The wolf at the door isn’t struggle, it’s comfort. In our culture, there’s an unspoken assumption that we must strive, strain, and struggle in order to one day reach some point where life becomes “easy.” 

But the truth is that “ease” is nothing more than a mindset; it’s a shift from hating/avoiding the things that make us stronger, to learning to love them because pain/discomfort is an integral part of life. To really illustrate this point, let me tell you a story about our best friend Brian:

Brian is a successful investment banker who essentially retired and went on an epic journey around the world for a year and a half in 2016 with his fiancee, Ali. We had the opportunity to meet them in Portugal (pictured above, Brian’s in the center) when they were about 8 months into their journey. I missed them very much and I right away asked Brian, “what’s it like!?” To which he responded, “To be honest, once the excitement wore off it began to feel pretty normal. I still experience the same amounts of strain and discomforts, only they’ve changed context. Now I may find myself stressing about capturing the best sun lounge chair on the beach as I experienced when working on a large acquisition in my work.” 

Brian’s unexpected response helped me realize that I had been actually devoting my life towards chasing the feeling of success, and this is something that comes from within. 

When we discipline ourselves with manufactured struggles like exercise, intermittent fasting/restrictions, and facing uncomfortable mental/physical challenges,  our senses heighten, our mind and body strengthens, and so does our level of appreciation and self-confidence.

At times when you’re feeling like you haven’t accomplished enough, I want you to ask yourself this question:

“What am I really chasing after?”

In these moments we have a choice: 

Indulge in comforts that will only further dilute our personal-power, or wake up and do what feels uncomfortable like a warrior who screams “Bring it on!”

 Whatever we resist always finds a way to persist in our being, so learning to see resistance more as a friend and guide is the key to shifting from a life of constant states of dis-ease to a life of ease.

#theobstacleistheway #oldfriendresistance