. Kindle Edition.

Whenever you make a commitment to do something to better yourself or someone else there is always going to be a challenge to start and also to keep doing it. It will be a daily struggle.

Now if it is to go to Disney World then you are wide awake and ready to go way before you need to get up. But if you are in your fifth month of working there it takes an alarm to get you up and most people wait till the last moment to get up and go. It is always easier to get up to do fun than it is to do work.

I have always said that we do what we want to do. When someone used the excuse to me as a Pastor that they couldn’t make it to church because they were up late I would then say to myself, “We do what we want to do.” If they were going to Disney World they wouldn’t use that excuse because they want to go to Disney World.

Now that to me is the key to overcome resistance, to put the things that really make a difference into my want side. We go to church in Manhattan. It takes about 40 minutes to drive in and about 1 hour + to drive home. It is going to be windy and cold tomorrow and our kids are off to a Couples Retreat but it is going to be our last Sunday to be able to go to Forefront Church because we are moving so we really want to go. The inconvenience, the weather will not keep us from going because we really want to go.

I have a lot to do today to get ready for our move but I also felt it was important to make the extra effort through some resistance to write this thought today. I’m glad that I didn’t give into all the obstacles but did it. I did it because I have a driving desire to make a difference in peoples’ lives so I resisted the lessor desire to take a break. It is a daily battle. Most of the time I resist the resistance but it is always there. I always feel it pulling at me.

Don’t give up in doing what you know that you need to do. Put the need into a deep want and see if that will help you in fighting the battle of resistance. For example: I fight the urge every morning to go to Dunkin Donut to get a Coffee Cake Muffin by getting on the scale every day and recording my weight. I want to weigh less than 200 lbs. more than I want to have that muffin and recording my weight everyday helps me resist.

Resistance is real. It can keep you from so much good. But it can be dealt with if you really want to.

So what need to you need to turn into a greater want?

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