That which you resist, stays. – David R. Hawkins
How do you ever get past the headache, if you keep beating your head against it?
What does that mean?
This is an interesting quote, suggested by a reader. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the quote in context, so I’m not sure exactly what it means. However, it is similar to other quotes I have heard, and I’ll use that as a basis for the meaning of the quote.
To me, this quote is discussing our mental attachment to an idea. How hard is it to think of any color other than blue? What was the first thing you thought of? Most people think of something blue. Even I did, knowing in advance what I was trying to do.
Consider someone who is trying to stop doing something. Can you imagine the difficulty they have in not eating too much? How do you visualize that? You picture too much food, and then try to negate it. What we are trying to resist, we are actually driving deeper into our minds.
If we are trying to resist a vice or some other (according to our values) undesirable behavior, we will only give it a free room in our heads. We end up with this thing owning us, being the central focus of the conflict between what we say we want, and where we place our focus.
Why is forgetting important?
What I have found to be the best way to deal with something is to forget it. Usually it is from distraction, but replacement is another way to try to get something out of our mind. Because, in the end, that’s what we have to do. Unless, of course, you have an iron will, right?
Out of sight, out of mind. I’m sure you’ve heard that before. Have you ever managed to get so caught up in something you forgot you were hungry, even missed a meal? Or looked up at the clock to realize many more hours had passed than you’d planned?
What if you could forget about the cookies in the cabinet? What if you could forget where you put your smokes? What if you could forget about the bottle in the cabinet or in the fridge? Would that make it easier to reduce or eliminate a behavior? In my experience, it certainly does help.
Where can I apply this in my life?
For me, this is best applied where I tend most to focus on the wrong things. If I am hungry, I tend to focus on how hungry I am. No matter how many times I tell myself I’m not hungry, it only tends to re-focus myself on my sensation of hunger.
Yep, by resisting the hunger, the hungries are living rent-free in my head. The only way to banish them is to distract myself. In short, I have to quit resisting the hunger in order to get it to go away. I could just eat, but sometimes that’s not an option, or perhaps I’m trying to cut back or diet.
Where in your life are you having trouble letting go or getting something out of your head? What do you need to get out of sight and out of mind? Take a moment and consider from what you just can’t seem to shake free. Do you have any ideas why that might be?
Typically, the thing you wish to forget, get away from, or otherwise get out of your mind is the very thing you are wrestling with. Think about that, being up close, in physical contact with the very thing of which you wish to be rid. Is that going to work very well?
Would you ever forget your ex if you kept pictures all over the house? Whether you use them for target practice, or as little altars, you’re going to have trouble getting past them when you keep them with you all the time. You might want to consider cutting yourself loose, and dumping the photos, right?
Each chapter in our lives eventually comes to a close. If we don’t want to keep it, we have to let it go. That, to me, is what the quote is about. If we try to hang on to it, whether fondly or by fighting it, we will constantly in the thrall of it.
To me, the same thing applies to things like dieting or quitting smoking. If every time we walk or drive past a food shop, the first thing we think of is what we aren’t able to eat, we are resisting our diet, aren’t we? In this manner, we feel loss, and eventually cheat on the diet.
What can you let go of in your life? What are you still resisting, and in so doing, keeping with you? How do you untangle yourself from this thing? What are you willing to do to get it out of your life? How badly do you want it gone so you can move forward?
It’s up to you. What is holding you back, what are you holding on to, what are you resisting?
From: Twitter, @frethinkaur
confirmed at : http://bodhisattvaquotes.com/post/27062894167/that-which-you-resist-stays-david-r-hawkins
Photo by h.koppdelaney
