All suffering is resistance. We are resisting what is. Because it is not the way we want it to be, we then suffer.
The opposite of resistance is acceptance. Letting it be as it is. Yet this is difficult. We reject what is because it is not perfect, beautiful, and true. We think that by resisting it, we can then change it. If this worked, then suffering would not arise.
But our resistance does not lead to positive change, it leads to aversion, and we either avoid the thing or feel depressed about it. Acceptance, on the other hand, does not mean withdrawal or resignation, it means engagement. When we can accept what is, then we are also open to what can be.
All this is hard to understand in the abstract. So let us imagine a situation where resistance arises. Imagine that you have no job and are low on money.
This is an unpleasant situation and you feel instant resistance to it. You do not like it at all. It frightens and upsets you. It is not the situation that has created your suffering, but your strong reaction to it. Because you are resisting, you are suffering.
You reject the situation because it threatens the integrity of your well-being. This resistance, this rejection, and this suffering leads you to feel stuck, confused, and desperate. From this place, your thoughts, feelings, and behavior are seldom productive. Your power of adaptation are greatly diminished. You have a bad situation on your hand and you feel bad about it.
Now switch that to accepting what is: that you have no job and are low on money. But because of that acceptance, you are able to feel good enough to start using the Law of Attraction to start working for you. Because you are still in a resourceful state, you are open to new possibilities of how to create money in your life. Do you see the difference? Resistance creates a reaction of suffering that immediately plunges you into a non-resourceful state, and either the situation gets worse or it is resolved in a less than satisfactory way, e.
g. you get a low paying job that you hate. Acceptance on the other hand means that you remain optimistic. You see what is and you choose not to enter a non-resourceful state. You then resolve the situation by thinking, feeling, and acting in a positive way. It is easy to love and accept what is good and pleasant.
Yet problems do not have those characteristics. Our immediate and default reaction is to resist and to begin suffering and to make things worse. Yet with awareness, we can choose what is and adapt to positively changing it.
Saleem Rana would love to share his inspiring ideas His book Never Ever Give Up tells you how. It is offered at no cost as a way to help YOU succeed. The Empowered Soul
