Will Power

There are many problems in the world, but two big ones, faced by individuals of all kinds are lack of direction and lack of willpower. Many people do not know which way to turn or what to do with their life. They do not know what is right or what is wrong. They lack direction. But these people, as well as many others, often also lack will power, so much so that knowledge becomes a curse because they are unable to actually implement it. Fortunately, there is a solution, though like everything it is a practice that needs to be practiced. The following is taken from my forthcoming book, entitled Soul Strong….

Many of us possess barely one gram of will power. This can be understood, and rectified, by seeing will power as a battery. If kept fully charged it retains its usefulness, but if it is constantly drained for a million non-essential reasons then the power is wasted. Then there will never be enough of it when it is really needed.

The generator of will power - the socket from which we can charge the battery – is found in that which we consciously refuse. Please take a moment to reflect carefully on this. A charge is accrued to us whenever we acknowledge that we want X but refuse to give into the desire, whereas a charge is lost to us the moment we give in. To say no and to deprive ourselves is very hard, but the reality is that if you constantly succumb to the slightest thought or emotion, then you are setting up an energy flow away from you and your will power will always be close to zero. Every desire that you control, every unexpressed thought, unpronounced word, or unperformed deed – if consciously decided and willed – are charges to your battery, while every offloading of your responsibilities to chance, synchronicity, coincidence, circumstances or Mercury Retrograde weakens it. Wish to speak to or text a friend about a passing thought? Suppress this and remain silent. Think you need to log-on and see what is happening in your email, the Internet, or social media? Refuse to obey. In all cases like this – wanting but refusing – you will slowly construct a feeling of inner strength. Then level up…

All things have an energy, a pull, a power. Refusal of your favourite food or drink results in an ascension of consciousness and a strengthening of the battery of will power. The building up of will power is not just good for you but for wider society. Weak people are weak, in part, because they are run entirely by their emotions and when emotions run free without check or control then everyone else is forced to moderate their behaviour to appease the over-emotional one in the room. Witness the strength of will power exhibited by Jews and Muslims throughout the globe, who both undertake periods of fasting. The Internet and social media floods us with potential desires, most of which are completely unattainable, but all of which sap our will power, turning the scrolling viewer into a zombie.

The present condition of our world is best described as pure insanity, born of the emotion of fear. Fear of change, fear of growth, fear of being wrong, fear of speaking out, fear of the future, fear of others, fear of self and fear of a virus with a 98% survival rate. All these have combined to form a poisonous cocktail where society is being destroyed on the back of extreme emotionalism. Civilisation is being driven hard into a ditch, in a thousand different ways, by people who not only fear death, but fear life as well.

Emotions play an important part in life, and emotional expression is vital to our health and wellbeing. But the rampant emotionalism that we now see across the world is entirely destructive. We must learn how to experience AND regulate our emotions, and we had better learn this fast. One way to do this is to become Soul Strong.

Returning to the will power exercise; duties and responsibilities – things that you must do – are not included in your will power regime. In fact, these are things you must do in order to enhance your will power. Your will power battery is not charged by the accomplishment of tasks for which you are enthusiastic. Quite the opposite in fact, will power is increased when we do the things that need doing but which we do not want to do.

For large scale achievement a stronger effort of will is needed, taking you into the realm of voluntary sacrifice, whereby you might decide to entirely give up you own desires and whims, likes and dislikes, in order to serve a higher purpose. Either way, all conscious renunciations of desire, be they thoughts, feelings, or bodily reactions, enable you to collect the power of the thing you have refused. Start by consciously refusing things that do not matter, and you will find that one day you have the will power that you need to exert in things that do matter. To strengthen your will power is to strengthen yourself from within, which can lead to vast improvements in life and the destruction of all kinds of obstacles, especially ones commonly thought impossible.

The charging of your will power battery brings greater poise and assertiveness, less anxiety and uncertainty and greater resilience but that is only half the story. The 20th-century Polish mystic Mouni Sadhu explains the rest

“When, with a battery flat, you ask someone about something, you will be much more easily refused than when you speak with the support of your suppressed desires, words and feelings.”

Success, in any field of life, is about doing what needs to be done, consistently, regularly, and consciously. Though a lot of spiritually inclined people just want to go with the flow, the truth is that you also need will power, which some are born with and others have to develop. It is true that will power alone is not enough, because there are cosmic currents and natural cycles at play in our lives, but will power is essential if you ever want to call your life your own. You cannot really say that you are in charge of your life if you are unable to say no, with strength and conviction, to others, as well as yourself.

Obviously, great care should be taken in what you apply your will power towards, because getting what you want can be a curse that prevents you from getting what you need. But that is why you need will power, without which you will be played like a puppet on a string by those who are happy to use the next ‘event’ or ‘crisis’ to advance their own narrow ends.

Many people are now beginning to question what they are told, on a whole variety of subjects. This is a good thing, but it will come to nothing if those people do not, when it comes to the crunch, have the will to say no.

Photo by Heather Ford on Unsplash