Chapter 6: Resistance
CHOOSING PRESENCE PP. 59-60
To explore how the practice of presence can help confront and dissolve resistance.
Summary
This section explains how presence helps you break free from resistance, allowing you to fully experience the moment and connect with God. By focusing on your breath and embracing stillness, you can interrupt the cycle of negative thoughts and judgment that resistance creates. Instead of feeling stuck, you open yourself to peace and acceptance. You’ll also find practical ways to bring presence into your daily life so you can move past resistance and experience more clarity and connection.
The practice of presence helps to block our problems and life situations from taking over. It helps us avoid making instant judgments about people, situations, and ourselves, and it stops our resentments, which all ultimately cause us pain.
— Choosing Presence, p. 59
A Moment for Reflection
Pause for a moment and reflect on the following three questions:
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Think about times when you’ve felt consumed by stress or frustration. How might practicing presence have changed your experience?
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Consider how quick judgments impact your peace of mind. What would it feel like to meet situations with awareness instead of reaction?
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Reflect on one practical way you can bring more presence into your daily routine. How might it help you respond to challenges with more clarity and peace?
Deepening the Practice: Journal Prompt
Resistance often fuels stress, judgment, and inner conflict, keeping us disconnected from the present moment. Choosing Presence teaches that by shifting into presence, we stop giving our problems unnecessary power over us. Instead of being consumed by worry, resentment, or comparison, we can access a deeper sense of peace and self-awareness. Practicing presence allows us to step back, release negative patterns, and experience life with greater clarity and openness.
Think about a situation in your life where you feel resistance—whether it’s frustration with a person, stress over a challenge, or an inner struggle to accept something as it is. How does this resistance affect your thoughts, emotions, and actions? Now, imagine bringing presence into this situation. How might shifting your focus to the present moment change how you experience it? What could you let go of in order to move forward with greater peace?