Although most of us use the phrase? Will?Without thinking too much, the truth is that it is a concept that generates a lot of controversy.
From a philosophical point of view, it has its origins in metaphysics, especially in Aristotle, and has since been introduced into the various Western religions, becoming a virtue of the first order.
- “The will is to the mind like a strong blind man who carries upon his shoulders a lame man he sees.
- “Arthur Schopenhauer.
Willpower is defined as the ability to direct and control one’s actions.
Metaphysics and religions suggest that this force was born from the free determination of each person.
However, psychoanalysis has proposed serious reparations to both the concept of “will and will” due to the discovery of the unconscious.
For psychoanalysis, conscious processes are just the “tip of the iceberg” of mental activity. In reality, thoughts and actions are determined by a force that is not the will, but that of the unconscious.
This discovery has helped explain many facts. For example, “lapsus linguae”, or episodes in which a person wants to say something, but inadvertently?He ends up saying something else.
The subconscious is also responsible for so-called “imperfect acts”: the person consciously intends to do something, but ends up performing a very different action.
We see this every day in our daily life. Someone who wants to be early for a date, but? Unintentionally? Be late or never enough. Or those who want to put their commitment to work? But they end up dealing with other things while they have to work.
For psychoanalysis, therefore, will is not a force, but the expression of an unconscious desire; only when a person agrees with his desire does the will arise; otherwise the will betrays us.
That’s why there are plans that are always postponed, change decisions that are never made, or intentions that never become actions.
Eastern philosophies also do not address will in their practices, they argue that it is a way of attacking oneself, which must be replaced by understanding and love, which are ultimately the forces that lead to action.
What psychoanalysis and Eastern philosophies have in common is the idea that will is not an act of strength, on the contrary, it can only arise from understanding and therefore consciousness.
When there are defined and conscious goals, but which do not become actions, the solution is not to force ourselves and force us to act in a certain way.
This kind of situation offers a valuable message, is there anything?In reality, it is not that the will fails, but that a desire triumphs that we are not aware of.
We want to strictly follow a diet, but at the same time we want to eat until we feel satisfied. We start the diet and, faster than we thought, we eat a feast, between guilt and satisfaction.
What happens in this case is that we have rationalized the benefits of a healthy diet, but we do not understand that our desire is to eat at full performance, perhaps the food represents more than just a taste or sensation in the stomach.
Perhaps this compulsion refers to a deeper desire that diminishes the “will” to zero.
In these cases, the will does not help. When what we do is contrary to our conscious will, we cannot speak of a weakness of character, but of a symptom of the unconscious; when this symptom is deciphered and understood, it goes away.
We may need to work harder and better understand to be able to turn our intentions into actions and make those actions consistent with what we really want to do with our lives.