I believe that we have free will. I believe that understanding free will is important in understanding our reality. I also believe that our concept of free will is based on some fundamental misconceptions. The first is that our free will rests in our ability to act. That our freedom of choice comes from the freedom to “do” as we choose. This places free will as a derivative physical act; one completely dependent on the body.
We are not however, just a body. The body is temporal in nature. It is created, grows, dies, and returns to whence it came. If we ceased to be when the body died, then our free will could very well be limited to, and dependent on, what the body alone can do. I do not believe however, that we are temporal in nature. That our existence starts with the growth of cells, and ends with the failure of the physical system those cells grow into.
If we truly have free will, it must extend past the temporary experience of this life, into eternity. Free will doesn’t end when the body dies, so free will cannot be limited to what the body can do. If free will were limited to your actions, then those with limited ability to act, would have their free will infringed. The disabled, the handicapped, the elderly, the imprisoned, and even children would all have less free will than I. Free will cannot be quantified. We have either been given free will, or we have not. No one has less. No one has more. It is not a commodity that can be traded, brokered, weighed, or measured.
What then is free will? Free will is choice. Free will is perspective. Free will comes from within. Your free will can never be stripped from you. It can never be stolen, infringed, or unavailable. In this, the paradox, is that you have no choice. You cannot set it aside. You cannot give it away. You cannot turn it off. Free will is always active; you are always choosing. You alone choose your perspective, and you alone are responsible for the results of the perspective you pick.
If you decide that any circumstance, event, or person is out of your control, or beyond your influence, then the Universe will not deny you that choice. You will experience that outcome. If you decide to see the worst in a coworker, friend, lover, spouse, or stranger, then you will experience the worst that person has to offer you. If you complain constantly about your life, you will find ample reasons to continue to do so, as more and more things warrant complaint. The Universe will provide from its infinite source, all that you are choosing; be it blessings, or curses. Whatever you choose will keep coming back to you — forever.
Do not under estimate the power of your perspective. It is the only place that free will can exist. Everything physical you value can be taken, and eventually will be. In 10,000 years nothing you see will still exist. Within 100 years, you will most likely be dead. What worth, what power, could free will have if it came and went with such little permanence.
Exercise your greatest wisdom in the expression of your perspective. Free will has great power. If it had no effect, it would have no point. What would the point of your perspective be, if it was limited to idle thoughts without impact?
If your free will transcends this life, then it must exist within. If free will exists within, than what lies within must have great power to effect what is without; lest free will be made a cruel, impotent jest. Everything you do has effect. Your thoughts, your words, your actions, are all responsible for your experience. If you think without awareness, and speak without awareness, you will act without awareness. Then you will live a life that seems to happen to you.
Bring consciousness to your thoughts. Bring awareness to your words. Bring thoughtfulness to your deeds. Exercise your free will consciously, rather than unconsciously.
Choose to see the best in people, and you will find it. Choose to see benefit in an event and you will experience it. Choose to see blessings in your life, and you will have them. For if you choose consciously how you exercise free will, you will experience freedom, where others would see only limitation. That is the only choice you will ever really have, and it is the only choice you ever really need.
1 comment
Comments feed for this article
May 16, 2008 at 10:16 pm
dug
really, the law of attraction? from you?
“We are not however, just a body. The body is temporal in nature. It is created, grows, dies, and returns to whence it came. If we ceased to be when the body died, then our free will could very well be limited to, and dependent on, what the body alone can do. I do not believe however, that we are temporal in nature. That our existence starts with the growth of cells, and ends with the failure of the physical system those cells grow into.”
um. yes it is/does. probably, anyway. anything else is wishful thinking. not that there’s anything wrong with thinking wishfully. i do it all the time.
“If we truly have free will, it must extend past the temporary experience of this life, into eternity.”
i don’t see how this follows. i mean besides the fact that you want it to.
i certainly like the idea that we are more than our physical bodies, that our “souls” will live forever. that idea is waay better than the alternative.
i’d just like to see some solid evidence to that effect.