Law of Non-Resistance

Whatever you resist persists. The Law of Nonresistance is a law that most of the world violates and must understand. I personally call it the law of Ignoring. I’d say about 90% of people violate this law. At the same time though, it’s not really our fault. Most of us were programmed to resist. It’s hard-wired into our brains. People resist whenever they see or hear something that they don’t want. What they don’t know is that resisting what they don’t want is actually creating more of what they don’t want. Whatever you put energy into grows over time. Resistance is a form of energy and it’s probably the reason most people end up where they don’t want to be.

Arguing is something that many of us do. It is a very strong form of resistance and it uses up a tremendous amount of energy. A wise thing to do in an argument is to respond. People have a tendency to react in an argument. The difference is reacting is a habit. Responding requires time to think before you continue. When Michelangelo had finished sculpting David, he was met with resistance. Piero Soderini, Florence’s mayor at the time, had told Michelangelo that the statue’s nose was too big. Michelangelo did not argue. Michelangelo invited the mayor to climb a scaffolding, allowing him to look at the nose from a different point of view, while the artist chiseled a bit, acting like he was correcting the size of the nose. The mayor was convinced the nose looked much better. Michelangelo succeeded in making Soderini think his comment had helped improve the work. He won by responding through actions rather than words.This way, nobody lost and a point was proven in an effective and nonresistant way.

Resisting is a bad habit that we need to stop; however, it can help you to better understand how you respond to challenges. Challenges are something that we are very resistant to. Instead of resisting a challenge, we should learn to welcome it. Ironically, resistance is a sign that you’re moving in the right direction. When people see you’re moving ahead in life and thinking outside of the box, they can be fearful of change and throw a lot of resistance at you. However, it is your job to make sure that you don’t resist the resistance. As the saying goes, “Whatever you resist, persists.” When your met with resistance, just let it go. Ignore it, because when you ignore it you don’t put any energy into it. What you put energy into grows over time. Learn to go with the flow of things and accept it. It’s important to stay flexible in life. Amazingly, it’s when you’re not met with resistance that you’re not on the right track.

There are many resistant groups in the world today. There are groups like antiabortion, antiwar, anti-politician, etc. The thing is, these “anti” groups are making what they’re against more powerful. Antiabortion creates more abortion. Antiwar creates more war. Being against a politician makes that politician stronger. The more energy you put into something you dislike or hate, the stronger and more difficult it will be to remove it from your life. It would be much wiser to be pro-peace and pro-life. This way those groups would be more likely to get what they want instead of what they don’t want. But you don’t have to vote for a politician you don’t like. Just don’t waste your time directing negative energy towards him/her.

I remember when I used to play high school football, My team and I used to have to do some devestating drills, like up-downs, until the coach said the team was done; or we’d have to do sprinting drills until the entire team couldn’t run anymore. I was very resistant to the drills. I would say to myself that I was tired, I hated them, and I couldn’t wait until they were over. Well one day, I decided that it didn’t do much good to complain to myself about it. Then I just said to myself to go with the flow. To put it into a metaphor, I was in a river swimming against the current. The moment I turned around and went with the flow of the river, my attitude and results dramatically improved. I was more focused and I didn’t tire as easily. The coaches were pleased and took a liking to this adjustment.

Remember, whenever you’re met with resistance, just go with the flow. You’ll be in harmony with yourself. Life gives us gifts wrapped in problems. The bigger the problem, the bigger the gift.