Category: longing to be

You might be thinking, “Novelette, get over yourself,” or perhaps not! The truth is, many of us experience resistance in one form or another, and it can sometimes grow  into a limiting belief. But I’m not here to label this as good or bad—and I’m certainly not giving myself a pass.

Resistance can be the refusal to comply with or accept something, which might be linked to a fear one holds. For example: 

• When I feel resistance to being interrupted or silenced, it may ignite a fear of being made invisible. And who wants to be made to feel invisible by another?
• When I resist someone’s assumptions about who I am, it negates my own sense of being heard or welcomed. This disconnect can erode the feeling of connectedness many of us deeply value.
• When I resist my own resistance, it feels like a double-edged sword—the original discomfort, followed by the added weight of feeling like I “shouldn’t” resist at all.

But what if resistance is also a teacher?

When we approach resistance with curiosity instead of judgment, we gain the opportunity to name what’s emerging and explore how it might serve our well-being. As one definition puts it: 

“Well-being can be understood as how people feel and function on both a personal and social level, and how they evaluate their lives as a whole.” (What Is Wellbeing? —PMC)

So, when a family member, friend, or colleague seems resistant, how curious are you about their perspective? Are you willing to engage in a conversation to find common ground—or even build on the differences to create something new? After all, sameness stifles creativity, while diverse perspectives open the door to broader insights.

Change cannot happen without resistance. It’s through resistance that we reaffirm our values and identify where we need to grow. Ignoring it only postpones the inevitable, and in some cases, leads to stagnation or missed opportunities.

Lately, I’ve been examining my own resistance to AI—not all AI, but specifically the applications designed to “streamline” human interaction. In other words, how I relate with my clients. A team I worked with was eliminated after management decided to digitize the work using AI, believing it would achieve similar, if not greater, results while serving more people. With the belief in the magic of human connection, I balked at the idea that AI could be the solution to the well-being crisis our society has faced for years.

In February’s blog, I’ll share more about my resistance to AI and how it might be holding me back, but also how it could be an opportunity to rethink the way I engage with clients. This is a deeply personal exploration, one that invites reflection, as noted above on the reflection card.