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Steven Pressfield on playing hurt

The concept in all these [“healing”] environments seems to be that one needs to complete his healing before he is ready to do his work.

This way of thinking… is a form of Resistance.

What are we trying to heal, anyway? The athlete knows the day will never come when he wakes up pain-free. He has to play hurt.

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve got nothing against true healing. We all need it. But it has nothing to do with doing our work and it can be a colossal exercise in Resistance. Resistance loves “healing.” Resistance knows that the more psychic energy we spend dredging and re-dredging the tired, boring injustices of our personal lives, the less juice we have to do our work.

Steven PressfieldThe War of Art

The War of Art is slightly silly, but Pressfield makes lots of good points, and it’s worth reading.

I'd love to hear your thoughts and recommended resources...

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