Will power

There is a case to be made that we do most things we do thanks to force of habit and we only imagine we are in control. There are good cognitive science experiments showing that our conscious willing is at least at times and perhaps always illusory.

Even if our will power may be very limited it is something that we can strengthen through exercise.

One of my teachers Stuart Wilde writes about doing something innocuous and yet not easy to improve one’s will power. He mentions that he would move twelve heavy stones each day from one part of his garden to another. This was to demonstrate to his weaker parts of the personality who is in charge – to improve his will power.

A thought that comes up is that the next time you “have to” do something you don’t like, do it as a practice to improve your will power. Thus someone asks you to wash the dishes (perhaps it is you who asks) think gladly. Do it the best way you have ever done. Wash the dishes lovingly, knowing that you are exercising your will power and strengthening it.

I mentioned “have to” in quotation markes because in truth you do not have to do anything. There are some automatic bodily functions which will happen by themselves in time (like breathing) but there is nothing else that you have to do. The sooner you understand that and do anything you do because you decided that it is the best compromise the better off you are. i’ll be writing about “have to” vs. “want to” later on.

The Trick to Money Is Having Some by Stuart Wilde

Also by Wilde: Grace, Gaia, and the End of Days: An Alternative Way for the Advanced Soul

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