Resistance

Resistance keeps us alive. Resistance causes us to fail. We feel it when we stretch our fingers in front of the fire. We also feel it when we think of something unpleasant we would rather not do. Yet, funnily enough, both the necessary and the unnecessary resistance have the same word to describe it.

Science gives one definition of it. We can calculate it – even that on our own skin. It is a tangible and real thing, quantified by a unit named after a German man who devoted his life to learning all about it. We know it and we need it sometimes, but at other times it is a nuisance. Resistance is useful when we try to move, but also causes losses in a conducting wire. Like nature, it is both good and evil.

Our fickle mind provides the other side of the same story. We put off or forget or say no to what we don’t like. It stops us from getting into things that would be detrimental to us. It may sometimes hold us back from doing things that would change our lives for the better. Like its measurable other-self, it is a blessing and a curse.

Breaking down the virtual resistance is a simple matter of applying will-power. We are only as limited as the walls around our minds. When our desire to achieve something is greater than the obstacles in the path, they miraculously melt away. If only it were that easy for the physicists.

Word count: 250

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When I sat down to write this post, I had another topic in mind. But the words were dripping like drops from a leaking faucet rather than flow like a graceful stream from my mind onto the screen. So, I changed directions and wrote about that feeling. I still struggled with it and took many a break (mostly talking to Subha, a friend, about whom I can’t say nice things). I’m just glad I overcame it and wrote on, regardless of the quality of the end result. What do you make of it? Let me know in the comments section below.