Resistance for Growth

How surrender, strength, and discomfort expanded my world.

Dec 17, 2025

What if resistance isn’t something to avoid but something to lean into?

Resistance, by default, sounds negative, an objection, friction, something not cohesive or compatible. We resist change. We resist discomfort. We resist the unfamiliar.

Yet in athletic training, resistance is everything.

Resistance builds muscle. It strengthens the heart. It boosts focus and mental health. It increases flexibility, improves sleep, and supports longevity and quality of life. Even the language around it is hopeful: growth, strength, boosts, increased, improved.

So why, in life, do we fear it?

When We Resist, We Deny

I moved from the ocean to the mountains. From beaches to vast land, woods, hills, and peaks. And I resisted every step of the way.

I white-knuckled the transition. I didn’t trust God’s plan. I dug my heels in and slid myself into a new region of the state, clinging to what I had lost instead of what might be gained.

At first, resistance felt like survival.

Leaning In

Then something subtle shifted.

As I walked my girls to school each day, I started to lean in, just a little. I asked paras along the way, “Any teaching positions?” I introduced myself to the school secretary. I checked in. I showed up.

Day after day.

Until one morning, to my disbelief, a para said, “Someone just went on leave today.”

Within two hours, I was hired as a year-long long-term substitute first-grade teacher.

That was the moment I stopped gripping so tightly and gave God room to show me His plan.

Following the Thread

Not long after, an email landed in my inbox about a Master’s program.

I didn’t overthink it. I jumped in.

I connected with professors and peers who shared similar experiences, all of us working toward the same goal: earning our Master’s degree and teaching license. I formed beautiful, life-altering connections, relationships that changed the trajectory of my life in ways I couldn’t have imagined.

Resistance was still there, but it was no longer blocking me. It was guiding me.

Learning to Love a Different Kind of Magic

It took a full year in what I call “the country” to stop resisting resistance.

Instead of digging my heels in, I took myself to the lake. The ponds. I kayaked. I hiked. I spent time among trees and mountains and discovered a different kind of magic than the ocean, quieter, deeper, just as healing.

Sleek ripples across the pond.

Sanctuary.

Spiritual.

I was changed.

Year Two: Snowfall

Then the snow came.

Year two.

Instead of dread, I put skis on.

Fresh, crisp air wrapped around my warm layers. I learned to find my footing in boots and skis rather than gliding through waves. Freedom, fear, joy, and meditation, all in one moment.

This time, resistance was for growth.

I worked my heart muscle. I accepted change. I boosted my mental health. I surrendered, fully, to God’s plan.