The Unlived Life

Most of us have two lives.

The life we live, and the unlived life within us.

Between the two stands Resistance.

~ Steven Pressfield

I just read my journal entry from last year on this same date.

I was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, headed to the Center for Action and Contemplation.

The second destination on my summer renewal project.

I had taken a few books with me.

One was Steven Pressfield’s, The War of Art.

In my journal, I quoted these lines from the book.

It’s a powerful thought that each of us has an unlived life.

That each of us has a calling that is unique and ours alone.

And yet, there is a gap.

There is something that separates us from that unlived version of ourselves.

Steven personifies that something as Resistance.

The enemy that defeats us before we begin.

As I journaled, I was beginning an adventure.

A summer journey of travel and self-discovery.

A writer’s contemplation.

A time of drawing peace and pouring stillness.

And each morning began with reading, writing, and prayer.

Last summer, I began to close the gap.

I was closer than ever to living that unlived life.

Living that life of a writer.

Living that life of prayer.

Living that life of action and contemplation.

My summer renewal project came to a close, but my quest did not.

I continue to close the gap between this life and the life unlived.

Each day, Resistance makes his presence known.

Each day, I am aware of his presence.

And each day, I do the work to live that life I wish to live.

Next year at this time, I plan to be closer still.

Always moving forward.

Always closing the gap.

Always battling Resistance.

As I work to remove the “un” from the unlived life.