WILLINGNESS

A Willingness to live and be well. To work and create. To practice and grow. A willingness to enter into new situations and expand the comfort zone.

What does Willingness mean and signify for me?

Willingness is a sense of acceptance and surrender, derived from a firm decision. Acceptance of what has been decided and from that knowing, simply surrendering and allowing the action steps to unfold. Without resistance or restraint. May it be entering the cold shower, sitting down to write, doing exercise, or rise from the bed. The context doesn’t matter, the point is the willingness. Moving effortlessly from one space to another while being present where I am. To not get stuck in thought or pulled down into the mud. Feeling, knowing, and deciding that it is time. Time to leave from where I have been and entering into what is next in line. A new experience and state of mind.

Willingly. Because it is time. Willingly. Because I want to. Because I know that it benefits me and serves the greater good of the all.

Without any pressure or need to perform or prove myself. Simply a natural tendency of being immersed in the practice and task. Giving my best, without restraint. Guided by what I want. Which is to be healthy, wealthy, vital, and alive. Fulfilled, at peace, in flow and connected to a higher purpose. Which means to not stay in my current comfort zone but to gently and deliberately expand it. Willingly.

This is for me a quality and state being worthy of striving towards. Or perhaps, simply welcome and allow. Acknowledging and accepting the resistance, fear, and pain. Welcoming it. Feel it. And then simply let it and myself go.

Surrender: Willingness is a form of surrender. The word surrender itself implies a lack of effort. There is no willpower required because there is no internal resistance. There is no inner conflict or struggle, second guessing or doubts.

It is an energy that is springing from the core of the being. An inner impulse to do, reach, achieve, experience, or become something. And from that deep decision the being is aligned and moves.

And so there is a strong sense of Direction stemming from the core. An unspoken determination. And with the support of this firm and solid base, this inner knowing, actions may unfold in coherence. Decisively, freely and willingly.

• Supporting value: Acceptance: Accepting what I have decided from a moment of clarity with my wellbeing and life quality as a reference point, dissolves the need to force, and the action steps may unfold naturally.
• Supporting value: Consistency: Repetition creates habits, and each time I do I task or enter into a practice with willingness the quality of willingness expands. Relaxed and aligned, without resistance, in between and inside each field, I affirm and embody the state and quality of willingness. With consistency I continuously remind myself and teach the body that we do what we decide we do.
• Consequently the opposite is also true. If I do not do or practice something on a consistent basis, that quality, ability, or skill steadily fades. And each time I act in conflict with a quality (i.e. doing things with resistance) I am placing weight on the other side of the scale.
• Supporting value: Clarity: When I am being clear with myself of why I want something and why it is good for me, willingness will come naturally and exerting willpower or practicing discipline is not necessary. And the more I am being coherent, the clearer I become. And the clearer I become the smoother it flows.
• The other side of clarity being that “what happens if I do not follow this practice or these steps?”, “what will happen if I stay the same and do not change?”, “if I am not being consistent?”, allowing me to see the whole picture. Hopefully I will be inspired enough by the carrot in front of my eyes but at times it is crucial to know what happens if I stay put and do not move. Because non-action is a choice with consequences as well.
• Supporting value: Firmness: Firmness becomes the yang to the yin. Balancing the scales and allows for consistent practice. There is a firmness in willingness but it is not rigid or forced. With this support there is a soft yet unwavering kind of surrender. It doesn’t need willpower or to be enforced, because it comes from free will, yet the will is firm. There is no need to practice firmness and yet firmness is ingrained into willingness.

Firm and solid is the seed of willingness and from there with softness one may move and act.