On the day Donald Trump was elected many people fell into a deep depression and the notion of Resist began to take shape. “We have to fight this. We cannot be complacent. Our democracy is hanging in the balance.” Folks began to gather and mobilize and see how to join The Resistance.
In November, those in The Resistance will likely “win,” and when that happens there will be a tremendous desire, primarily born of sheer exhaustion, to collapse into the success. “Whew. Thank God, that’s over. Now our lives will return to normal.”
The likelihood of going back to sleep is enormous.
The problem with resistance is that while it does feel powerful for a while it is an exhausting process. We push back, we fight, we rail, we rally, we chant, all of which takes tremendous amounts of energy that is not being renewed.
To stand a building must have equal pressures pushing inward and pushing outward. Remove either and the building will collapse outward or inward. We must avail ourselves of this principle in dealing with the world of politics—and ego in general! We must stop being the “push” that is holding upright a structure that will collapse without our “support.”
What is the alternative? Choice. If we choose what we want, we can happily turn toward building what we choose, allowing that old structure to collapse for lack of an opposition holding it in place. The energy of choosing is not exhausting. The energy of choosing is exciting, exhilarating, creative, and sustaining. We move into possibility and realize that what we can envision we can create.
We don’t want to be against. That’s what ego is. Ego, the illusion of being separate from Life, is a “no” to Life’s “yes.” “Against the opposition” is not a choice for life. The danger in being “against the opposition” is that when the opposition is defeated—as it surely will be—we will be left with a vacuum into which it will be far too easy to collapse.
When we choose the world we want to build, when our energies are moving into possibility, we are living in “yes.” “Yes, this is the world we want. Yes, this is what we choose for our lives, our children’s lives, the world at large, and the planet.” Our yes will create the opening for all the good we can envision. Empathy, compassion, kindness, fairness, sharing, inclusion, welcoming, connection, community, support, and generosity are all ours for the choosing.
Gassho
Cheri