Intentions indicate a sense of lack. A sense of purpose arises to fill that lack. For example, I breathe to satisfy a sense of lack of oxygen.
I seek to satisfy physical and psychological needs by solving problems. That means asking questions that lead to solving those problems.
When I become aware of a problem, I must solve it with a change. That’s a problem because I resist change.
How do I solve the problem of resistance? That resistance is a state of mind and states of mind can change. A state of mind break might be useful.
Breaking focus from a defensive state of mind to a more resourceful state of mind involves a simple change of attention. For example, when I’m focused on a problem and resist its solution, I might use an insightful question to break the resistant state of mind, “What do you want?” Or I might yell, “Snap out of it!” in my mind. Or, I may engage in some unrelated activity, like walking, redirecting focus, or asking an unrelated question.
Solving the Resistance Problem
With awareness of my defensiveness, I might follow-up with some self-awareness questions:
“What do you need?”
“How might the information I’m resisting be useful to me?”
“What else could this mean than what I think it means?”
“Why am I resisting this?”
“Who am I?”
These questions may bring about awareness that stops the resistant response.
In the process of solving the problem of a resistant state of mind, the discomfort of resistance can awaken awareness. Once activated, awareness is an opportunity for insightful understanding. Awareness questions experience. When I question my experiences, I bring clarity of understanding to them.
Let’s look at some examples of how I might use clarity to solve the problem of resistance.
Problem – Solution:
Fear – Pause from present actions and intention to investigate purpose, refocus, and ground.
Certitude – Question present resistance with, “Is it true?” “Can I know it’s true?”
Stress – Calmness
Stuck thinking – Consider alternatives, “What else could this be/mean?”
Inattention – Check my intention, “What do I want?”
In doing the above, I’m taking a shortcut to problem solving. In this case, the problem is resistance, the solution is understanding.
