Resistance gets in the way of manifesting. And being in a state of resistance is just not a fun way to live.
“Your entire work is about lowering your resistance.” —Abraham
Choosing the path of least resistance applies to everything in your life.
- The job change you want to make, that crucial conversation you’ve been meaning to have with your spouse, and the project you’re trying to finish.
- The path of least resistance applies when it comes to decluttering your house, dealing with your finances, and making decisions about your next chapter.
The path of least resistance is the path you want to be on all the time.
“If it’s not coming easily, I am not on the path of least resistance.” —Abraham
Well, that sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
So let me ask: Have things been coming easily for you? Have you been on the path of least resistance?
“Your Inner Being knows everything that you want, and knows where you stand in relationship to it, and knows the path of least resistance to get you to it. And the path of least resistance is NOT about getting you in the swiftest way from where you are to everything that you want to be. It’s the path of most enjoyment that your Inner Being is guiding you on.” —Abraham
I have to say—I absolutely love that distinction. The path of least resistance is not necessarily the fastest way to something you want. It could be…but it’s really about the path of most enjoyment.
Now, sometimes the path of most enjoyment is initially going to be too high a bar. You’ve argued with your spouse, lost your job, or received an unwanted diagnosis. The path of most enjoyment might seem far-fetched in those moments, but there is still the path of least resistance.
You are always being guided by your emotions to the path of least resistance.
- Positive emotion is an indicator of allowance. Positive feelings indicate flow.
- Negative emotion, on the other hand, is an indicator of resistance. Negative feelings indicate you are blocking—or resisting—the flow. That’s why it’s called resistance.
Let’s look at how resistance gets in the way of manifesting what you want.
Think about something you want to manifest—something you want. Abraham describes that as giving thought to something with emotion.
- You want the promotion, the relationship, the house.
- You want peace of mind, more adventure, financial freedom.
Wanting comes naturally. It’s happening all the time because of contrast. The great variety of life is clarifying your preferences and causing you to ask. Now, whether you ask with words or not doesn’t matter; the point is, you are always asking.
That wanting—that asking—is one half of deliberate creation. And it’s the easy part. Because you can’t not ask.
Then we come to the other half of deliberate creation—or manifesting—where resistance can come into play.
You’ve asked, and now you need to get in receiving mode. You need to line up vibrationally with what you’ve asked for. You need to allow, to expect, to relax, to let it be, to receive.
This is where most of us introduce a ton of resistance.
Because we don’t line up vibrationally with what we want. We don’t expect, we don’t relax, and we don’t let it be.
In short, we don’t practice the Art of Allowing.
“You have heard us say that when you are in the state of Allowing, you do not have negative emotion. The state of Allowing is freedom from negativity; therefore, when you have set forth your deliberate intent to have something and you are feeling only positive emotion about it, then you are in the state of Allowing it to be. And then you will have it.” —Abraham from The Law of Attraction
Let me remind you of the three steps of manifesting.
- Step 1: Ask. You have a desire. That is the asking, explicit or not.
- Step 2: Believe. You believe. You expect. You know when you ask, it is given.
- Step 3: Receive. You feel good and align with the vibration of what you want. You allow and let it be. You expect and take inspired action.
The other day I heard something so brilliant that totally created a shift for me. Abraham says we’ve made too much of a lifestyle out of the asking part—that’s Step 1, and that we need to make more of a lifestyle out of Step 3—which is being in receiving mode.
The more I study Law of Attraction, the more I realize my work is Step 3, Step 3, Step 3.
My work is to be a vibrational match to what I want.
Your work is Step 3, Step 3, Step 3—to make a lifestyle out of being a vibrational match to what you want.
Asking is great; it’s fantastic! So by all means, ask for what you want. Appreciate the contrast and how it helps you clarify your preferences. But don’t keep asking over and over for the same thing as if the Universe is hard of hearing or slow to understand. It’s not!
Ask and then get in receiving mode.
Ask and then allow.
Because when you repeatedly ask, you create resistance with your doubt, with your lack of positive expectation, with your lack of belief, with your focus on the absence of what you want, with your frustration it hasn’t yet arrived.
To recap: Step 1 is happening naturally. Step 2 is the work of the Universe. And so it is Step 3, lowering resistance and getting in the receiving mode, that’s really your work to do.
There’s another great concept to help you understand resistance.
Abraham refers to it as the wobble.
The wobble is where you split your energy. You want something, but then negate it. You talk about what you want and at the same time focus on the absence of it or your skepticism about it manifesting.
You can see how that creates a mixed vibration, right? Well, that is the wobble. The wobble is a mixed vibration.
Are you wobbly? Do you launch a rocket of desire and then immediately contradict it?
- I want more money, but money is hard to come by.
- I want a relationship, but don’t think it will happen.
- I want to say no, but worry what everyone will think.
- I want to make a career change, but am too old.
- I want to declutter, but feel guilty getting rid of things.
Wobble, wobble, wobble.
All those buts are introducing resistance into your vibration, which is decidedly not what you want.
“Do not think about what you do not want. Do not give thought to that which you do not want—for your attention to it attracts it. The more you think about it, the more powerful your thought becomes, and the more emotion comes forth. However, when you say, ‘I’m not going to think about that subject anymore,’ in that moment you are still thinking about that subject. So the key is to think about something else—something that you do want. With practice you will be able to tell by the way you feel if you are thinking about something wanted or unwanted.” —Abraham from The Law of Attraction
Remember, your Emotional Guidance System is always guiding you to the path of least resistance. Positive emotion and feelings of relief are the path of least resistance.
But here’s the thing: We’ve all been trained that we have to push and persevere.
That we have to try hard and hustle. We have to effort our way to what we want and make it happen. We’ve all heard the expression, No pain, no gain.
Living the way of no pain no gain has worn us out, made us irritable and impatient, overwhelmed and exhausted, resentful, sad, and angry.
Well, Abraham is not about the pain. And by Law of Attraction, all that pain is going to get you is more pain because like attracts like.
As Abraham says: “You cannot have a happy ending to an unhappy journey.”
Only you know your path of least resistance.
Because only you think your thoughts and feel your feelings. Abraham talks about everyone having their own path, but the problem is we too often have our nose on the paths of others. Either in trying to control others or comparing ourselves to others.
Or maybe you’re someone who is always trying to be someone else’s path of least resistance.
“When you try to be the path of least resistance for someone, you train them in their own conditional living, and then they’re never free to really find freedom. They always need you to affect some circumstance so that they can feel better, which is bondage for them and bondage for you.” —Abraham
Many of my clients have shared how much this quote resonates for them. How they realize they’ve trained those around them, particularly family members, in conditional living.
Your path of least resistance is your path. And your emotions are always an indicator helping you discern what path you are on.
“For everything that you want, there is a path of least resistance to help you to it.” —Abraham
There’s a funny story where someone says to Abraham it sounds like you want me to be lazy and do what’s easiest for me. And Abraham says, “Exactly!”
When you get on the path of least resistance, it creates momentum downstream.
Easily, effortlessly, joyfully—that’s what characterizes the path of least resistance.
Events and people rendezvous with you. Opportunities and resources appear. Answers and solutions emerge. And, yes, the path of least resistance involves action, but it’s action you’re inspired to take.
These days one of the ways I take the path of least resistance is I’ve given up my former habit of making lists of pros and cons. I just don’t do that anymore. It’s not how I make decisions.
Instead, I make decisions in the direction of what feels good, what’s fun, what’s interesting. I allow myself to follow the path of least resistance.
Sure, sometimes I backslide into trying to force solutions, efforting, fixating on the how’s, focusing on the absence of what I want—and just generally going upstream.
All that is resistance. It never feels good and it’s really and truly not the way to what I want—both in terms of the journey itself and where it’s ultimately going to take me. Of that I’m sure.
“When you talk about what you want and why you want it, there’s usually less resistance within you than when you talk about what you want and how you’re going to get it. When you pose questions you don’t have answers for, like how, where, when, who, it sets up a contradictory vibration that slows everything down.” —Abraham
When you’re allowing instead of resisting, you’re lining up with the whole of who you are.
You’re not contradicting your own path. You’re connected to Source Energy.
“When you’re open to all the inspiration from the Universe, the path of least resistance might surprise you.” —Abraham
I’ve certainly found that to be true. The Universe knows better than I do. And I’m finding the path of least resistance is often so much more fun and amazing, so much more joyful and empowering than anything I could have come up with on my own.
Let me share eight tips for lowering your resistance.
1: Take advantage of the wobble-free start to your day.
When you first wake up in the morning, you’re wobble-free.
So before you remember what you were upset about yesterday, before you check Facebook, before you think about your To Do list, get some momentum around that wobble-free state.
Experience what the absence of resistance feels like. Practice that vibration. Get some momentum in the direction of the path of least resistance.
2: Practice awareness.
I want you to notice negative emotion. Because it’s giving you an indication, an awareness of something unwanted. And at the same time—and this is the beautiful part—it’s clarifying what you do want.
Remember: Your emotions are your wobble indicator. Emotions are your indicator of allowing or resisting. Of whether you’re on the path or not.
“Negative emotion is your indicator of resistance, while positive emotion is your indicator of allowance. And they are on the same meter: allowance; resistance. Allowance; resistance.” —Abraham
3: Be willing to change beliefs that don’t serve you.
You have control over your emotions because only you think your thoughts. And it is your thoughts, not circumstances, that create your feelings.
Your beliefs are just thoughts you’ve practiced into a very strong vibration.
If that vibration is one of allowing, fantastic! But if the strong vibration you’ve been practicing is all about resistance, it’s time to practice some new and different thoughts.
“You have created a magnificent vibrational reality that has the potential of fully manifesting when you contour your mood or atmosphere to a place of no resistance.” —Abraham
4: Set your intention, and then let it go and relax.
I want you to trust the Universe.
Allow, let go, relax. Hand over control to the Universe, follow the signs, and trust.
The path of least resistance is always unfolding, which is why too much planning and rigidly sticking to a plan can create resistance.
“There are so many things that you have been taught to believe that are counter to the powerful Laws of the Universe that it is difficult for you to think your way out. And that is the reason that we present this path of much less resistance. We want you to breathe rather than try, to relax rather than offer effort, to smile rather than struggle, to be rather than do. For your true power is experienced only from inside the Vortex.” —Abraham
Breathe, relax, smile and just be. That sounds delicious, doesn’t it?
5: Don’t let conditions of what-is dictate how you feel.
Because too often that is going to be resistance, resistance, resistance, wobble, wobble, wobble.
Take a break from trying to solve conditions and filing the void with action. Source knows where you are with regard to everything you want—both vibrationally and manifestation-wise.
Source Energy, your Inner Being, the Non-Physical part of you, Soul—whatever you want to call it— knows the path of least resistance, knows the path to everything you want. I find that incredibly reassuring and liberating.
“When you say ‘I want, and I allow, therefore it is,’ you will be very fast in your creation of whatever it is that you want. You are literally allowing yourself to have it by not resisting it, by not pushing it away with other thoughts.” —Abraham from The Law of Attraction
6: Make lists of positive aspects.
“By making lists of the positive aspects you can find about your current situation, you then release your resistance to the improvements that are waiting for you.” —Abraham
No matter what is going on in your life today, you can make a list of positive aspects. And if you do this, it will lower resistance.
When you make lists of positive aspects you recalibrate your vibration and your point of attraction. Which means you can then attract more of what you want.
Whenever I make a list of positive aspects, I can immediately feel the resistance lower. Give it a try. See for yourself!
7: Stop fighting.
If you’re struggling and efforting and fighting against things, that’s not the path of least resistance.
“Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists.” —Eckhart Tolle
What have you been fighting against? And can you now see how all that fighting against is just strengthening the very thing you don’t want.
Stop resisting and start allowing.
8: Go general.
Abraham asks a great question: “How general are you willing to be to capture the tail of alignment?”
I love that!
Here’s how I apply this in my life: If I start focusing on how something will happen instead of what I want and I why I want it, there’s often resistance. If I’m getting too specific about something I want and how and when and where it’s going to manifest, I notice friction.
And then I ask myself: How general am I willing to be to capture the tail of alignment?
Well, I am willing to go general—for sure! I’m wiling to go from that specific desire I have for such-and-such manifestation—unfolding in this way, at this time, in this place, with these people… TO… I want to feel good.
I’m willing to go so general as simply to want to feel good. More than any specific manifestation, THAT is what I want.
Now you may have a different answer to Abraham’s question, but it’s certainly worth asking and answering: How general are you willing to be to capture the tail of alignment?
And here’s what I notice after I capture the tail of alignment: The manifestation unfolds.
Abraham describes hatching a desire and keeping up with it as such a delicious experience.
Is that what you have been doing? Have you been hatching desires and then keeping up with them by getting in receptive mode, holding the expectation it will be easy, taking the path of least resistance?
“When something really really matters to you, let it go! Say to the Universe: ‘You know what I want. Give it to me in the path of least resistance. Give it to me the easiest way possible. Give it to me in any way I can get it!” —Abraham
