Resistance or Fear: What's the Difference?

Resistance is the number one thing that will stop you in your tracks because fear is a vibration of powerlessness and resistance is a vibration of opposition. Fear will jettison you into fight or flight mode. Resistance tries to figure things out, ruminates on the problem, and seeks answers to that dead-end question: "Why?" Fear doesn't think. Fear acts.

On an energetic level, powerlessness feels quite different from opposition. Test it out. Think this thought: fear. How did your body respond to the thought of fear? Did you notice your eyes dilating? Did you experience rapid and shallow breathing? Did your eyes narrow and dart around the room looking for an escape route or assault weapon? Could you feel your body winding-up, getting ready to spring?

Now, think this thought: opposition. How did your body respond to that thought? Did you feel your arms crossing protectively in front of your chest? Did you notice your feet spreading apart, taking a wider stance? Could you feel your breath deepening in preparation for a standoff? Think Wyatt Earp at the O.K. Corral.

The Voices of Powerlessness and Opposition

Run! Go! Command is the voice of powerlessness. Fear expresses itself in short, one-word phrases. That's because the part of the brain that functions when you are in fear is the reptilian brain, the brain stem. The reptilian brain is driven by fear, focuses on survival, and takes over when you feel threatened or endangered.

What is holding me back? What am I afraid of? Questioning is the voice of resistance. So are statements such as, "Go ahead; make my day." Resistance expresses itself in complete sentences. That's because the neocortex governs your ability to speak, think, and solve problems. It is the most evolutionary, advanced part of your brain and affects your creativity and ability to learn.

Fear, the Great Mobilizer

Governed by the reptilian brain, fear bypasses the neocortex and mobilizes the body into action. Whether real or imagined, fear is a powerful biological reaction that kicks in when you physically feel threatened. Fear prepares you for fight or flight. To attack or run.

On a power-to-powerless scale of one to ten, with one being most powerful, fear is a ten. Feeling afraid is a seven or eight. Feeling terrified is an eight or nine. When you are feeling afraid or terrified, you still can think. You are still operating out of your neocortex. Once you hit ten, though, you're cooked. You've dropped down into your brain stem and are galvanized to action.

Resistance, the Great Immobilizer

Resistance is your neocortex alarm bell alerting you to opposition. Slight uneasiness is a one on the scale of no resistance-to-great resistance. Four or five is confusion. Upward from that are agitation, frustration, inertia, and anger. Worry, guilt, and self-doubt weigh in at the three or four mark. Discouragement and scarcity range between three and nine, depending on the intensity of the feeling.

The higher you go up the scale of resistance, the more opposition you feel. The more opposition you feel, the more immobilized you become. Your degree of immobilization is directly proportional to how important something is to you. Pushing through or ignoring your resistance makes things worse. To make things better, discover the answer to the question, "What do I need to allow?"

Five Steps to Turning Resistance Around

Hope floats on Isaac Newton's Third Law of Motion: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." Vibrationally, allowance is the opposite reaction to resistance. Allowance is the key to figuring out what's really going on with you.

How do you do that? Ask the question, "What am I resisting?" Rather than answering it, turn it around. Ask:

- What do I need to allow?
- What is being called forth from within me to allow?
- What do I need to allow in, so I can feel full and inspired to move forward with my great idea?

Step One: Ask yourself whether you are experiencing fear or resistance.

Step Two: Find the one word that best describes what you are experiencing. Identify what you are feeling, not what action you think you should take. Such as:

Anxiety Blockage Confusion

Step Three: Keep Newton's Third Law in mind by remembering that the solution is contained in the problem. For every action (resistance) there is an equal and opposite reaction (allowance). Find the complementary opposite to what you are feeling, and you will have found the key to turning your great idea into reality. Ask, "What is the antonym--the complementary opposite word--for what I am experiencing?"

Anxiety = Ease Blockage = Openness Confusion = Clarity

Step Four: Determine what allowance is being called forth. Ask yourself:

What do I need to feel ease around? What do I need to be open about? What do I need to clarify?

Step Five: Take immediate action in the direction of your allowance--along your path of least resistance. Ask:

What action of allowance would easily and effortlessly move me toward the manifestation of my great idea?

What is the first step I could take along the path of least resistance that would align me with what I want?

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