Reflection

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MATTHEW KELLY’S NOTION OF RESISTANCE IN RESISTING HAPPINESS

BY

NWABUISI JOHNPAUL

The human mind is once clouded with lots of thoughts, thoughts which express our innumerable desires, needs, wants, and fears. Sometimes, we want to do so many things at the same time, we make resolutions, we make commitments at different stages of our life, but at the end of the day we only have tons of things we desire to do, but we really do not do them. Why is this so? This is as a result of something called Resistance. Matthew Kelly’s masterpiece ‘Resisting Happiness,’ sheds light on this existential issue, and helps us realize that what hinders us from doing that we should do is something called ‘Resistance’.

For Matthew Kelly, resistance are those sluggish feelings of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you, or it is the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you. “It’s the desire and tendency to delay something you know you should be doing.” For instance, if I want to wash my clothes and I defer to do it later then it means I have given in to resistance. Resistance hinders us from acting; it keeps us only at the level of thoughts, it makes us myopic in our thoughts, it limits us, it makes us unproductive, and leaves us in the shackles of mediocrity.

Resistance as a limitation gives us reasons to justify our weaknesses, our failings, faults and laziness. We give excuses to make us satisfied with not doing that which we should do, or doing a good act. If I plan to read my book by 3am, my alarm rings I hear it and then keep snoozing till 5am, when I wake up later in the day, I would begin to give excuses such as oh, I slept late last night, oh, I will read the book later. In this scenario, resistance has shown its ugly head.

Resistance as unproductivity makes us not do anything at all. It just keeps us there. We have lots of thoughts, and desires to achieve but yet we do not do them because resistance does not allow us do it. It blocks are chances of progressing and stops us from becoming the better versions of ourselves, and the worse of all we become afraid of failing, we become afraid to try, we become scared to do things because we do not want to make mistakes. How then do we want to grow if we keep heeding to the calls of resistance in our life.

Resistances comes in various forms via; laziness, procrastination, instant gratification, amongst many others. It is expedient that we recognize that the worst enemy in our lives is resistance, since it stands as an obstacle to our will. Matthew Kelly, avers that the hardest battle to win is one you do not even realize you are fighting, and the hardest enemy to defeat is one you do not even exist. Now we have and know our common enemy ‘resistance,’ we must consciously fight against it each day and each time it surfaces itself in our lives. It is a personal struggle and a daily battle.

If all the famous, renowned, recognized sages, professors and doctors et cetera, gave resistance the opportunity to use them, then we would not have known or heard about them, or their achievements, and contributions to the world. We are to reflect on these questions; what should I be doing right now? Am I doing the right thing now? Do I have sluggish feelings of achieving my dreams? Do I find difficulty in not carrying out what I desire to do? The key is to fight against resistance always.

This life could be tensed, and filled with a whole lot of events, but still do that good act you should do, you should write that article you suspended writing, or that which the ideas are still in your mind, you should come out for the various activities, that assignment you plan to do, do it, that resolution you made, work hard to ensure that you are faithful to it. For our ability to keep with challenges and trials, trains our will, obedience, disciplines us and makes it easy for us to fight resistance when it comes. Matthew Kelly’s book becomes timely and apt to us, as it gives as a lot of insights and hindsight to our lives, and I also encourage that we read the book. I bet you would love it. Do have a nice week ahead!