Free Will?

This was part of my blog, "Inalienable Rights?" but made it too long. I decided to make this blog dedicated to "free will," and let the other rest with "liberty." http://progressiveu.org/blog/51144-inalienable-rights

The last statement in that blog was:

"All men and women are created free in the eyes of the creator. Free will is the one gift humans have always possessed, one that cannot by its very nature be taken away."

Now, the question of "free will" is one that has been debated for a little over a century now. Freud brought perspectives and possibilities into the nature of human consciousness that made people start asking if humans actually do have free will. This question is still debated in arguments about nature vs. nuture, etc.

I happen to believe in free will. We may not choose our circumstances of birth, but we do retain the freedom to act according to our will. It is interesting that when I google the word "will" I see hundreds of links regarding legal wills, those things that people leave behind when they are dead. The "will" extends beyond the physical body in that sense.

Seriously. Think about it. What my parents "will" me with is going to make a huge difference on my future, even if they don't consciously "will" me anything. They might "will" me debt and make my life very difficult. They might "will" me with the financial burden of caring for their slowly dying diseased bodies that they created with their poor health decisions. No matter what, their "will" extends itself into my life, and into my daughter's future.

So while we all have free "will," that thing that is our unique process of making decisions and behaving, regardless of the nature of the stimulus or source of stimulus we are reacting to, at the same time our own "wills" affect each other, and influence the "wills" of others. Many people understand the power of will, and make careers out of caring for rich people who are dying. They do this because they understand the power of caring and how it can influence a person's "will" in their favor.

At the same time, if my "will" is centered on exacting revenge or on staying safe and hiding in fear, then my will creates hostility and misunderstanding all around me. My "will" is a reflection of everything that I believe to be true about myself and the world.

If my "will" is centered on love and creating networks of people whose wills are the same, I have changed the world around me. What is interesting about the "hate" will is that it isolates the individual, but its circulation touches many. It spreads from the individual outward.

A will that is love centered seeks to grow by attaching to others. It seeks to become larger by connection. Love does not let people live isolated.