Tag Archives: will

If you do not have it, you must cultivate the will to face all things.  That means facing your fears.  Fears are deceptive.  Realise that before you realise anything else.  They give the impression that they are material because they feel as real as any feeling you may have.  Fear – as a feeling – is a powerful motivator.  There is a lot of news about giving your feelings a miss, that they are not to be allowed to dominate your everyday.  I put it to you that you are a human being.  How can you not be dominated by your feelings?  Even serial killers are under the control of their feelings.  It is the rush of death that keeps them doing what they do.  That rush is within.  A feeling.  The same rush you or I might feel when we succeed at something that is important to us.  To complement will, you need courage.  Fortitude.  Courage comes in many shapes and sizes.  Feelings, too.

You cultivate will through pointing out to yourself the positives in any given situation.  The positives engender hope, and we all work well when we allow ourselves to hope.  We can find the will to strive towards something that is better than where we find ourselves now.  Hoping for the best outcome for yourself in whatever predicament you might find yourself is one of the simplest things you can do to change your patterns of thinking.  Instead of dreading an impending disaster (even if there is one coming), or imagining the worst possible scenario that could present itself – try imagining for once that things are going to work out the way you need them to.  I am talking about the big picture.  You need to practice focussing on the big(ger) picture.  The realities you are a part of are stepping stones across a wide, strong river.  You can choose to see this and use the stones to cross over or you can stay back on the riverbank for eternity.  I would suggest that you do not stay on the bank.  Take a step into the river and stand for a moment, feel the movement around you.  That is who you are in this world.

The unexpected can weaken our will.  When we are faced with surprises in life we tend towards a brief panic and then a desperate clinging to anything in the vicinity that is familiar.  We cling to our conditioning, to our behaviours, to our beliefs.  To other people.  We must learn not to cling to other people.  That is like a drowning man drowning his rescuer.  We need to learn that life surprises (of the startling variety) all contain learning.  Step back when they happen and see where your instincts take you.  We are forced to use our initiative when dealing with the new.  Initiative is valuable, nurture your nature.

Remember, too, that our will needs to get us through adversity.  It needs to take us through our worst, when it comes.  And it always comes.  The thing to remember is that it always goes.  That come and go, ebb and flow, is life living for you.  Appreciate its miracle.  Appreciate that your worst is only ever as bad as your good is good.  The higher your highs, the lower your lows.  That is equilibrium.