The hidden truth behind willpower?

For along time, it has been proven that under diress, people are capable of tremendous feats, not physically possible in everyday life. From the mother that lifts a wrecked car off of her child's legs, or the 125 pound weakling who carries a 300 pound man from a burning building. It is under these conditions that we can attribute some of these amazing feats to adrenaline, our own bodies' natural "Nitrous Oxide". But there are those individuals, who can do some of these things on a regular basis, and yet they fly below the radar with little more than a flicker. Every day, each and every person on this planet ponders the 2 biggest questions they will ever have in their lifetime:

1. Why am I here?
2. What is my purpose in this life?

And yet, every day, we continue with our daily routines, and dismiss most of the decisions we make that will determine the answer to one if not both of these very important questions. Where does Willpower come from? Is it a chemical reaction? It would seem that willpower could be essentually limitless, however, is it also possible that willpower could be tied to a persons mood? The drive of a buisnessman to get that promotion is really no different from the same athlete who pushes himself past his limit to win the race, only to collapse from exhaustion after. Much like Lance Armstrong winning the Tour de France so many times. His drive to win, to succeed, to go beyond his own bodies' limits pushed him far beyond what the rest of see as "Normal". We cannot understand how one person is capable of such feats, so we accuse them of drug use to enhance performance. This is just an example however, you can find these situations everyday, all around you.

Does our will follow our brain to direct our lives, or does our brain determine how hard we pursue our dreams? Can a person alter their very reality by just "willing it to happen"? If we have such power locked away in our minds, bodies, and spirit, then what is stopping us from changing the world to what we want it by a mere thought? Is our own exsistance a mere reflection of our will?

Most importantly, where is your willpower stored, where does it come from, and does it have a limit?

oooo...philosophical.

you ask many questions and none of which can really be answered. Lance Armstrong has an athletes body so no matter how much will power he has that has to be taken into consideration.

What about Stephen Hawkins? has he relied on willpower to get him where he is today?

Can a person alter their very reality by just "willing it to happen"? If we have such power locked away in our minds, bodies, and spirit, then what is stopping us from changing the world to what we want it by a mere thought? Is our own exsistance a mere reflection of our will?

the first two questions I'd say nope and we cant. for the third I think will has something to do with the state of our existence but other things have to taken into consideration ie luck.

As for:

1. Why am I here?
2. What is my purpose in this life?

i dunno but ask yourself this: does it really matter right now? Are there other more important questions? for example...1. what am i going to eat tonight? or more importantly...2. are Spurs going to reach the League cup final?


[edit on 24-1-2007 by surrender_dorothy]

great questions, don't think I can really answer them but I'll give it a shot and say that I do think will power is the driving force behind what keeps us going. I've known a person who gave up the will to live and died a few months a later. I've also known a woman who was told she had a few months to live, but she willed herself to get better and keep going and as of today she's still around. Mind over matter some people call it, but whatever it is, I think it works. We create our own realities with our actions and our actions are driven by our will... but is will power from the brain or the heart or subconcious??? In some circumstances I would say will power comes from the brain, I think it, I feel it's possible, I make it happen, but on other occassions I think it and feel it's impossible, but yet I make it happen, driven not by my brain who says it can't be done, but by some other force who says yes it can be done.

Good point, I didn't think about the body's healing capabilities. The fact that a person can just give up the will to live, and the body soon follows is definetly a good example of willpower being in control of the body. But is in the mind where this is? I'm not sure, I know however that the the heart will continue to beat even after brain death until it runs out of blood. Adversly, the mind will stay alive as well after the heart stops until it runs out of oxygen as well.

I would have to say WorldWatcher has the best example of willpower and it's capabilities tying us to life, and death, but it still leaves the question......

Where is it, and is it spiritual in nature, or just electrical signals in our brain?

I would have to say will power is most like a mind over matter. Yet it needs subconscious and conscious thought. Example, if you think you can do it-conscious-you can do it. If you are surprised, such as the mom lifting a car off her child,-subconscious-you can still do it. If you tell yourself you can't do it-conscious-you can't do it. But if you tell yourself you can't do it-subconscious-and you still do it, it is your spirit compelling your body to not give up. Thus will power may not have a general area in the body, but out of the body like a spiritual being. They say our spirits get to pick what life we live next,, like in tarot, so what if our spirits have super natural powers, or they know that it was not our time to pass? They are only in a being with human powers on an everyday basis, but if willpower is needed in extreme circumstances, then our spirits kick in to high gear. Of course high gear being our subconscious humanly power, and every day basis being conscious human strength or conscious thought to let go. Either way, will power is a feeling of urge or repression, possibly chemical reactions with hormones in the body, but I think it could very well be an atmosphere of spiritual consciousness and subconsciousness. As far as the questions of existence, refer to Ghandi:" Be the change you wish to see in the world." I cannot say what my purpose is until my spirit compells me to feel why I was chosen to live this life with this body in this certain amount of time.