Many people think a resolution can succeed by force of will. Has anyone had that work?

I remember a man saying that he had to quit smoking, just by being stubborn. He went back to smoking and died of lung cancer a year later. Had he not had such an extreme stance, he might not have died that year. When the will and the imagination are in contradiction, the imagination wins out every time. Resistance = force applied. The term ‘will power’ seems misguided, and the only ‘will’ I know of that has any substance is our ability to choose. Beyond that, what people call ‘will’ seems to be merely a sort of psychotic obsessive behaviour.

Will power is usually meant to mean dedication? Ah, and in fact dedication is real but like a resolution people understand it only poorly. I know a very dedicated person. Her work is enjoyable and this is what gives her the dedication. It isn’t what someone else says she has to do. It can be rewarding as well as frustrating, but what keeps you through the stress is picturing exactly what you are doing. Not planning or analyzing, but picturing and feeling. Action one step at a time. Doing what feels like something to do in any moment.

People mistake the source of “mental strength”. People think that is what drives them and what gives them strength. That what gives them the power to do what they choose comes from the rational mind. How often does something seize us from inside and seem totally irrational? Does any amount of rational thought ever stop it? Sometimes using the rational mind may be wrong, and gut instinct may be the right path to take.

For anyone deeply steeped in logic, logic can arrive at utterly insane conclusions. Circumstances can arrive where we are not allowed to analyse in the time frame given and ultimately we rarely do what we plan, do we? In fact, instinct seems almost invariably the source of sanity.

Our habits don’t arise from any struggle. Did we have to fight to get into our bad habits? They arose from picturing, from feeling, from entertaining a notion even if the notion is that our peers are right and we are mistaken. Peer pressure is very often wrong in my experience. We usually don’t even “cave” with a single exposure. The pressure is usually applied over time. The idea introduced and reintroduced almost like hypnotic suggestion.

They say you attract what you dwell on. This is basically true, but it gets a bit confusing when seen in the manifestation sense, because there isn’t something coming from somewhere else to you. People think manifestation is a sort of work, a magic pulling, but in fact there is no work. It’s quite natural and we do it all the time. What you contemplate, your notice goes to. What fills your imagination also moves your actions. You can transform your life, but it isn’t because you’re transforming your life or doing any great work at all. It’s because you have merely taken up a new center. A new mental residence. A new view.

Your thoughts are welcome. Be well friends.

Travis Saunders
Dragon Intuitive
~science,mysticism,spirituality~