The Other Side of Resistance: Moving on instead of going back

September has always felt like a second new year to me. Even more than January, it’s the season of sharpened pencils, new shoes, and fresh calendars. It’s the month when routines settle back in and life gets back to its rhythm.

But if we’re honest, “getting back” isn’t always as simple as it sounds. Sometimes we feel resistance. We drag our feet, not sure why. We assume it’s laziness, procrastination, or lack of discipline. But what if resistance isn’t something to conquer, but something to listen to?

What if it’s not time to go back at all, but time to go on?

The Nature of Resistance

Resistance shows up everywhere. It’s the tug inside when we avoid the task at hand. It’s the heaviness that keeps us from picking up the phone. Sometimes it’s as small as ignoring the laundry pile, and sometimes it’s as large as delaying the next step in a new career.

Author Steven Pressfield, in his book The War of Art, famously described resistance as the invisible force that keeps us from doing the work we’re meant to do. He called it “insidious” and “implacable.” But that’s not always true. Resistance is also instructive. It shows up around things that matter. Pressfield also writes, “Resistance will pervade your being, but it will point to what’s most important.”

That means we shouldn’t always dismiss resistance as an enemy. Sometimes it’s actually a compass.

When Resistance Is Wisdom

Think about it this way - you may have resisted healthy choices during vacation season (think too much ice cream, too many late nights). That resistance wasn’t wisdom; it was indulgence. But now you’re back at home, and you might feel resistance toward ignoring those same habits. That’s the whisper of wisdom, pointing you back toward a better way forward.

There’s a difference between resisting what’s good for us and resisting what no longer fits us. One is avoidance. The other is discernment.

Parker Palmer, in Let Your Life Speak, said it beautifully: “Before you tell your life what you intend to do with it, listen for what it intends to do with you.” Resistance can be that voice of intention, telling us what our life no longer has room for.

Healthy vs. Unhealthy Resistance

Here’s a question worth asking when you feel that familiar urge to wait: Am I resisting out of fear, or am I resisting out of truth?

• Resistance from fear sounds like this: I’m not good enough. I’ll fail. Someone else is better. This is too hard. That’s the resistance we push through, because it keeps us small.

• Resistance from truth sounds like this: This no longer aligns with my values. This season has ended. This is not my work anymore. That’s the resistance we respect, because it keeps us honest.

Learning to tell the difference is part of the spiritual practice of discernment. It is in those moments that we can recognize that what we thought was resistance is, in fact, spiritual intuition.

A Season of Transition

For me, September carries a new weight this year. Eight months ago, I stepped out and retired from a long season within my body of work. But even though I knew what I wanted to do next, I’ve felt the resistance of stepping into the new work waiting for me. It’s been easier to linger in what I know than to walk toward what I don’t. Every day I delay, the resistance grows.

And yet, I can also feel that resistance is telling me the truth: I cannot go back. It is time to go on.

I share that because I suspect many of us feel the same in one area or another. You may not be in retirement, but you may be at a different threshold. Even one you don’t quite recognize yet. You may sense that the old way of doing things doesn’t fit anymore. You may feel resistance every time you try to return to “normal.” That isn’t failure. It’s an invitation.

Listening Differently

So here is a gentle encouragement for September: 

• When you feel resistance, pause before you fight it.

• Ask yourself: Is this resistance fear, or is it truth?

• If it’s fear, push forward with courage. If it’s truth, let it guide you toward what’s next.

Author Anne Lamott wrote in Almost Everything: Notes on Hope, “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” Resistance is often the body and spirit’s way of calling us to unplug. Not to quit, but to reset.

Moving On, Not Back

September is often about returning - to work, to routine, to rhythm.
But not everything we’ve done before deserves to be repeated.

The Apostle Paul put it this way: “Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal…” (Philippians 3:13–14). There’s courage in pressing on, especially when the easier path is simply pressing repeat.

So perhaps this September, instead of asking, What do I need to get back to? we can ask ourselves a better question. What am I being called to go on to?

That small shift in perspective can make all the difference.