Resistance makes you suffer. And it ages you.
Let me explain.
Things like chronic physical problems, other people’s words and actions, the economy and wars, are usually out of your control. So is aging. No matter what you do, the passage of time (entropy) eventually takes its toll.
So what do most of us have a tendency to do? We fret over what we can’t manage. We resist what we can’t control. And that makes it worse. Fretting and resisting lead to being frazzled and stressed… and accelerated aging. Resisting robs you of control of your life, happiness, clear thinking, sound sleep and optimal productivity. It can tear families apart and destroy your most cherished relationships.
So how do you recognize when you are resisting?
It’s usually when you are uncomfortable about something, when things aren’t going your way. If resistance is the poison, what is the antidote?
Watching! Witnessing! Pure and simple, the act of observing yourself as if you were watching someone else’s feelings when feeling discomfort often leads to a life changer.
While observing your resistance every time things aren’t going your way, be curious as to what is happening and how it is affecting you. Stand back, let things play out and totally accept the situation. If it’s out of your control, understand the damage you are doing to yourself by futilely resisting.
If you discover the circumstance is something you have control over, then improve your health and stress by finding solutions and fixing it.
Some health related examples are smoking or eating sugar-laden or high simple carbohydrate foods. Be conscious about every step. Watch how you suck poisonous gas into your lungs with every drag. With every bite, observe the toxins you put into your mouth traveling down to your stomach, into your intestines and eventually into every organ, tissue and cell of your body.
If you can intellectualize and actually witness yourself doing that with laser beam focus, how long do you think you would keep up those deadly habits?
So if you want to quit smoking or change your damaging diet habits, from now on, smoke or eat consciously.
Discomfort is usually a result of conscious or unconscious resistance to what is going on. The solution to resistance is to watch your thoughts, feelings and behaviors as if you were curiously watching them happen to someone else. Consciousness leads to understanding consequences. Unconsciousness does the opposite and results in destructive behavior.
I think and talk a lot about the negative effects of aging. So much so, that I find myself resisting the process. And by doing so, I have come to realize that I am actually accelerating my aging process by resisting the wrinkles, graying hair and my failing eyesight.
Ironic, huh? Are there things I can do to slow aging? Sure. I do them every day, and I talk and write about them. Will I be able to actually have my aging process reversed someday and look and feel like a 25 year-old again? That’s what MaxLife is all about. With lots of hard work, clear thinking, money and luck, it should happen in my lifetime.
Meanwhile, I’m undermining my personal chances by resisting the process of aging. I’m resisting aging so much that I am also missing some of the pleasures of the passage of time. By resisting, I’m actually missing a good part of life. Resistance (not what is being resisted, but the resistance itself) is the source of any physical, mental or emotional discomfort you and I may have.
Don’t try to stop resisting, just mentally step aside and watch yourself thinking, feeling or doing. The awareness generated by noticing or watching will cause the resistance, and the discomfort that always accompanies the resistance, to dissolve. Learning how to do this takes time. I know, because it’s an ongoing challenge for me. But it is a major key to health, longevity, happiness and inner peace.
So until science fixes aging, accept the fact that you are going to slowly decline, just like everyone else. You can accelerate the decline or slow it down. The counterintuitive way to slow it down is to let it happen. Observe your reactions to it and completely accept it for what it is. Then keep up your healthy habits, support life extension research when you can, and you will improve your extreme longevity odds.