Notice the tightness in your stomach. That steady, painful, immovable block in your mind. That’s resistance – and it has a physical address in your body. Stress and fear aren’t abstract concepts; they’re tangible sensations holding you hostage.

For those of us in our mature years, resistance often wears a familiar face: the dismissive colleague who treats your experience as obsolete, the health concern that whispers limitations, the world telling you to step aside. That external resistance triggers your inner bully: “Maybe they’re right. Maybe I am past my prime.”

Here’s the antidote: Write down what you’re grateful for.

Not a casual list. Write with specificity and keep writing the facts until something shifts.

“I’m grateful for coffee” becomes “I’m grateful for the morning ritual of grinding beans, the smell filling the kitchen, those first quiet minutes before the day demands anything of me.” “I’m grateful for Maria, our housekeeper, who helped me at the last moment.” “For Edgar’s plumbing skills that saved the day.” “For Martin’s gardening talents that keep beauty alive around us.”

Who are your Marias and Edgars? Name them. Keep going. Tell the truth. Watch what happens. The tightness begins to release. Your shoulders drop. The mental loop quiets.

Why does this work? Because resistance divides us against ourselves.

Resistance takes form in the external world too. It’s the angry worker attacking because they were caught in a lie. The leaking faucet demanding time you don’t have. The irritated client who cannot see the work you’re doing to solve their problem. These aren’t separate from your internal resistance – they’re mirrors of it. When external resistance appears, your inner bully makes it evidence: “See? You can’t handle this anymore.”

If you stay in that hole, resistance hardens into bitterness, resignation, the slow surrender to limitations that were never real.

Face resistance directly. Gratitude is truth. Do everything within your power to resolve the problem. But lean heavily on gratitude to climb out of the resistance hole. Let others help you. You cannot gratitude your way through this alone. We’re not built for solo navigation.

This is daily work. Resistance returns. The practice is what matters.

Resistance wants you isolated and afraid. Gratitude, practiced with specificity and shared with others, is how you reclaim your ground. Feel freedom. Create solutions that work. You are resilient. You are resourceful. Trust yourself. Trust the power of gratitude.

Thanks – Michael (he, him)

Please share this Daily with your tribes.
This is critical too – Truth Matters.

#2144