The Path of Least Resistance Part 3

December 8, 2024

​​​​​​​The Path of Least Resistance Part 3

Making a conscious choice is sometimes very personal. When someone hurts our feelings or attacks us emotionally, we can naturally get defensive. Regardless of how spiritually conscious we may be, when we are hit, our first impulse is to return the blow.  

However, consciousness makes all the difference in our actual response. In consciousness, after we are struck, we first pause. We recognize our human impulse to strike back, but we do not judge ourselves; instead, we drop it into our hearts. Our heart has empathy for the soul who struck us. Rather than hating them, our heart tells us that they are to be pitied. 

They committed emotional violence because of an error in their being, which they had no conscious awareness of. That error stems from fear and hatred within them. They may be victims of the same fear and violence from others and are merely passing it down. Because, at that moment, they have an absence of love, and they deal with their emotion only by aggression. Like someone without an arm or leg, we have compassion for them. 

In consciousness, we do not respond to aggression with like behavior. Neither is our response to emotional aggression submissive or defeatist. Instead, we respond with a statement of truth that comes from our hearts. The absence of hatred in our statement speaks for itself. This is not the path of least resistance but the path of love. 

Spiritual practice: If you have not tried this type of conscious approach to being hurt, try it and see what the outcome is for you.

Self-inquiry: What do you sacrifice when you take the conscious approach? 

Dear God,

Turning my cheek gives me pause to drop into my heart. I cannot turn my cheek without the power of your love. For that love, I humbly pray. Amen