60 Second Wisdom – How to Slay the Dragon

“The hardest battle to win is one you don’t even realize you are fighting, and the hardest enemy to defeat is the one you don’t even know exists. Every day you are in a battle with resistance.

Make no mistake, resistance is your enemy. It will not quietly go away and leave you alone. You have to slay it like a dragon, and you have to slay it anew each day.

Here are 4 ways to slay resistance every day:

1. Expect resistance. You should be surprised. It’s going to be there breathing fire every day.

2. Know what you want more than the mindless comfort of procrastination.

3. Focus on one thing at a time. Multi-tasking is a mega-resistance trap.

4. Just do it.

And remember, don’t just be yourself, become the best version of yourself!”


60 Second Wisdom – Did You Make This Mistake This Morning?

“The alarm clock goes off. It’s time to get out of bed. This is your first decision of the day. Will you get out of bed or hit the snooze button? You press the snooze button and roll over.

What just happened? No big deal, right? Wrong. You just lost the first battle of the day. Resistance just kicked your butt. Resistance has broken your will before you’ve even gotten out of bed. You will most likely be its slave for the rest of the day.

What is resistance? It’s that sluggish feeling of not wanting to do something that you know is good for you, it’s the inclination to do something that you unabashedly know is not good for you, and it’s everything in between. It’s the desire and tendency to delay something you should be doing right now.

Don’t be a slave to resistance. Start by slaying it in that first moment of each day.

And remember, don’t just be yourself, become the best version of yourself!”


Matthew Kelley – Stop Sabotaging Yourself and Take Control

4 Ways to Stop Sabotaging Yourself (How to) Stop Sabotaging Yourself and Take Control of Your Life – Matthew Kelly

“Resistance wears a thousand masks, many of which are so effective we don’t even recognize resistance is behind them. Laziness, procrastination, fear, doubt, instant gratification, self-loathing, indecision, escapism, pride, self-deception, friction, tension, and self-sabotage are just some of the ways resistance manifests its ugly self in our lives and causes us to settle for so much less than God has imagined for us. You cannot become the-best-version-of-yourself unless you wake up every morning ready to slay resistance. Resistance stands between you and happiness.

Here are 4 ways to break through resistance and stop sabotaging yourself:

1. Be mindful when you are stressed, anxious, or over-tired, and learn ways to manage these states.
2. Abolish “If only…” thinking from your mind and life.
3. Whatever you are feeling – name it and own it! You are not your feelings, but if you avoid them, they will destroy you.
4. Develop one grounding habit that you do every day and NEVER miss. Run, walk, meditate, read… find your thing and ingrain it deep into your daily routine.

And remember, don’t just be yourself, become the best version of yourself!”


Resisting Happiness – Resistance

Resistance is that sluggish feeling that stops us from doing the things we know are good for us. It a big part of why we often feel that happiness is just outside of our reach. We must learn to recognize and conquer resistance one moment at a time because God created us for happiness.


Minute Meditation – Unconditional Love

I am afraid we are all born rather egocentric. We are the only reference point that we have, at least initially. “It’s all about me, and why shouldn’t it be?” If Mom and Dad mirror us well, we soon develop “mirror neurons” for empathy and relationship with others, but even other people can still be seen as mere means to my own power and pleasure. Or I can think I deserve everything, which we call a sense of entitlement. 

Unless there is some pressure, social or parental, pushing the infant beyond the pleasure principle, human nature tends to largely take the path of least resistance. We really do need prods, goads, ideals to help us think outside of the little boxes we all create for ourselves. That is the function of laws and commandments. Only in the more mature person can love and grace take over—or even be understood.

—from the book Wondrous Encounters: Scriptures for Lent
by Richard Rohr, OFM

//Franciscan Media//