The philosopher Colin Wilson wrote:
“Modern civilization induces an attitude of ‘passivity.’ When a Stone Age hunter set out to trap wild animals, he was aware of his Will as a living force.
When the prehistoric farmer scourged the surface of the earth with a crude plough, he knew that his family’s survival through the winter depended on his effort, and his Will responded to the challenge.
When a modern city dweller walks down a crowded thoroughfare, he feels no sense of challenge or involvement. This city was built by other people; all these shops and offices are owned by other people.
He can get through an ordinary day’s work in a state approximating to sleep. Most of his routine tasks are carried out by the ‘robot.’
There is neither the need or the opportunity to use the Will.”
This is a marvellous and precise description of the use of the Will by the common modern man.
We are, without a shadow of a doubt, more evolved, more intelligent and more technologically advanced than the “prehistoric farmer” who “scourged the surface of the earth”. I’m not – at all – romanticizing the old and primitive days.
BUT, with that said, it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t learn from them what we can.
Especially in the use of the Will, which they were far more advanced than we are – even without knowing what it was or what they were doing.
Simply speaking, when you’re doing something for your own (and your family’s) survival, you can’t help but to use, and become very connected, to the Will.
It’s inevitable.
But, in our modern days, no one will die if you don’t write that text or attend that meeting or do that project. There’s not an activation of the survival mechanism.
*** That’s clearly good!
But with it, you also lost the connection to your Will, which can be independent of fighting for your life!
In other words, you don’t need to be on the edge of survival in order to use your own Will. You can be
connected with it, even if you live a comfortable and safe life.
Some people have this clear sense of Will and drive in their life. They are the “producers” of the world, as opposed to being the “consumers”. Individuals like Steve Jobs, Edison, Einstein, among many others.
You can also learn to use your Will into the world and become awake, driven and a “producer”, as opposed to being asleep, robotic and a “consumer”.
Learn how to do this in the 10 Steps to Inner Power here.
