Day 90 - Will vs Willing

“Will is a word of power, force, and discipline but willing is magic, it transcends the ability of will.”

-Randy Weeks

So much of my life I have tried to move things internally and externally by pure will alone. I thought if I was more disciplined or of I pushed more whatever it was that I wanted to move would move.

The people closest to me know that I can be persistent when there is something that I want. There are places where that has served me well and places where it has not. My friend Randy, who died two years ago, wrote the quote above about the difference between will and willing. When I first saw it I told him that I could live into this for the rest of my life. I was talking to someone today and I vaguely remembered this quote and went on a search for it. I'm glad I did.

In the book Igniting Inspiration: A Persuasion Manual for Visionaries John Marshall Roberts writes that there are three ways to move something, body to body is force. Mind to mind is persuasion, And spirit to spirit is inspiration. The quickest way to move something is spirit to spirit. It has the quickest vibrational quality.

I think Randy’s first sentence in his quote “Will is a word of power, force, and discipline” falls into the mind to mind category. The problem with this is that it is really pretty hard to persuade someone, especially ourselves. After all we know all of our best counter arguments.

But the second part of his quote, “willing is magic, it transcends the ability of will.” Moves us into the spirit to spirit category. It is pure magic. It allows us to surrender to spirit. It allows us to call on something greater than just us alone. This is the place where miracles are made.

My willingness allows forgiveness to show up in my heart. It transforms who I was before I knew what it meant to live into the freedom that forgiveness offers. My willingness allows me to move from a place of discipline to a place of discipleship. It invites the shift from work to ritual and has moved me from my belief of independence to a lived experience of interdependence. All of these come with their own magic.

So yes Randy, wherever you are, know that I am still living into this. I miss you. We were both wiling but neither of us could will more time together. And in it's own magical way your words and my willingness to play with them today has given us more time. Magic!

Quanita