The path to Tranquility (spring)
19. Doing things willingly
Doing things willingly is a positive attitude that represents love for
life. When we do things willingly, we feel motivated, and are more likely to
succeed. With this attitude, we will also experience a lot of joy in the
process of doing things. This feeling is different from the happy emotion at
the moment of success. It makes us calm and stays in our heart for a long
time, nourishing our consciousness.
If we can freely choose whether to do something or not, we will be willing to do it, not only feeling joy, but our consciousness will also be present. For example, if we want to sing, we sing, and if we don't want to sing, we stop. It feels good to have the freedom to stop, without any worries, and we can sing with full commitment. Or, when we realize we need to walk, we walk, and when we realize we need to sit down, we sit down. This makes us feel relaxed.
But in life, there are things we don't like but are forced to do, even some things that may be beneficial to us, such as some so-called healthy foods, we eat them even though we don’t like them. Doing things against our will shows that we are not free in our hearts, always being forced by fear or driven by desire. This will divide our body and mind into two parts, which will conflict with each other and produce negative emotions. Under the control of emotions, actions become more chaotic, leading to many troubles and regrets due to mistakes. This situation also causes conflicts between our feelings and cognition, further dividing our body and mind.
If we were severely disciplined as children and were used to doing things against our will, we are likely to continue to be in a state of body and mind division when we grow up. Therefore, we need to repair the relationship of our body and mind, and restore them to a whole.
Being aware of our hearts and thinking about why we do something, we can discover the essence of things from this "why." Using reason, we can judge whether something can be done and whether we have the ability to do it, and then decide whether we should do it and how to do it. In this way, we can abandon our habits and no longer decide whether to do something or not based on what we like or dislike.
Likes and dislikes are emotional operations, and our ego uses primitive tools to command our actions. It is conceivable how dangerous this behavior pattern is in today's world. Therefore, the importance of removing oneself and cultivating consciousness is also highlighted here.
With consciousness present, all actions are commanded by consciousness. We only do things that are beneficial to our lives, so no matter what the outcome is, we accept it without regret. When we do things willingly, we will do it with ease and concentration, with high efficiency and success rate.
Therefore, doing things willingly is not only an important foundation for success, but also a source of satisfaction. Many times, the main reason for negative emotions is doing things against our will. As long as we can be aware of our contradictions and keep our hopes and the interests of our lives consistent, we can do things willingly.
18. Transforming anger into creativity
20. Taking off the shell of the soul
