Saturday, 3 November 2012

Free will, Genie the lamp


Man is created in the image of God.  Unlike other creations, the human being has free will. We have potential to shape and change the world.  But am I aware of this untapped power of my free will? Often I am possessed by the thought that I never progress, stay in the same place or get deteriorated.  I witness myself as a slave of habit.  Proper use of free will perfects world helping us achieve our goals.  However, achieving goals takes a lot of effort, so we get distracted and take the easy route instead: the escape route.  To exercise free will properly, therefore, we need to be constantly sensitive whether our choices are in line with our purpose and take regular monitoring (accounting).
Rabbi Weinberg provides some tips to exercise free will:
1.     Do not watch your life passing by.  Make decision actively and monitor your decision every day.
2.     Be your own person. Do not agree with society unless you’ve thought them through.
3.     Distinguish between body and soul and identify yourself with soul.  There is no way you will ever achieve peace by giving in to the body.  Real peace comes only when the body desires the soul’s success. 
Body: Gravitates toward transitory comforts and sensual plasures.  Desires to quit, to dream, to drown in passion, to procrastinate. 
Soul: Seeks understanding, meaning, productivity, accomplishment, permanence, greatness, confronts challenges, embraces reality and truth.
      4. Make your will God’s will. If you do, you will be partners in changing the world. 
 I once had a goal of losing weight. Instead of just doing exercise, I recorded the progress on a daily basis.  The impact was astounding. If I had not been aware of the goal and had not been diligent in keeping the record, I do not think I would have achieved that progress.  Goal is there to be accomplished and the success is guaranteed as long as directed and conscious effort with daily accounting are put into.  

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