Oracle of Consciousness
#139 - Willingness
Willingness: The quality or state of being prepared to do something; readiness.
Where willingness is not present, no forward progress can be achieved.
Ask anyone who uses a donkey and cart!
Donkeys are renowned for their stubbornness, hence the claim:
“As stubborn as a mule (donkey)!”
PS - Poor maligned donkeys, they can also work extremely hard for their owners!
"They are highly intelligent creatures, sociable and calm, capable of independent thinking and decision making.
They are strong and won't do something they consider unsafe, which makes them a great, trusted companion."
"Over 50 million donkeys share this planet with us."
To garner any form of collaboration, cooperation, agreement, sharing, relationships, teamwork, connection or partnership, to name a few, the primary ingredient needed is:
Willingness.
Without it, we have not made the first vital step towards achieving any objective, no matter how small or large.
As relationships are key to everything we endeavour, then willingness is absolutely necessary.
Sample areas where you may have relationships
Employers, employees,
casual staff
Family, friends, or acquaintances
Contractors, producers,
vendors
Businesses, corporations, governments
You have a relationship with your own body, mind, emotions, and consciousness
These are just a few examples and do not imply whether the relationships are strong or weak, temporary or lasting, good or bad.
But for each to be functioning in any way what-so-ever, some willingness must be present.
It may be with some reluctance, or the other end of the spectrum, with roaringly positive enthusiasm.
And this is just the beginning!
I venture to say you have been in a scenario where zero willingness to proceed was present.
How did that feel?
It is like being stuck!
You cannot proceed any further because the other person is unwilling to do so.
At this point we have a couple of options:
Walk away
1) We walk away because we don’t have the time, energy, free will or inclination to convince the other person of the benefits of whatever the undertaking is envisioned.
They are unwilling to even hear or entertain your ideas and are unreceptive or adversarial to your point of view, usually
because it is vastly different to their perspective.
“Nothing to see here, move on!”
Seek common ground
2) We attempt to seek some common ground where both parties can benefit, with the initial pitch about
“What is in it for them.”
By carefully watching the persons demeanour and body language, along with trusting your intuition about what they are saying and doing, if you sense some ‘chink in their reluctance armour’ then you can proceed with caution, gauging their willingness at each step.
Neither of these options are optimal!
The ideal scenario is to find someone who is very interested in you, what you do, your values and vision, because it aligns closely to theirs.
That is not to say people cannot change their minds and resolve and dissolve their unwillingness, and it will be up to you to gauge if you want to expend your time, energy and love to get that person onboard with your perspective.
"You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink!"
Watch for the level of willingness present to determine your way forward!
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