Attempting the Impossible
Willingness in Extremis
In looking at creativity in endeavours (), it was proposed that it emerged as part of an urge to rise to a challenge and depended on willpower.
The critical levels were the transcendence levels: it was not enough to , communications needed to be intensified, not enough to have a , your purposes needed to be always kept in mind, it was not enough to , you had to be fully willing. Willingness-L7 combined with values-L6 is what makes all the difference between activity that is perfunctory and activity that is personally meaningful, energetically pursued and likely to be socially significant.
Remember: The focus in the present section is not on any particular endeavour, it is on the psychosocial functioning that supports an inner activation that makes achievement possible.
In this investigation of the willingness domain, it has been necessary to clarify exactly what «» entails and how it appears apart from its use in endeavours. The first implication is that all 7 levels of willingness will need to be activated—anything less would be incomplete by definition—and this use of all 7 levels generates a serious involvement.
Serious involvement will make all the difference for your prosperity if that is your concern. If involvement is selfless, it will lead you to render assistance to others. However, the most significant involvement is when you are dealing with a challenge that seems self-evidently impossible or a situation that seems utterly hopeless. If, nevertheless, something is attempted, then being fully willing is essential.
Being Fully Willing starts with Hope
As developed earlier, the elements of willingness are rather ordinary psychosocial functions that become specialized by a fully conscious awareness that things may not go well and that continuance will be stressful or problematic.
Every activation of a willingness element therefore can bring with it a silent or articulated hope that the undesired and frustrating factors will not dominate and dissipate energies.
Will that hope be realized? It is impossible to know. It just has to be activated as a matter of faith. This means that each level of willingness becomes a , and activation .
, by itself, is not a strategy. Nor is . Hope and faith often appear to be no more than wishful expectations that reveal and indulge passivity. Hope that is generated by activating willingness is not a strategy either, but it is far from a passive indulgence. Instilling hope is an active initial step in making a meaningful difference to an impossible situation.
To strengthen the effects of each level of willingness and put substance on the bare bones of hope and faith, the levels can be combined. Combinations can be expected to illuminate all the complex willingness forms that may need to be activated when .
In THEE, combinations of levels are found in structural hierarchies and that is what will be developed n this section, grouping by grouping.
Before developing the :
- Remind yourself of THEE's structural hierarchy.
- Focus on hope.
- Preview the framework.
Originally posted: 12-Jun-2026
