“Most of us have two lives. The life we live, and the unlived life within us. Between the two stands Resistance…”
The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle by Steven Pressfield
Can I just be really honest? You know, since we’re all friends here?
I don’t particularly enjoy going through life solo.
There are parts of it that I love but for the most part, in the back of my mind, there is always the question of whether or not I will walk alone forever. It’s a fear of mine, dying by myself. And I have quite a few friends who struggle with the same fear.
My coping mechanism?
Avoidance.
I just try not to think about it. It’s such a healthy way to deal…
Side Note: When I do allow my thoughts to drift in that direction, though, it makes me want to be even nicer to my nephews so that they make sure that Auntie Jessica gets to live in a swanky retirement home that has lots of fun activities planned–especially now that Soap Operas have gone the way of the dinosaur. I can’t handle a day filled with Judge Judy and Maury Povich as I’m reaching the end of my journey.
But what I fear the most? More than dying alone?
Living a life of regret.
I just don’t want to miss anything that God has prepared for me to do, no matter how difficult or painful it might be. My flesh hates it when I write that statement, but my Spirit believes it. I don’t want to miss anything. I want my time on this Earth to matter and to bring glory to the Father. And, despite my preference otherwise, my life is to be lived solo right now. I could try to resist it, but then there’s that regret problem…
You know, resistance is a funny thing. We can try to take matters into our own hands and resist our singleness. We can make poor dating choices and even marry out of fear. But that’s not really the resistance I’m talking about.
I’m talking about the resistance that we should be fighting daily.
The resistance to isolate ourselves from the Body of Christ and Community with other Believers.
The resistance to over-commit our lives to the point that we lose our Kingdom focus.
The resistance to center our lives around our desires and our comfort instead of pouring them out in service to Christ and others.
When we battle against resistance, we find that the two lives, of which Pressfield writes, no longer exist. But until we decide to get in the game and fight, we’ll be living lives that are focused on soothing our emotions and not on what God has called us to do today.
Each month, our SingleRoots writers will craft their posts around one topic. For November, we’ll be dwelling on the word resistance as it relates to single Believers. We’ll be meditating on it and allowing the Holy Spirit to do a little [root]WORK, if you will. Everyone’s perspective is different, and hopefully you’ll find a few that you can relate to.
Resistance.
What does it look like in your life? What’s the battle you most need to fight in order to live in the now and not in the future?
