Sometimes the thing you want to do least is the thing you need to do most.

Resistance is a signal.

This past week has been an interesting one. For the first time in a long time, I've actually resisted exercise as part of my regular routine. Exercise has historically been my regulator—the thing that keeps me not only physically strong but mentally clear. And yet now, several days in a row, I resist it. I resist doing the thing that has helped me most.

No longer willing to get up early enough. Too tired in the evening to will myself. I follow other principles—doing the bare minimum that I can—but sometimes the resistance wins.

Sure, it's okay. But inside I know there's a growing tension. A frustration. A knowing that this is a slippery slope.

And that's the irony: the thing we need, we resist.

---

Sometimes the comfort we reach for—whether in food, distraction, alcohol, sex, whatever your vice is—is actually a signal that something else is calling for our attention. The very thing we're avoiding is the thing asking to be addressed.

When I resist exercise, I know something deeper is needing my attention. And I will fail from time to time.

Self-compassion matters here. We don't berate ourselves when we don't make it to the gym, or when we indulge too much. Part of being an adult is knowing what's good for us and actually executing on it—even if it takes us time to get there.

---

Think of it like parenting.

If a child needs to get out, socialize, move their body—we might have the knowledge and foresight to see that their resistance is just a reaction. They're captured by their emotions. They don't realize that the way out is the very thing they're resisting.

The same is true for us. If we externalize our inner child and treat it accordingly, we can give that child what it needs. We can give ourselves what we need.

But sometimes the child throws a tantrum. And sometimes the tantrum wins. Sometimes we're too exhausted to give the child the best possible circumstance.

Being a parent is hard. Being a parent to ourselves is also hard.

That's the challenge: knowing the signs and signals, building awareness around them, and then developing the capacity to direct ourselves toward what we need—while holding compassion when we fail.