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Post by Kata Samoes on Jan 18, 2008 18:30:46 GMT -5
Define "Willful Arrogance," and how it affects your behavior upon others in spiritual ways.
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Post by KG on Jan 18, 2008 20:03:37 GMT -5
Great to hear from you Kata!!! This is a thought provoking question.
I feel that a strong will is a two edged sword. Like any other gift or atribute it can be useful or detrmental. It is great to be strong willed when the strong willed person is right, and it sucks when you are dealing with someone who is clueless, and determined to have their way on something they know nothing about. I think to be successfully strong willed, one needs first off to be very well informed on all aspects of the decision. They need to be fair minded, and they need to consider the consequences of the action to be taken upon the entire situation, and all people involved. Once a person has made a wise decision, there is nothing wrong with sticking to their guns about it. On the other hand to have to work with someone who is stubborn about every half baked plan or pipe dream is unbearable.
As for Arrogance, there is the arrogance of being right, knowing you are right, and dealing with comparitive idiots, and there is the arrogance of being an idiot and not realizing it. I think it is best not to show arrogance anymore than necessary, but that same emotion... or at least one similar is called certainty. Certainty in the face of idiocy can lead to the emotion of arrogance.
In matters of opinion, it is always good to hear the other side out completely before becoming willful and agrogant... perhaps there is more information you aren't aware of. Maybe the other person is just defining words differently, or maybe they have another perspective entirely. Once one has heard everything though, and the facts are out on the table, a decision has to be reached. There is nothing wrong wtih being willful or arrogant about a good decision... and many lives have been lost in the course of history because the person with the right answer wasnt' willful enough, and the person with the wrong answer was.
I think it is OK to be willfully arrogant, as long as you are d**n sure you are right. I'd rather deal with the willfully arrogant, than the willfully ignorant.
I also know that people have free will, and though one might be able to persuade a person into a decision that is obviously more beneficial for them, eventually that person will revert back to what they emotionally want to do. IF a person is kicking a drug habbit, or leaving an abusive spouce, then that has to be their decision. Pushing your will on them might be a temporary fix, but it will not change a thing over the long haul, if the person making the change isn't committed to the change. You can force your will on people, but it has no lasting effect once you leave them to their own devices... thus each person makes up their own mind. Therefore persuasion, logic and reasoning become better than being arrogantly willful in dealing with plans that will be largely carried out by others.
An example would be Drug Rehab. Inside the facility the person is controlled. When they get out what they do depends on them. Even if your will was so strong that you could force someone to do things against their will, as soon as you turn your back they will do as they please. IT is better to give a person a reason than to force them.
For matters of one's own personal actions though, and one time decisions... it is better to take right action, with determination, than it is to second guess, or take the wrong action, simply because others want you to. In those cases strong will is very important. In general right action must be decided upon and then acted on. One cannot let the will of others alter the course of ones own actions, nor can one perpetually change the course of another's actions purely by force.
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Post by Wunderkind on Jan 18, 2008 20:13:10 GMT -5
I believe it depends on the situation. Anyone can be willful and come across as both admirable and a jackass, depending on the viewer. I've been in cases where I both loathed the person and was impressed with them for the same reasons.
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