The Path of Resistance is the Way
One of the greatest impacts in my life is when I realized that obstacles present themselves as a means to make me better.
Obstacles are my friend. They are there for the sole purpose of testing my will and testing my ability to put the work in and “take the heat.”
If you want to be better at any art form or craft, you have to be willing to face the obstacles that will inevitably present themselves. They will be everywhere. Some you will see coming and others will jump right out in front of you like a deer on a dark road.
I’ve also found that most successful people actually seek out these obstacles. They don’t simply wait for the obstacles to present themselves, they actually take a flashlight out there and go digging for them.
They’re looking for the leverage to grow. The leverage in the form of hardship.
Working out is a fantastic example of this idea of growth through hardship. When you go to a gym and lift weights, you’re putting your muscles through hardship. Your straining them and literally tearing the muscle fibers.
Why would you want to tear your muscle fibers? Isn’t that dangerous?? No. Tearing your muscle fibers gives your body the chance to realize “hey, this body can’t handle that kind of strain. I’ll have to get stronger next time” and then your body repairs this damaged tissue and makes it even stronger than before.
Our bodies are funny that way and our minds share that same capacity. The more hardship we put ourselves through, the more growth we can achieve.
Take reading as yet another example of growth through hardship. Reading can be tough, especially in this society of impatience and notification-warriors that we’ve crafted.
It’s funny that it’s actually hard to just sit still for 20 minutes, 50 minutes or 2 hours and read. Sitting still shouldn’t be so hard, am I right?
For someone who reads every day for 1 hour, reading for 1 hour is easy. If they read for 30 minutes, it’s as if they didn’t even do anything because their mind is used to that 1 hour time. If they try to read for 2 hours, they may struggle a bit. They may get a little restless, especially after that 1 hour point that they are so accustomed to.
But once they read for 2 hours and then repeat that 2 hours every day for a week, how easy do you think it becomes to read for 2 hours? Every day it gets easier and easier. Reading for 30 minutes is nothing to them now. Reading for 1 hour is barely working and reading for 2 hours becomes the norm.
But if you’re someone who reads sporadically - say 30 minutes for 2x a week on random days - then it’s probably pretty hard for you to sit down and read for 2 hours. Some may say that it’s too hard a task to even think about.
Humans are phenomenal at adapting to hardship and obstacles in life. Our bodies and minds are always searching for the path of least resistance, but when we purposely take the other path of significant resistance, we can learn what we are truly made of. We can make hardship the new norm and we can make everyday count.
Here’s the tweet that prompted me to write this, in case you’re interested. This is also one of my favorite twitter accounts to follow. Always great knowledge and always great conversations!
amazing nature... nice click
Our hardships seem to be more monetary and intellectual now a days compared to physically in eons past. Time spent out of your comfort zone jumping the hurdles are the times when you grow the most personally for sure.
Getting there can be as simple as starting something and just deciding not to stop when you encounter an obstacle. If it is worth doing, it is probably going to be hard so you know you are in the right place if it is not easy.
Good to see you writing again man!
100%! Things that are difficult are always the most rewarding, be it physically, mentally, emotionally or intellectually!
Thank you, I'm glad to be back writing, I've missed it and I need to be better about jumping over my own hurdles so I can write more ;)
Awesome blog @khaleelkazi
Thanks for sharing
I appreciated the fact that you've developed a little bit the "patience" mode that doesn't exist annymore for reading ... can you imagine that people are not paying attention and does not invest time in practicing a form of art or imagine what would happen'to see someone to spend hours after hours in practicing on flute/piano/bassoon or anny other instrument ... it's gone ... and people are tempting themselves with plastic music and ways of creating it ... and you know as well that insted of having a propper book in their hands and feeling the smell of the paper, people nowadays are preffering the virtual books ... are we on the right direction? Just wondering in my humble artistic way
Regards and looking forward for your blogs ...
Yeah I definitely see where you're coming from. Society is moving in a weird direction to be frank.
I actually read many of my books on an iPad as well as my iPhone now.. It's more for the sake of note-taking and being on the go a lot more than anything else. When I'm at home and have the ability to though, I definitely prefer paper books!
Excelente reflexión. Los obstáculos no los debemos ver como barreras, sino como incitación para salir y seguir adelante en nuestra vida y hacerla cada día mejor, para que en algún momento dejemos un legado digno de seguir. Te deseo muchos éxitos y bendiciones. Saludos desde Venezuela, país que enfrenta tantos obstáculos y se niega a perder…!!!
Your post is helping me to go through these ups and downs.
I'm glad to hear it!!
Syper
Great post! “Should you find a wise critic to point out your faults, follow him as you would a guide to hidden treasure.”
(This is a genuine Buddha quote. It’s from verse 76 of the Dhammapada.)
I loved your post. Keep up the good work. It is true that resistance helps us grow. One must wonder though, going along with the herd doesn't garner much resistance. Therefore, does it really help anyone in the long run? We need those out there willing to sacrifice time to aid in our evolution. Revealing truths and histories that have long been hidden. Ones that will help us ALL grow as a species. Thank you for your time. I wish you the best of days!
Obstacles come in different shapes and sizes in our life but it is up to us to use them as stepping stones to get what we want or get to where we want to in life or allow them to overwhelm us and become hardship.
Keep up the good work @khaleelkazi
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