I was watching the new Star Wars series Andor on Disney plus the other day. At one point in the episode, it dawned on me that all of the Star Wars movies and spin offs are about a struggle between two sides. The Empire and the Resistance.
In all of the movies, you get the perspective that anyone that sides with the Empire is evil and anyone that sides with the Resistance is good. In Andor (and I’m sure some of the other films) they show normal people working their jobs for the Empire. They really don’t feel like they’re serving something evil, they just feel like they’re doing what the majority do. They also have the perspective that those with the Resistance are risk to their comfortable way of life.
Those supporting the Resistance see that the freedom relinquished in exchange for comfort from the Empire is not how they want to live. Yet with each attempt to defeat the more powerful giant, it seems that life would be easier if they just gave up and went about their lives in support for the Empire.
During the episode I watched I had an epiphany, an aha moment. Star Wars and the battle between the Empire and the Resistance goes on within us every day. The Empire, in our case, is voice of comfort and reason. It’s the voice that prevents you from improving for improving would mean you no longer support the Empire and can create your own agenda. It’s the pressure that forces you to choose comfort over any uncomfortable activity that would make you grow. The Empire is that thought that tells you to stay in bed and skip your workout, that you can workout tomorrow. It’s the voice that says, “go on, you deserve it, relax a little.”
The Resistance is that much quieter voice that causes a conflict with your decisions. It’s typically the most responsible initial choice you want to make. Like picking up a piece of fruit instead of a bag of chips or deciding to not hang out with some close friends because you want to stop drinking.
The Empire is significantly more powerful than the Resistance. The Empire is unrelenting. Even after you gain momentum and establish positive growth habits, the Empire is right there, waiting for the moment to get you to submit. No matter what, you will eventually submit to the Empire.
The most important part is…. Even after you submit to the empire and choose to sacrifice your freedom and succumb to your desires for comfort, you can still, in the very next moment, go back and join the Resistance. The war is never ending.
I think the key is with this is to simply know which side you’re working for. Be honest, are you with the Empire or with the Resistance. If you’re with the Empire, you will be in comfort, goals will seem unimportant and unattainable and if your every desire isn’t met, it won’t be your fault.
If you’re fighting for the Resistance things will be hard, hope will be limited, but you will not be a slave and a new way of life and reaching goals is possible.
Are you willing to grind things out with the Resistance in order to live freely with new opportunities and new life experiences or will you choose to stay stuck in your old patterns and live as a slave in exchange for a moderate amount of comfort.
