That strengthens the spirit of a person. Strength of spirit and will: how to develop them? Exercises for the development of volitional qualities

Hello dear friends!

We often oppress ourselves for blunders, saying: "I absolutely do not have enough fortitude!" What is this power? How is it related to our sense of self? With the abandonment of bad habits, countless promises to start life anew? How to train your fortitude?

With these questions, I would like to understand in today's article, and also to acquaint you with several exercises for pumping a new, improved skill.

The core of a person, his inner power and potential are closely related to self-control and awareness. Like any muscle in our body, it requires pumping and training in order to strengthen and harden it.

Dumbbells are suitable for triceps, and the ability to quickly write SMS is suitable for thumbs. In the case of self-control, the situation is similar. The filling of the physical and spiritual vessel should take place in an integrated manner.

Who is this strong-willed man? Firstly, it is a person who knows exactly where she is going and where her route is from. Such a person was able to realize his true purpose and was not used to waste his time on trifles.

Secondly, he confidently achieves one goal after another, while helping other people who met on his thorny path. Such an individual loves to win in a fight with itself and circumstances. His reactions to what is happening nearby are always positive, because he is convinced that negative is a destructive emotion.

Willpower plays a decisive role in the formation of a person. She is able to heal the individual and protect him from fears, experiences of the past and of course from his beloved. These three whales are the basis of the code of a strong-willed man. And I would like to write about this in more detail.

The first rule for developing iron fortitude is to overcome fear!

If you delve deeply into your subconscious, you can safely come to the conclusion that most of our fears are imaginary. People are often afraid of something that has not happened yet or of something that has already happened, denying the fact of accepting the situation.

There are real fears as well. But what's the point in running away from them? The fear that we looked into our eyes ceases to be a kind of monster under the bed for us. We completely control him and surpass him after such an intimate acquaintance.

But the fear, which we avoid in every possible way, and the truth can destroy us. I invite you to say goodbye to all illusory and real fears today! To do this, you need to make a decision to get rid of the ill-wisher, and form a list of frightening aspects in life.

In front of each item, write down the most terrible scenario and the most promising one. Think carefully about the situation. What do you choose, live. how before or do we end this list of problems and move on with our heads held high?

The second rule for the development of iron fortitude is to stop feeling sorry for yourself!

Thinking that life is not fair and full of negativity is stupid. This instills in your mind the idea that you are absolutely not in control of what is happening. And this is scary and belongs to the first rule.

Self-pity and pity for the Universe, apart from devastation, devastation and lack of self-respect, brings nothing. It makes you follow the same route for years.

Allow yourself to break free to light, freedom and faith in an optimistic future, created by your own hands! Get rid of grudges against people. In the case when it has accumulated under the heart, and in some cases even buried there, no movement forward is expected.

Forgive relatives, acquaintances and friends. Practice strengthening your willpower with actions, not empty words. Get rid of the accumulated junk of feelings with a call, an explanation, or a meeting. This is how you will speed up your "recovery".

The third rule for developing iron fortitude is to let go of the past!

The desire to cling to their native swamp is understandable and inherent in many. It's better than emptiness. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? Understand that in order for change to occur, endurance must be trained.

Letting go of the past and no matter how it was, good or bad, you open up to new and fresh streams of energy, filling your spiritual vessel. You should not live with regrets about lost happiness, about possible take-offs or fateful meetings.

It is this action that takes away the supply of vitality and makes one abandon faith in a successful and bright future. Live for today, realizing all the responsibility and the colossal amount of opportunities before your eyes!

How to strengthen the strength of the spirit?

1. Environment

How do they strengthen the physical shell of our soul? That's right, exercise, proper nutrition and attention. Concern for the spiritual should be structured in a similar way.

A person who wants to be a strong spirit usually understands what role the people with whom he has to communicate play in his life. Do not waste time on those who are sincerely trying to pull you back by assuring you that nothing will work!

2. Warm up

Strengthening Strength Through Exercise " I will!»Excellently stimulates achievement motivation and works with willpower. Try to come up with a daily ritual for yourself. Practice creating positive habits, such as meditating for five minutes every morning.

Before the exercise, say the phrase “ I do it with pleasure and to strengthen the strength of the spirit". The muscular self-control system involves the use of willpower on a daily basis. It is this skill that will temper you in all strong-willed rounds.

Friends, that's the point!

Subscribe to the update of my blog and recommend it to your friends to read. In the comments, tell us about how you develop your inner strength?

See you on the blog, bye bye!

Instructions

The first step that needs to be taken towards gaining inner integrity is to accept the full extent of responsibility for. Do not look for the guilty and meet the blows of fate with your head held high. Everything that happens, in fact, is the work of your hands, it is just sometimes difficult to admit it. Nobody can force us to do something against our will. Each choice is an independent decision. Once you realize this, life will become much easier.

Try to understand. Most often, when communicating with us, we hear only what we are told, not paying attention to the words spoken. However, none is born from scratch. Fear of showing weakness is often hidden behind anger and sarcasm. And feigned neglect is nothing more than the fear of rejection. Try to hear and empathize. Strength consists in the ability to admit one’s own and forgive another’s weakness.

Act on your conscience. When we start to pretend and look for excuses for our actions, it only means that something is wrong. Very often you have to pay too much for a momentary success. Don't do bad things to people. By committing unsightly deeds, we thereby saw the branch on which we are sitting. As a rule, all committed actions come back to us like a boomerang.

Be yourself and have nothing to regret. Sometimes, getting into a new team, a person tries to adapt, for the sake of society, breaks his foundations and principles. Of course, there is nothing to show "stupid stubbornness" either. But if you, stepping over yourself, begin to do something or not to do something just because everyone is doing this, this is a completely different question. Be yourself calm and reasonable, and people with a similar worldview will be drawn to you, and those with whom you are not on the way will disappear by themselves.

Most importantly, live in the present. We cannot change the past, the only reasonable tactic is to accept it as it is and not repeat past mistakes. The future has not yet arrived, so we can only influence today.

For effective combat and confrontation with the enemy, as many coaches say, physical strength is not enough - you need to be strong in spirit. It is this "layer" between your body and inner "I" that allows you to use less strength, energy and body movements in battle than your opponent.

Instructions

Remember: spirit is not only a psychological component, but also a physical one. Taken together, all this is psychotechnics and techniques. To train the spirit means to learn how to use your body and control emotions, skillfully using power with the help of thinking, and not blindly reflecting on an attack.

Use special psychotechniques to train your spirit: autogenous training (with these and other goals in domestic sports has been used for a very long time), non-standard behavior and techniques during a fight, high-speed study of strategy, combat tactics, meditation, the study of external psycho-and physiological characteristics manifestations of emotions in battle. Take an interest in psychic techniques in other arts (Asians, for example, are unsurpassed masters in this area).

Read some literature to get started. One of the best books - "Jeet-kune-do" "by Bruce Lee, it also has a philosophical side, not only a technical one. Also use exercises before training or fighting; for example, close your eyes and imagine how the full moon is reflected on the perfectly smooth surface of the lake. If you see even weak waves, then you are not calm, if the surface is like a mirror - boldly for training or in battle.

Learn techniques for entering the so-called combat trance. Choose an opponent who is equal in strength to you or even obviously stronger than you; offer to arrange a sparring - without aggression, i.e. like a friend.

Develop peripheral vision (not to be confused with the direction of the eyes to the side) - this means that at a distance, your gaze is directed into the eyes of the enemy; but at the same time - on his whole body - as a result, the adversary is disoriented, because he does not understand the reason why you are looking "through him." At a closer distance, the gaze should be shifted to the middle part of the body, so that absolutely everything can be seen with peripheral vision. If there are many opponents, remember the phrase "look into nowhere, but take everyone" - that is, even those behind. And only at close range you will not have time to look, here you need to rely on sensations.

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Not many can say about themselves that they are strong in spirit. At the same time, one should not confuse physically strong people and strong in spirit. In the first case, people are just strong - they reach heights in sports, for example. In the second case, a person knows how to soberly assess the situation and make the right decision, he has willpower, he can sacrifice himself for the sake of a loved one. It is very important to gain strength of mind, since it is this quality that makes a person strong-willed, purposeful, and confident.

Instructions

Think about what causes you fear, weakness. It is known that by understanding and conquering these feelings, you will gain strength of mind. Just be honest with yourself. Think about a real-life situation - for example, you are afraid to start a conversation first. What is this fear? Are you afraid of being rejected and misunderstood? Analyze all findings. A good way is to create fear every time, over time it will fade away.

If something does not work out for you - do not get discouraged and do not give up, failures should spur you on to be the best, to continue to improve. That is, go ahead no matter what. Stumbled on the way? Get up and walk on with your head held high.

Set a goal for yourself, develop a plan to achieve it. You can even break it down into several small tasks. Follow your goals strictly without being distracted by various factors. But keep in mind that there should be one goal. Once you reach it, put another one.

Also, you must believe in yourself, say that you can and will achieve what you want. Avoid being criticized. People have the right to make mistakes, so don't rule them out.

Improve your self-esteem. To do this, do not compare yourself with other people, constantly remember your achievements, reflect on your positive qualities, praise and reward yourself for the results achieved.

Try to take on those things that are less interesting to you, thus, you will develop willpower in yourself, and it, as a rule, is identical to the willpower.

Develop your intelligence, constantly improve your knowledge. Go in for sports, training your willpower and patience - you increase the strength of the spirit. You can also attend yoga classes, with the help of meditations you will understand your place in life, you will feel your "I".

Making the right decision is only half the battle. The hardest part is to muster up the courage and take a step towards its implementation. It seems that if you fulfill your plans, it will knock the familiar ground from under your feet. After all, it is not known how everything will turn out. But the decision you made has already influenced you. Not to follow it means to change yourself.

Instructions

Courage is usually not given much importance. People around you recommend to be quiet and not stick out. Life itself is designed in such a way that the easiest way is to go with the flow and obey the forces of inertia. But you can guess where this behavior will lead. As you know, the force of gravity on Earth works in one direction - down. Realize that courage is not the absence of fear, but the understanding that fear is not the most important thing. There is something more important than what you are afraid of. To get your spirit up, understand that it is really important for you to implement this decision.

To understand that something is really important to you, and calmly decide on it, meet face to face with your own inner voice. In a calm place where no one will bother you, think about your problem. Your inner voice always clearly understands the essence of the situation. Often, hesitation occurs when you deceive yourself by refusing to look into the eyes of what is actually obvious to you.

Be conscientious. After all, you know perfectly well in which direction to move. Even if it seems impossible, even if you think you can't. You may have absolutely no idea how to solve the problem at hand. Just stop pretending to yourself that you don't want it. Even if it is completely unclear how to get it, just admit that you need to implement this solution.

Fear is not a hindrance, but a sign of the direction in which to go. Once you've made your decision, move on to action. Do this deliberately. Fear will give way to determination. After all, what you are afraid of is not a property of the goal itself. This is your reaction to it, for others it seems quite achievable. If anyone can, why not you?

If you remember how many people regret having accomplished something, and compare with the number of those who regret what they did not manage to decide on, then there will be so many more people that it may seem implausible. However, this is the case. Often people hesitate to embark on the most beautiful adventures of their lives, which they later regret. Don't join them. Live your own life, do what you want.

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A person's spirituality is understood as the totality of his moral principles and traditions. These qualities are perceived as a positive characteristic, so many people think about how to develop them.

Instructions

You should not completely trust books about esotericism. Even this concept itself is now being misinterpreted. In the original, esotericism is a hidden, "inner" knowledge known only to initiates of the highest degrees. For example, the Orthodox practice of silence and prayer, hesychasm, is true esotericism, the mystical knowledge of Christianity. Today, under the sauce of esotericism, light is presented with elements of science from male authors and frankly magical thinking from female authors. Do not waste your money and time reading such literature, it is better for modern philosophers, for example, Jose Ortega y Gasset or Munier. They will give a non-trivial understanding of modern processes and events, and the authors of pseudo-esotericism only present common truths. Another thing is that many people in the book are simply looking for confirmation of their thoughts, and not the most original ones. For example, that money is worth respecting so that you have it. Is it trite? Yes, but from the mouth of a guru it sounds like a discovery.

Try to appreciate beauty more, for a start - the beauty of the material world. Stop to watch the sunset, carry your camera with you and capture the wonderful moments. You can become a personal photographer for your other half. Gradually, you will begin to appreciate the intangible beauty as you learn to find the time for this.

Start to appreciate your own and someone else's emotional state and do not translate everything and everyone into a material equivalent. Trust that any good deeds will bring you good. This law sounds strange, but it works. The laws of retribution for good and evil exist, because by your actions you create your own circle of people who remember both good and bad. But in most situations, a lot depends on people. So act kindly and be prepared to receive a positive response from the Universe or God.

To cultivate spirituality, remember God. Buy books that match your faith. Almost in any ancient religion there is a harmonious system of spiritual development, it begins with observance. Try to follow a path paved by tens of thousands of people. The experience of generations cannot be wrong. This is the best path to true spirituality.

A strong spirit is not afraid of obstacles. He knows how to cope with life's difficulties that suddenly arise on the way, go through resentment and pain, not lose heart, no matter what happens. Many are ready to follow such a person.

Instructions

A strong spirit is always strong physically, so start by improving your body. Do 40-minute strength and endurance exercises in the morning. This can be: push-ups, squats, pull-ups, work on the horizontal bar, jogging at various distances. The most important thing in this paragraph is to observe regularity. It is better to do three workouts per week, each 20 minutes long, than to devote two hours a month to one session.

Start hardening. This will strengthen the blood vessels and muscles of the body, as well as add strength and endurance to you. You can douse yourself in a bucket of cold water in the morning, or you can walk barefoot in the snow. Remember that hardening must be carried out gradually increasing the speed. If you have never poured cold water on yourself in your life, do warm douches first. Then you can turn the temperature down by two degrees every day.

Train yourself to overcome yourself. To do this, you need to perform actions that you rarely or almost never did before. For example, getting up at 6 in the morning is a wonderful overcoming of yourself. Any activity that you are not used to doing is fine here. For example, cleaning a friend's room, going to the circus with your younger brother, ironing a mountain of linen at your grandmother's - whatever, if you have not had to do this before. The most valuable experience will be with those variations that you do not really like to do - here you will get a tremendous overcoming of yourself, because you will have to show more inner strength than in other cases.

Once you have won victories in sports, hardening and overcoming yourself, begin to cope with your fears. For example, if you are afraid of black cats, specially pick up a kitten the color of the night and just watch your feelings. You can do the same action with rope climbing, winter swimming in an ice hole, walking along a dark street, parachuting, rappelling. Anything that you previously feared will do. Of course, observe the limits of reason, do not try to implement what is directly life-threatening.

People who are strong in spirit owe much not only to their natural qualities, but also to the correct accumulation, distribution and conservation of their own energy; the ability to control your thoughts, emotions, behavior; the skill of filtering information - accepting some attitudes and rejecting others.

We can confidently say that "a person with a strong spirit" is not born, one can only become one in the process. Below you will find some tips on how to build your fortitude. Of course, these are just the basics, but you have to start somewhere!

Don't abuse your power

Do not suppress others, either morally or physically. Not a single person who is strong in spirit, in the presence of noble impulses, will subjugate others in order to evoke negative emotions from them. People who have achieved success in life are well aware that strength lies not in the manifestation of power, but in the ability to do the right thing, with feelings and emotions.

Do not feel sorry for yourself

Many people, especially those who are weak in spirit, tend to often feel sorry for themselves, look for the reasons for failure in anything, but not in themselves. A truly strong-minded person will never blame circumstances and others. First of all, she will figure out what was done wrong on her part, and what led to such undesirable consequences.

Successful people never shift responsibility for their actions and their results onto others' shoulders. They just take for granted that life is sometimes unfair. These people endure all trials with dignity, thank fate for the lesson presented, which they will try not to repeat in the future.

Don't waste energy

You can spend the lion's share of your energy reserves through futile attempts to establish control over what you a priori cannot control. For example, traffic jams. Many people, being in a car that is in a traffic jam, are constantly lamenting, complaining, swearing, and screaming out of impotence.

This behavior takes up a huge amount of energy. Why react like that, if it's useless, you still won't change the situation, but at the same time weaken emotionally. Remember, the only thing that you can control in such situations is your behavior, emotions and feelings.

Do not be afraid of change

People who have achieved success are not afraid of change, they always walk with their heads held high towards the unknown. If necessary, they risk taking change for granted. Such individuals may not fear the unknown, but rather their own inappropriate behavior. They fear being "stagnant" and complacent. The period when changes take place should not be frightening, it must sharpen the best qualities of a person, giving him energy.

Don't regret the past

It is necessary to accept the past with all its failures and further advance along the path of life. The main thing is not to break morally. The experience you have gained earlier should be appreciated. Don't waste your spiritual and mental energy on disappointments in past events, nostalgic memories, worries about past times and opportunities. The strong do not spend their energy on the past or the future, but on creating a better present.

Don't try to please everyone

Surely, you have met people who are trying in every possible way to harm others. Their goal is to assert themselves and demonstrate their omnipotence. But there are also people who achieve their goal with slightly different methods - they try to please everyone and in everything, so to speak, to consolidate the image of a person for whom the word “no” does not exist. These two positions are equally bad.

Successful, strong-minded people, on the contrary, try to show kindness and understanding, to be fair, and to please only when it is really necessary and appropriate. They are also not afraid to express personal opinions that may not suit or completely disappoint someone.

Don't give up after failure

Any defeat is a chance to improve personal qualities, strengthen fortitude, gain experience. If you delve into history, then about many outstanding and successful personalities, we can confidently say that their first attempts to achieve anything in life were a failure. But they didn't give up, they continued

If a person does not have willpower, then he cannot do anything ... A person spiritually flies with the help of two wings: the will of God and his own will. One wing - His will - God has forever glued to one of our shoulders. But in order to fly spiritually, we also need to glue our own wing to the other shoulder - human will. If a person has a strong will, then he has a human wing, the resultant with the divine wing, and he flies.

Elder Paisiy Svyatorets

It is very important to understand the meaning of the concept of "cowardice" at the very beginning of our conversation, since it does not have such a clear and unambiguous expression as, for example, despondency, love of money, lies, vanity.

"Explanatory Dictionary of the Russian Language" edited by S.I. Ozhegova defines cowardice as "lack of firmness of mind, decisiveness, courage." This kind of cowardice is reduced to indecision, cowardice and affects mainly the emotional feelings and abilities of a person.

IN AND. Dahl in his explanatory dictionary tries to reflect the deeper spiritual nature of cowardice, defining it as "despair, discouragement." In this case, cowardice turns out to be a consequence of the action in a person of passions such as sadness and despondency, and is synonymous with them.

If we try to look into other dictionaries, we will find new shades of the meaning of this word, and they will all have the right to exist.

That is why it seems to me justified to give the following expanded interpretation of the concept of “cowardice” within the framework of our conversation.

Cowardice is the weakness of a person's soul, which is characterized by a lack of firmness, determination and consistency in actions, up to cowardice and betrayal. Various manifestations of cowardice are most often noticed by us in the sphere of human earthly activities, but they are always the result of those spiritual weaknesses and shortcomings that are hidden in the depths of the human heart. The development of cowardice inevitably leads to discouragement and despair.

In the aspect of spiritual life, by faint-heartedness we mean the absence of determination, the proper attitude of a Christian to follow the commandments of God.

How is strength of mind different from willpower? Who, from the Orthodox point of view, can be called a person with a strong spirit?

The specific meaning that is put into the words "strength of mind" and "willpower" by different people can be very ambiguous. Let's define these concepts as follows.

The power of the spirit is the power of the highest sphere of the human soul, which in Orthodox asceticism is called spirit. The spirit by its nature is always turned to God, and it cannot be considered strong if the human heart is not filled with the light of Divine grace, if in its depths coarse passionate urges have not yet been overcome. The action of the spirit is always guided by the Providence of God and is directed only at good deeds pleasing to God. The closer a person is to the knowledge of the true God, the more his heart is sanctified by the action of Divine grace, the more free it is from passions, the stronger is the spirit of a person. According to the Orthodox understanding, it is impossible to be a strong spirit outside the true faith and the Church.

Willpower is one of the innate, natural forces of the human soul. It is not directly related to the spiritual and moral perfection of a person and can be aimed at both good and evil. A person with a strong will can be outside the Church, outside the life of grace. During the period of socialism in the USSR, millions of people showed a strong will to serve the communist ideals. However, outside the action of Divine grace, a person is far from always able to use his strong will to serve the good and for the good of others. Lack of spiritual judgment can gradually bring a person with a strong will to such perverse forms as tyranny and cruelty. Even attackers demonstrate something like willpower when they are ready to sacrifice their lives at the time of the crime. In addition, if a strong will is not strengthened by the action of Divine grace, it can be easily lost by a person. I know a lot of examples of people who in their youth had a strong will, were ardent adherents of high values ​​and ideals, but already in adulthood turned out to be weak-willed and disillusioned with life.

Thus, a person who is strong in spirit will also have willpower, since the spirit, supported by Divine grace, subjugates all the forces of the soul, directing them to serve God and neighbors. A person with a strong will does not always have the strength of the spirit and is not always able to show a strong will as a positive quality of his soul.

Saint Nicholas of Serbia said: “Crime is always weakness. The perpetrator is a coward, not a hero. Therefore, always consider that the one who does evil to you is weaker than you ... For he is a villain not because of strength, but because of weakness. " How to understand these words correctly? What weakness are they talking about?

We noted above that the entire will of a person, as the natural power of the soul, can be directed both at doing good and at doing evil. The extreme manifestation of ill will is crime.

Nowadays, largely thanks to the cinema, criminals are often perceived as role models - courageous, consistent, strong-willed. However, if you look closely at the circumstances of the crimes they commit, then in reality everything will turn out to be completely different. If you look at a rapist who chooses a weak woman as a victim, look at a robber who suddenly attacks a defenseless person with a weapon, look at a thief who sneaks into an apartment at night while no one sees him and the owners are not at home, look at the killer (killer) who fires his ominous shot from hiding - we will see that there is no courage here. For some, it seems like a hero an adulterer, ready to do anything for the sake of "love" for a vicious woman. But if we remember how much suffering and pain this man inflicted on his lawful wife and children for the sake of low passion, we will understand that this man is not a hero of love affairs, but simply a traitor.

Therefore, in criminals and sinners there is only a semblance of courage and willpower. Cowardice and weakness are more characteristic of them. That weakness, the victim of which they repeatedly fell victim to in their lives: both when they allowed vicious thoughts to captivate their souls, and when shamefully succumbing to this captivity, they embarked on a criminal path, and when they chose the methods of committing their crimes, characteristic only of cowards and traitors.

This weakness of the criminals is pointed out by St. Nicholas of Serbia in the statement you quoted - so that people would not be deceived by their false courage and heroism.

The well-known answer of the Lord to the Apostle Paul reads: "My strength is made perfect in weakness" (2 Cor. 12: 9). What kind of weakness are we talking about here? Not about our laziness, despondency, cowardice.

In Orthodox asceticism, the word "weakness" can be understood in two ways. It is necessary to distinguish, first, the inner weakness of a person, which is manifested in the captivity of his soul by various passions, including despondency, and laziness, and cowardice. And secondly, external weakness, which manifests itself in diseases of the body, sorrows and temptations that come from outside, regardless of the will and desire of the person himself.

However, these external weaknesses, on the one hand, for ordinary sinful people, and on the other, for the righteous, marked by God with grace-filled gifts, have a fundamentally different character. For an ordinary person, bodily ailments, external misfortunes and sorrows are the result of the defeat of his soul by sinful ailments, the action of which has a destructive effect both on his physical health and on all circumstances of life. One can get rid of these infirmities through the healing of the soul from the infection of sin.

For the righteous, marked with gifts of grace, such infirmities are sent by God for the purpose that His saints do not become proud, but always remember Whose power they perform wonderful deeds; so that they are always aware of the natural weakness of human nature, which can easily fall and lose great gifts, deprived of Divine grace. The experience of spiritual life shows that a righteous person, to whom much has been given from God, cannot preserve either his gift or the height of life if everything in his fate develops easily and cloudlessly and if various external infirmities, according to the Providence of the Lord, do not temper his heart. It is in these weaknesses of the righteous that the power of God is made perfect.

- Is cowardice related to false humility? If so, how?

We speak of false humility if outwardly a person behaves humbly, but his internal state does not correspond to the external one, and often turns out to be the exact opposite. For example, when a person outwardly shows respect for another, but internally feels hatred and contempt for him; shows humility and solidarity, and he makes insidious plans; he speaks compliments in the eyes, and exudes curses behind his back.

False humility has various manifestations, and all of them are somehow connected with cowardice.

False humility can be expressed in hypocrisy towards superiors. In this case, a person can easily compromise his opinion, neglect truth and justice; he is ready to endure any humiliation, to make any compromises with his conscience, so as not to spoil relations with stronger and more influential people, not to be left without their patronage. However, in relation to the weak and defenseless, such a person often behaves tyrannically and cruelly. For example, it is not uncommon for a husband, after humiliation and troubles at work, to come home and take out his negative emotions on his wife and children. The Holy Fathers quite rightly insisted that a person's true humility is manifested in relation to those who are weaker than him, and true courage - in relation to the stronger. So, in relation to the boss at work, it would be courageous to express his opinion in order to defend the truth, and in relation to his wife and children - to accept and tolerate their shortcomings.

False humility can manifest itself in hypocrisy towards peers, when a person wants to appear kind and courteous in the eyes of others. If he does evil to other people, it is secretly and surreptitiously. Nowadays, many believe that it is beneficial to appear downtrodden, weak and gray - this way you can better get settled in life, as well as avoid many troubles and conflicts. However, people who reason in this way forget that for such a comfortable life they will have to give up their honor and principles, they will have to cowardly keep silent in those circumstances when truth and justice are violated. Such a condition has a destructive effect on the spiritual and moral life of a person, finally depriving him of both willpower and strength of mind.

False humility can also be manifested in relation to subordinates, when, for example, a boss indulges the sins of his subordinates, is in no hurry to punish them for various shortcomings and blunders in order to win honor and praise from people entrusted to his care, to enlist their benevolence and support, as well as avoid conspiracies and malicious intent of those who may be dissatisfied with his exactingness and firmness.

As you can see, cowardice associated with false humility can be expressed in different ways - from obvious cowardice to more subtle manifestations associated with the passion of vanity.

The Monk Seraphim of Sarov said: "If they had determination, then they would have lived like the fathers who shone forth in antiquity." In other words, there is only one difference between a person who is perishing and a person who is being saved - determination. What should this determination be based on?

There are a lot of temptations and temptations around us, which are an obstacle in our spiritual and moral development, constantly throw us back on the path to salvation and eternal life. We often tend to regard these temptations and temptations as harmless and innocent, and therefore do not show the proper determination to avoid them for the sake of the immaculate service of God. Often, the fortitude is not enough for this. The ancient fathers, unlike us, had such a determination, and therefore reached the heights of spiritual life. I think that this is how one can briefly express the meaning of the quoted saying of the Monk Seraphim.

Father Gennady Nefedov said: “The first question a priest should ask a parishioner in confession is:“ Child, what do you believe? ” And the second: "What prevents you from believing correctly and living by faith?" Then the confession will not turn into a listing of unseemly deeds and actions that the believer informs the priest about in confession, and not always deeply repenting of them. " What do you think, if priests always conducted confession like this, we would have more strong-minded laity?

Many priests can take note of this form of confession, but in no case can it be considered universal.

It is necessary to take into account the fact that the clergy performing the sacrament of confession have significantly different experience of spiritual life, and the level of knowledge in matters of faith, and personal disposition. Confessors who bring their repentance are also very different. Therefore, each experienced priest in his arsenal has his own forms of confession, his own approaches - depending on the state of the penitent and the circumstances under which the sacrament is performed.

The main thing is that confession should not be reduced to a formal enumeration of sins, but should encourage the repentant to work on himself incessantly, to really correct his vices and shortcomings, to grow in goodness.

St. John Chrysostom taught: “If all the weeds are torn out in the field, but the seeds are not sown, what is the use of labor? In the same way, there is no benefit to the soul if, cutting off evil deeds, one does not plant virtues in it. " Why do you think today the majority of believers, paying much attention to the search for their sins and shortcomings, at the same time show negligence in the development of virtues (merits of the soul)?

A person's repentance always begins with knowing the depth of his sinfulness. However, it is possible to eradicate the revealed vices and shortcomings only if, expelling evil, we begin to plant in our hearts the virtues opposite to our previous sinful inclinations. If you neglect the development of virtues in your heart, evil will return with even greater force. The Savior also warned us about this: “When the unclean spirit leaves a man, he walks through dry places, seeking rest, and finds none; Then he says, I will return to my house from whence I left. And, having come, he finds [him] unoccupied, swept and cleaned; Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and entering in, they dwell there; and for that man the last is worse than the first ”(Matthew 12: 43-45).

Why does a modern believer too often stop at the stage of knowing his sins and not take the next step towards spiritual and moral perfection? The problem, it seems to me, is that the path of implanting virtues today requires a great deal of sacrifice from a person, giving up many earthly joys and consolations that feed the vices in our hearts. It is very difficult for a modern man in the street, completely enslaved by the material side of life, to renounce part of his earthly wealth for the good of the people around him, which is invariably required by the path of a virtuous life. We can also say this: often there is not enough fortitude to sacrifice part of their earthly well-being.

But here it is important to take the first step. After all, a person who has firmly decided to plant virtues in his heart will soon understand how great the spiritual joy is from doing good deeds, how much closer God becomes to him both in spiritual and earthly life.

What do you think, maybe one of the reasons for cowardice is that a person does not realize the omnipotence of God, His strength and might?

Yes, absolutely. A person who does not believe in God or has an imperfect faith has to rely only on his own strengths and abilities, to be guided only by the calculations of earthly logic. However, we know very well that a person's own strengths are very limited, and quite often situations occur in life, from which there is no chance to emerge victorious if we rely only on earthly means. For many, this becomes a reason for cowardice.

Moreover, if people did not trust in God, then many great events, both in personal destinies and in the destiny of our Fatherland, would not have been allowed to happen. Take, for example, the liberation of Moscow from the Poles in 1612 by the people's militia of K. Minin and Prince D. Pozharsky. This miracle became possible only thanks to the people's faith in God's help. Indeed, in 1610 Muscovite Rus practically ceased to exist: there was no tsar, no government, no system of government, no army, no state treasury ... On the side of the Polish garrison in Moscow was a well-trained army of a powerful state - the Commonwealth. If the Russian people relied only on their own strength, the collection of the militia would seem like a completely insane undertaking, there would be no chance of victory. However, our people strongly trusted in God, and the victory was achieved, contrary to the calculations of earthly logic.

When a person has a living faith in God, constantly realizes the presence of the Creator in his destiny - this is a very good basis for combating cowardice.

Paisiy Svyatorets taught: “When a person is disposed to asceticism, when he prays and asks God to increase his willpower, God helps him. A person should know that if he does not succeed, then [this means that] he either does not apply will at all, or does not apply it enough. " It turns out that in order to prosper spiritually, we must pray for the strengthening of willpower. Besides prayer, what should you do to develop your willpower? How can you avoid becoming overly self-confident?

In order to prosper spiritually, we ask the Lord for many blessings: for the gift of prayer, repentance, humility, knowledge of our sins ... Including that the Lord should strengthen our will in the struggle with passions.

We have already said that one should distinguish between willpower and fortitude. Willpower is associated with the innate, natural abilities of the soul, and the strength of the spirit - with how much our heart is sanctified by the light of Divine grace, how free it is from passions, how much it can serve as an instrument of God. The stronger the spirit of a person, the more he strives to God, the more he subjugates the power of the will of a person, directing it to the service of good.

Therefore, there are two ways to strengthen willpower itself. First, the spiritual path is through cleansing the heart from sinful ailments, through drawing it closer to God. Secondly, the path is natural - through correct upbringing, through the awareness of responsibility for all your actions, through love for your homeland and people, through serving your neighbors, through the physical development of the body, etc.

Only with the help of spiritual exercises, neglecting, for example, education and physical training, the will cannot be made strong. But the neglect of spiritual life in favor of active training makes a person's will defective, and its strength limited. History bears witness to how, even before Christianity, the Roman Empire knew many worthy warriors who showed great courage and heroism on the battlefields. But the same warriors after the battle could become weak-willed slaves of depraved women, capable of the most pitiful and unseemly acts for the sake of their mistresses. The same warriors could become slaves of gluttony and drunkenness, remaining in their pleasant captivity even when it became a threat to their health and life. Therefore, from the Orthodox point of view, if a person's heart is filled with passions, if the natural forces of his soul are not subordinated to the spirit, it is too early to talk about a strong will.

Now let's touch on one more aspect of the question you asked. What does it mean when they say that a person's will is not enough, that willpower is not enough, etc.?

Let me give you a simple analogy. Imagine a young man who is able to lift a barbell weighing 80 kilograms. What if he is asked to lift 150 kilograms? He will be unable to do this, since at this time he does not have enough strength for this. One desire, an effort of will is clearly not enough here, it is necessary to spend a lot of time, make a lot of effort to make lifting 150 kilograms a reality. And if the young man stops training, indulges in bliss and relaxation, then he will not be able to lift the previous 80 kilograms. So it is in the spiritual life. When we apply little zeal to the development of willpower, to educating our souls, in difficult life situations our willpower may not be enough, and we will fall into cowardice. If we work hard to develop the strength of spirit and willpower, then after a while a lot will become possible for us; and if we indulge in neglect after the first setbacks, we will fall into even greater cowardice and lack of will.

Every Christian is a warrior of Christ. He can be worthy of this high title, only overcoming cowardice. Unfortunately, the fact that now is the time of weak men is an obvious fact. What should be an Orthodox man, and what prevents him from being so?

In short, an Orthodox man, first of all, must be a faithful child of his mother Church. He must have a living faith in God, actively struggle with his vices and shortcomings, strive to prefer the spiritual over the spiritual, the eternal over the temporary, the high over the low. He must develop in himself the strength of spirit, which is nourished and strengthened by the grace of God.

At the same time, he, of course, must be a worthy citizen of his Motherland, capable of serving her, sacrificing his personal property for the common good; he has no right to compromise his principles, his high values ​​and ideals, either because of cowardice and cowardice, or because of earthly self-interest.

It is also very important that he be a loving husband and father who will never act dishonestly towards his closest people, will not betray them for the sake of windy passionate desires, a comfortable life and personal gain.

The problem of weak men in our society is connected, first of all, with the wrong upbringing. In modern families, practically nothing is done in order to raise a boy as a future father, courageous and responsible for his actions. Increasingly, the child becomes the center of the family, where everyone, starting with the parents, indulges his weaknesses. Among other things, today we have very, very few strong, prosperous families.

Is it worth it in such a situation to be surprised at the weakness and cowardice of modern men, because willpower must be nurtured for a long time and consistently from birth - it does not develop spontaneously.

A well-known Orthodox hand-to-hand instructor said: “Some priests do not bless me to practice martial arts at all. Not understanding the peculiarities of the military path, they deprive today's young generation of physical and military training. And our boys cease to be men already under the wing of the Church. " What can you say about this?

It seems to me that military-patriotic clubs based on Russian military and cultural traditions are not much of what today is capable of saving our country from decay, and its male component from degradation. These clubs are needed for boys who need to learn how to defend their homeland and their loved ones. If education in the club is properly set, if the spiritual needs of students are not limited, then this can lead to success in spiritual life.

Archpriest Igor Shestakov, rector of our church, organized several years ago and still heads the military-patriotic club "Voin". Some guys even came there unbaptized and unbelievers, but in the club, thanks to the church's nourishment, they acquired saving faith and received holy baptism. Currently, many of them are active parishioners of various churches of the Chelyabinsk diocese. Thus, the correct upbringing of boys in military-patriotic clubs can lead to birth in the spiritual life. I am sure that every priest who cares for clubs and organizations of this kind will give many concrete examples of the above.

Among other things, military-patriotic clubs can make a significant contribution to the power and defense capability of our Motherland, educating its worthy defenders. Their development should be one of the priority areas in government support programs. Unfortunately, such support is practically non-existent today. Regarding the fact that "some priests do not bless to practice martial arts in general," I will note: our Orthodox Church has never shared such views. Moreover, in many monasteries of Ancient Russia there was an arsenal of weapons and monks trained in military affairs. The monasteries themselves were often reliable fortresses capable of repulsing in the event of an enemy attack and sheltering behind their walls not only the brethren, but also defenseless civilians. I'm not even talking about the fact that the mastery of the martial art in Russia was encouraged in every possible way for the laity, regardless of their origin and nobility. After all, the beginning of a regular army was laid in our country only in the 18th century.

However, in more than 12 years of my priestly ministry, I practically did not meet priests who would have been so rigorous about martial arts.

I have heard similar "pacifist" judgments from some priests ... Although neither in the Holy Scriptures, nor in patristic writings, we will not see a ban on self-defense without weapons.

Father Alexy, it is known from the New Testament that cowardice left the apostles after they received the Holy Spirit. Can we say that cowardice is a consequence of a person's non-acquisition of the Holy Spirit?

It has already been said that the grace of God nourishes the strength of the spirit, and a strong spirit directly strengthens the will as the natural strength of our soul. The more graceless a person is, the weaker his will is, the more he is subject to cowardice.

In addition, the grace of God can impart such strength to the spirit, so strengthen the will of the believer that the ability of the latter can exceed natural human strength. The era of persecution against Christianity clearly testifies that those who had a pure heart endured the suffering for Christ most courageously and worthily. Those who, by virtue of unresolved sinful inclinations, were little strengthened by the power of Divine grace, turned out to be unable to endure torment and denied the Lord. It also happened that a weak, defenseless woman with dignity endured all the most monstrous tortures, and a strong man-warrior repudiated the Lord in shame and humbly asked for mercy from his tormentors.

The apostles should not be considered faint-hearted people in comparison with their foreigners. However, before the descent of the Holy Spirit, their willpower was within the limits of human nature. The grace of God subsequently allowed them to accomplish what exceeded natural human strength.

- What is spiritual strength?

Spiritual strength is the strength of the spirit. According to the teaching of the Church, a person consists of spirit, soul and body. Man is built according to the hierarchical principle, according to which there is the main thing, there is the subordinate, there is the subordinate to the subordinate. In other words, there is a lower and a higher.

Man is conceived by God in such a way that the spirit dominates in him. For the spirit to dominate the soul, the soul over the body. The highest is spirit, the lowest is flesh. In fact, after the Fall, everything became the other way around: man ceased to be spiritual, man became carnal. Very often in modern man, the flesh dictates to the spirit, suppresses the spirit and controls it. That is, lust, lust and other passions often guide our actions.

I think spiritual strength is when, after all, the spirit enters into its own rights, when it dictates to the body and soul how to act, how not to act.

- Spirit, soul - subtle matters invisible to the eye. In order for people to understand what this means, let's look at an example. Here a person has a choice. Feeling, emotion attracts him to one decision. And with his mind he understands that it is better to act differently. Here is the mind, consciousness - what does it refer to, the soul or the spirit?

I think to the spirit, of course.

In general, indeed, to understand what is from the heart, what is from the spirit, it is not easy. This is what I define for myself. Here, I have various thoughts and feelings that constantly fill me: memories, thoughts, feelings, desires, emotions. And among them there are, relatively speaking, good and there are unkind. But in me there is a certain part of my “I”, which evaluates this. She tells me: “I want something bad now. It will be disgusting if I do it. " That part of my "I" that can assess what is happening in my heart and mind, this is the spirit. The spirit knows good and evil, knows a certain system of values ​​and lives in them.

Soul - here it is: “I want it,” or vice versa, I don’t want something. In general, there are "want" and "must". “I must” is from the realm of the spirit, and “I want” is from the realm of the soul. And when a person acts on the basis of “I must” and not from “I want”, this is a spiritually strong person. When “I want” prevails over “I must”, it means that spiritual strength is not up to the mark.

- Is the concept of "willpower" identical to "strength of mind"?

In the world, outside the Church, these concepts are almost identical. In my opinion, spiritual strength and willpower are very close concepts. Willpower is the ability to force yourself to do something you don't want. But I would say that the strength of the spirit is greater than the strength of will, because I would also refer to the strength of the spirit as the ability to courage - it is still not quite willpower. To the strength of the spirit, I would attribute patience, endurance in suffering, in sorrow - it's still not quite willpower. Strength of spirit is when a person rejoices in sorrows ...

Therefore, I believe, where there is strength of mind, there is usually will power, but where there is will power, there is not always spiritual power. For me, fortitude is always a positive characteristic, it is an orientation towards positive, towards good. And willpower ... There were many villains, terrible villains who achieved great results in their atrocities precisely because they were very strong-willed people. But to say about some Stalin, although he was strong-willed and purposeful in his own way, walked towards his goal, that he was a strong-minded person, I will not turn my tongue.

There are exceptions when there is strength of mind, but there is no special willpower. So I read about a priest who was not worthy of the priesthood - before the revolution he served in a small town. He was susceptible to the ailment of drunkenness, and he drank in such a way that it was obvious to everyone around him, he was often found on the street in a state of “riz”, as they say. People tolerated him somehow, but, nevertheless, no one respected him either as a priest or as a person. He served himself, served - when he was able, he was on the verge of being banned from serving ... And then there was a revolution, and he ended up in the Cheka. He was tortured and demanded to renounce his beliefs. They beat him, then threw him into a cell, and the prisoners asked: "Father, what do they demand of you?" “They demand from me that I confirm that Christ was for the same thing that the Bolsheviks stand for - that equality is everywhere, etc. And I cannot confirm this, because Christ said,“ Give it back! ” they say "Take it!" - this is a big difference. " In the end he was shot ... Was this a strong-minded person? Strong, I think. But is it a strong will ... If at that time these persecutions had not happened, maybe a drunk man somewhere under the fence would have died and no one would have ever said a kind word about him. But when he had to stand up for his faith, I think, the strength of the spirit manifested in him.

- Why is this strength given to a person - the strength of the spirit? All that is given to us is given for a purpose.

On this occasion, I would like to recall a passage from the Gospel that we read in the days of the memory of John the Baptist. Jesus Christ says about John the Baptist the following words: "Why did you go out into the wilderness to look - is it a reed shaken by the wind?" These words always catch me. Indeed, a person is very often "a cane (that is, a reed) shaken by the wind." While there is no wind, this reed stands straight, but as soon as the wind begins to blow, the reed vibrates. And just the strength of the spirit is the ability of the reed not to sway under the influence of the wind. When such a person as John the Baptist appears - a cane that does not sway with the wind, then he conquers everyone around him with his strength, because the strength attracts. Why did people go to John the Baptist - because they felt: "I am a reed that is shaking, but he is not, he has a steadfast and straight spirit that does not shake with the wind."

I think that being a reed shaken by the wind is a pitiful and unworthy fate for a person. A person should strive to find firmness, without which there will be no joy. The firmer the spirit of a person following the path of goodness, the more joyful, the more cheerful in the soul of a person. And weakness always entails a lack of joy in the heart, despondency, longing, sadness ...

- How to strengthen the strength of the spirit?

So is the strength of the body. Strength of the body is strengthened by proper nutrition and exercise, gymnastics. It's the same with the spirit - proper nutrition and gymnastics. Only nourishment and exercise of spirit and soul is still another nourishment and exercise ...

A person who wants to be strong in spirit usually knows what role the people with whom you communicate play. It affects us. From what kind of people I communicate, in many respects depends what kind of person I myself become - “with the reverend you will be reverend,” so it is said in the Psalter. "With whom you lead, from that you will gain." Communication with spiritually strong people is also the nourishment of the soul.

It is very important what kind of books a person reads. Vysotsky has a wonderful song, it contains the words:

If you cut the path with your father's sword,

You wound salty tears on a mustache

If in a hot battle you experienced how much,

This means that you read the correct books as a child ...

I will paraphrase: "If you have become a worthy person, then you read the right books as a child." This is really so - I am sure that a lot depends on what a person reads in childhood. Reading is also an exercise, of course, and at any age ...

And church people still know the word "ascetic". What is asceticism? Its meaning, of course, is not to deny yourself everything. It is a system of exercises designed to subdue the spirit, soul and flesh. That is, just for the development of fortitude. A person consciously makes some effort that strengthens his spirit. For Orthodox people, the main such exercise is fasting. This is a very strong, serious exercise. Anyone who has experienced fasting knows that you usually leave fasting feeling much less like a reed, shaken by the wind than before.

For believers, I want to say especially: the main source of strength of spirit is participation in the Holy Spirit. Today, I think, it is not by chance that we speak on this topic on the day of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the apostles, when they received power from above. Look here - the apostles - can we call these people strong in spirit before Pentecost? Hardly: we see that the people who abandoned their Teacher fled in horror - they were very good, kind, clean - but they were not strong people. And when the power from above descended on them at Pentecost, they became completely different people. Therefore, we, the Orthodox, believe that the most important means of becoming a spiritually strong person is the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit. How? Everything that happens in the Church, the whole mode of life of a church person - fasts, prayers, divine services, the Sacraments - all this is aimed at obtaining the grace of the Holy Spirit. And then, according to the extent to which I am filled with this grace, to the extent that I become a spiritually strong person.

- Many people believe that playing sports also strengthens the strength of the spirit, since sport also requires discipline, a regime - as you say, submission of the lower to the higher, you have to endure fatigue and pain, overcome your body weaknesses ...

I fully subscribe to this. Some Orthodox authors are critical of sports. Usually, their books emphasize that sport is competition, that competition is always a desire to be first, and where there is a desire to be first, vanity is sure to exist, and we, on the contrary, must be humble ... I will say - I do not share this point of view and I think it doesn’t matter to strive to be the first. It is not bad to be the first, it is bad to be proud of those who are not the first.

Of course, sport mainly develops willpower. But, as we said, strength of mind and willpower are not opposite concepts. Willpower is a wonderful quality.

In general, I am convinced that who a person will become in this life, what he will achieve, to what level of perfection he will rise, largely depends on willpower. A strong-willed person swims against the tide in this life. Victory always comes through effort. There are so many wonderful, wonderful, kind, but weak-willed people who could not become what they were called to become, because they did not have enough will ...

Therefore, I have a positive attitude to sports. I have never played sports myself, but I am happy to watch those young people who are seriously involved in this. When I watch a girl go to figure skating practice every morning, at 4 or 5 in the morning, before school ... How much effort you need to do on yourself - I think it's very good.

- You said about the importance of willpower, fortitude for success. In principle, to all people who consider themselves losers, who are failing, for them the topic of fortitude, apparently, should be a very important topic. They should pay attention to this in order to stop being losers.

Of course. Most of my friends who turned out to be “losers”, as a rule, believe that the reason for their failure is not in them, but in the fact that they are not cunning enough, not adapted enough ... I had one acquaintance who studied with me at the institute. When you meet him, there is always some caustic sarcasm: "Well, of course, everyone settled down, but I can't adapt, I can't, I can't do that ..." And he just can't pull himself together and really force himself to work. Of course, the easiest way to find the reason for failure is in the circumstances. There are unfortunate circumstances, but still I think that always 90% of success is in inner strength, which we call strength of mind.

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