On Will & Willpower
- James Kelly
- Apr 5, 2018
- 6 min read
On Will
Sometimes I think backwards. It’s like…when my mind comes to an understanding of something, I have to backtrack how my mind got there.
This post is a raw example of this.
I’ll leave it as is for authenticity, however keep in mind that these are my own ideas and understandings based on how I see the world.
For now, this is the blueprint – more professional posts will come out in due time. 🙂
will2
wil/
noun
noun: will; plural noun: wills
1.
the faculty by which a person decides on and initiates action.
“she has an iron will”
synonyms:
determination, willpower, strength of character, resolution, resolve, resoluteness, single-mindedness, purposefulness, drive, commitment, dedication, doggedness, tenacity, tenaciousness, staying power
“the will to succeed”
control deliberately exerted to do something or to restrain one’s own impulses.
“a stupendous effort of will”
a deliberate or fixed desire or intention.
“Jane had not wanted them to stay against their will“
synonyms:
desire, wish, preference, inclination, intention, intent, volition
“they stayed against their will”
the thing that one desires or ordains.
“the disaster was God’s will”
synonyms:
wish, desire, decision, choice; More
“The faculty by which a person decides on and initiates action” – look at the ‘faculty’ = energy gauge. Therefore it becomes “The energy gauge by which a person decides on and initiates action”
formalliterary
intend, desire, or wish (something) to happen.
“he was doing what the saint willed”synonyms:decree, order, ordain, command
“God willed it”
make or try to make (someone) do something or (something) happen by the exercise of mental powers.
“reluctantly he willed himself to turn and go back”
Will is a fusion of Mental + Spiritual realms. “Spirit” is just another way to say ‘soul energy’ (also called Ki, Qi, Chi, etc.) To be conscious needs intent and energy (check wikipedia for this exact definition of conscious) and when this energy is filtered through the brain to prevent our physical body, emotions, etc. from doing what we don’t want them to do is when the energy is no longer ‘spiritual’ (incorporeal) but ‘mental’ (corporeal). Applied energy = power. Continuously applied power (towards an end) = work. Ideas are born in the mind, intent is born from the soul. It is when an intent goes against an ‘impulse’ is when we use spirit to curb our actions towards our intentions. The act of using spiritual energy to control our minds either towards our desires or to work against unwanted impulses is the application of will power.
Please keep in mind that “will power” and “motivation” are different. I’ll have to spend more time on an article, but essentially ‘will power’ isn’t fleeting; it is either depleted or not. Motivation is like an emotion – it comes and goes how it pleases. Sometimes when we want to be happy something that makes us happy will happen to us. Other times we may be in a ‘happy’ situation, but not in the ‘mood’ to actually enjoy the emotion. We can use will power to maintain our motivation by using spirit to focus on the parts of the endeavor that aline with our intentions and desires. Since we can use will power to also curb motivation, they are, therefore, not one and the same.
Discipline is also close, but more focused on using spirit to create a work system where intentions are complete with OR without motivation being present. In other words, discipline is applied will power when motivation is not present. When your spirit is drained, your motivation is shot, discipline goes out the window, and you cannot will yourself to do anything besides either “go with the flow” (of impulses, destiny, etc.) or run – Fight or flight instincts.
Depression is a state of existence – it sucks because it saps all forms of energy. Physical, Mental, Emotional, Social (power you get from social status), and Spiritual – the rate in which they will be drained depends on the severity of the depression. When combined with willpower it’s like trying to fill up a sink to wash dishes but your stopper is broken so there is always a constant leak. You keep putting in enough hot water (will power) to get the job done (intent), but what if the water turns cold (willpower depletion)? Most likely you will have to wait for your water heater to recharge or else do double the work by re-washing still soiled dishes.
I like teaching the world about my perspective, even if it doesn’t always follow the scientific method. With a bit of research, I came across the term antipositivism; I was somewhat familiar with the term during my Sociology studies in college and was ecstatic when I rediscovered it again recently. Basically, any theory, and how the dots are connected to come towards a defined theory, is inherently biased based upon how it is all perceived by the theorist. Therefore, in order to take care of this bias, antipositivism seeks to explore a hypothesis from a variety of angles rather than the traditional rote scientific method approaches.
A lot of my close friends don’t really care for this blog because I seem wishy-washy on how I approach my topics. As in, it’s ‘sciency’ but I straddle a line in which my claims may be misinterpreted as me trying to purport something as ‘science’ when there is in fact no research (or oversteps the research that I present). I’m not really sure what to do about this, but I can assure you that this is NOT a science paper and most definitely will not be written as such. It’s just my opinion on how the world works based on the information that is already out there compared to my own personal life experiences. Simply that. I do plan on going to graduate school for Sociomusicology, so Social Sciences are just the research I’m most familiar with; so don’t be surprised if I start talking about space and other existential things – I promise it’s all related (at least in my mind it is).
Since willpower is a type of soul energy, it has its own way of recharging: sleep, meditation, yoga, soul food, etc. With that said, having faith in your values and ideals is also another way to retain willpower and prevent it from draining as slowly. My dao (main life focus) is of freedom; as in, I don’t like ‘going with the flow’ unless I freely choose to do so. I don’t like being fated to destiny by default, I wanna create my own fate. If we are 3D beings and our timeline works like a start and finish line that we experience from moment to moment, then even though in a different dimension we may be able to jump around to any point within a particular timeline, we still choose WHICH timeline we go down. And no one else can choose that but us.
Destiny is just the default timeline you are bound to by all the universal causes and effects that you DID NOT cause in this lifetime; it is simply a predetermined ‘fate’. A fate different from destiny is one that you will have to choose for yourself – some people believe that destiny is your only fate, but if the multiverse theory + singularity origins are to be believed, then this necessarily cannot be true. 100% nature would be ‘destiny’ (relying 100% on instincts and genetic programming without ever exerting a will of your own until death) while 100% nurture (doing whatever you want despite any predispositions because you will it so) would be pure fate. In relation to values and ideals – if I value freedom and idealize aesthetics, then when my body has the impulse to be lazy and only eat junk food I have a rational in which to deny myself those things. “If I eat this cake and it’s not cheat day, then I am willingly and freely making this choice to not have the body type that I am going for. I am purposely sabotaging the body that I am working towards because I want to.” – and when said like that, I will most likely be able to steer away from the temptation because I know I don’t want to do that.
Relevant links
Google Search terms used: will, will power definitions,
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