The other day, Beth and I were sitting on the edge of a small ledge. We were sitting back a bit, but our little dog had no fear and went right up to the edge and started looking around. I told Beth, the best way to get him to step back is to push him slightly forward toward the edge. Not a strong enough push to have him tumble over, but enough so he feels the pressure from behind.

Sure enough, as soon as she put her hand behind him, he pushed against it and as she backed off her hand, he took a step or two away from the edge.

He wasn’t worried about going over the end, but he sure as heck didn’t want anyone to push him forward. He was going to resist the pressure and back into it.

He’s just like us when someone questions us or puts up a perceived barrier, we tend to push back. We want to assert our freedom and not let anyone get in our way.

Resistance is when you push against something. It is great for building muscles but makes for a very difficult way to live your life.

When we resist, we push against what we don’t want. We put our energy and attention on precisely the thing we want to go away. Is resisting useful? Nope.

Resisting against what already is is a waste of your time and energy. It’s what we do when we:

• Don’t like how someone is treating us
• Don’t like where we’re living
• Don’t like our appearance
• Don’t like our financial situation

What if you were walking along the sidewalk and didn’t notice the constriction signs and you fell into a deep hole. You are not injured, but the sidewalk is out of reach.

You have a choice. You could resist being in the hole. You could be mad at the construction people, yourself, or any number of things. You could yell and scream. You could sulk and pout. You could stay upset for hours or days. But none of that will change the fact that you are in a hole.

The other choice is to recognize and accept that you are in a hole. Then you can choose to do something about it. You could try to climb out, call out for help, or sit and rest until someone comes by.

You are always where you are right now. The more open you are to seeing your current situation, the better you are able to determine if you want to do something about it.

Knowing you are in a hole is better than not knowing. Accepting that you are in a hole can give you the perspective you need to get out.

Consider looking at the areas of your life that seem difficult – areas where you get upset easily or have physical or maybe emotional pain. See if there are points of resistance that could be the source of that negative energy. Consider accepting yourself and where you are right now. It can make a big difference in how you move forward in your life.

As the Borg said in Star Trek: The Next Generation, “Resistance is Futile.”