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diff --git a/41901-8.txt b/41901-8.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 9f866ec..0000000 --- a/41901-8.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7582 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's The Victorious Attitude, by Orison Swett Marden - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: The Victorious Attitude - -Author: Orison Swett Marden - -Release Date: January 23, 2013 [EBook #41901] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VICTORIOUS ATTITUDE *** - - - - -Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - - - - THE VICTORIOUS - ATTITUDE - - BY - - ORISON SWETT MARDEN - - AUTHOR OF "PUSHING TO THE FRONT," "PEACE, POWER - AND PLENTY," "THE MIRACLE OF RIGHT THOUGHT," - "KEEPING FIT," "WOMAN AND HOME," ETC. - - - _To think you can, creates the force that can._ - - - NEW YORK - THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY - PUBLISHERS - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1916 - BY THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY - - Sixteenth Thousand - - - - - [Illustration: Orison S. Marden] - - - - - TO - MY FRIEND - CHARLES M. SCHWAB - - - - -TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I THE VICTORIOUS ATTITUDE 1 - II "ACCORDING TO THY FAITH" 17 - III DOUBT THE TRAITOR 41 - IV MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE 62 - V A NEW ROSARY 87 - VI ATTRACTING THE POORHOUSE 117 - VII MAKING YOURSELF A PROSPERITY MAGNET 140 - VIII THE SUGGESTION OF INFERIORITY 163 - IX HAVE YOU TRIED LOVE'S WAY? 183 - X WHERE YOUR SUPPLY IS 217 - XI THE TRIUMPH OF HEALTH IDEALS 239 - XII YOU ARE HEADED TOWARD YOUR IDEAL 268 - XIII HOW TO MAKE THE BRAIN WORK FOR US DURING SLEEP 286 - XIV PREPARING THE MIND FOR SLEEP 303 - XV HOW TO STAY YOUNG 318 - XVI OUR ONENESS WITH INFINITE LIFE 343 - - - - -THE VICTORIOUS ATTITUDE - - - - -CHAPTER I - -THE VICTORIOUS ATTITUDE - - Go boldly; go serenely, go augustly; - Who can withstand thee then! - BROWNING. - - What a grasp the mind would have if we could always hold the - victorious attitude toward everything! Sweeping past obstacles - and reaching out into the energy of the universe it would gather - to itself material for building a life in its own image. - - -To be a conqueror in appearance, in one's bearing, is the first step -toward success. It inspires confidence in others as well as in oneself. -Walk, talk and act as though you were a somebody, and you are more -likely to become such. Move about among your fellowmen as though you -believe you are a man of importance. Let victory speak from your face -and express itself in your manner. Carry yourself like one who is -conscious he has a splendid mission, a grand aim in life. Radiate a -hopeful, expectant, cheerful atmosphere. In other words, be a good -advertisement of the winner you are trying to be. - -Doubts, fears, despondency, lack of confidence, will not only give you -away in the estimation of others and brand you as a weakling, a probable -failure, but they will react upon your mentality and destroy your -self-confidence, your initiative, your efficiency. They are telltales, -proclaiming to every one you meet that you are losing out in the game of -life. A triumphant expression inspires trust, makes a favorable -impression. A despondent, discouraged expression creates distrust, makes -an unfavorable impression. - -If you don't look cheerful and appear and act like a winner nobody will -want you. Every man will turn a deaf ear to your plea for work. No -matter if you are jobless and have been out of work for a long time you -must keep up a winning appearance, a victorious attitude, or you will -lose the very thing you are after. The world has little use for whiners, -or long-faced failures. - -It is difficult to get very far away from people's estimate of us. A -bad first impression often creates a prejudice that it is impossible -afterwards wholly to remove. Hence the importance of always radiating a -cheerful, uplifting atmosphere, an atmosphere that will be a -commendation instead of a condemnation. Not that we should deceive by -trying to appear what we are not, but we should always keep our best -side out, not our second best or our worst. Our personal appearance is -our show window where we insert what we have for sale, and we are judged -by what we put there. - -The victorious idea of life, not its failure side, its disappointed -side; the triumphant, not the thwarted-ambition side, is the thing to -keep ever uppermost in the mind, for it is this that will lead you to -the light. You must give the impression that you are a success, or that -you have qualities that will make you successful, that you are making -good, or no recommendation or testimonial however strong will counteract -the unfavorable impression you make. - -So much of our progress in life depends upon our reputation, upon making -a favorable impression upon others, that it is of the utmost importance -to cultivate mental forcefulness. It is the mind that colors the -personality, gives it its tone and character. If we cultivate will -power, decision, positive instead of negative thinking, we cannot help -making an impression of masterfulness, and everybody knows that this is -the qualification that does things. It is masterfulness, force, that -achieves results, and if we do not express it in our appearance people -will not have confidence in our achieving ability. They may think that -we can sell goods behind a counter, work under orders, carry out some -mechanical routine with faithfulness and precision, but they will not -think we are fitted for leadership, that we can command resources to -meet possible crises or big emergencies. - -Never say or do anything which will show the earmarks of a weakling, of -a nobody, of a failure. Never permit yourself to assume a -poverty-stricken attitude. Never show the world a gloomy, pessimistic -face, which is an admission that life has been a disappointment to you -instead of a glorious triumph. Never admit by your speech, your -appearance, your gait, your manner, that there is anything wrong with -you. Hold up your head. Walk erect. Look everybody in the face. No -matter how poor you may be, or how shabby your clothes, whether you are -jobless, homeless, friendless even, show the world that you respect -yourself, that you believe in yourself, and that, no matter how hard the -way, you are marching on to victory. Show by your expression that you -can think and plan for yourself, that you have a forceful mentality. - -The victorious, triumphant attitude will put you in command of resources -which a timid, self-depreciating, failure attitude will drive from you. - -This was well illustrated by a visitor to the Athenæum Library in -Boston. Ignorant of the fact that members only were entitled to its -special privileges, this visitor entered the place with a confident -bearing, seated herself in a comfortable window seat, and spent a -delightful morning reading and writing letters. In the evening she -called on a friend and in the course of conversation, referred to her -morning at the Athenæum. - -"Why, I didn't know you were a member!" exclaimed the friend. - -"A member! No," said the lady. "I am not a member. But what difference -does that make?" - -The friend, who held an Athenæum card of membership, smiled and replied: - -"Only this, that none but members are supposed to enjoy the privileges -of which you availed yourself this morning!" - -Our manner and our appearance are determined by our mental outlook. If -we see only failure ahead we will act and look like failures. We have -already failed. If we expect success, see it waiting for us a little bit -up the road, we will act and look like successes. We have already -succeeded. The failure attitude loses; the victorious attitude wins. - -Had the lady in Boston had any doubt of her right to enter the Athenæum -and freely to use all its conveniences, her manner would have betrayed -it. The library attendants would have noticed it at once, and have asked -her to show her card of membership. But her assured air gave the -impression that she was a member. Her victorious attitude dominated the -situation, and put her in command of resources which otherwise she could -not have controlled. - -The spirit in which you face your work, in which you grapple with a -difficulty, the spirit in which you meet your problem, whether you -approach it like a conqueror, with courage, a vigorous resolution, with -firmness, or with timidity, doubt, fear, will determine whether your -career will be one grand victory or a complete failure. - -It is a great thing so to carry yourself wherever you go that when -people see you coming they will say to themselves, "Here comes a winner! -Here is a man who dominates everything he touches." - -Thinking of yourself as habitually lucky will tend to make you so, just -as thinking of yourself as habitually unlucky and always talking about -your failures and your cruel fate will tend to make you unlucky. The -attitude of mind which your thoughts and convictions produce is a real -force which builds or tears down. The habit of always seeing yourself as -a fortunate individual, the feeling grateful just for being alive, for -being allowed to live on this beautiful earth and to have a chance to -make good will put your mind in a creative, producing attitude. - -We should all go through life as though we were sent here with a sublime -mission to lift, to help, to boost, and not to depress and discourage, -and so discredit the plan of the Creator. Our conduct should show that -we are on this earth to play a magnificent part in life's drama, to make -a splendid contribution to humanity. - -The majority of people seem to take it for granted that life is a great -gambling game in which the odds are heavily against them. This -conviction colors their whole attitude, and is responsible for -innumerable failures. - -In the betting machines used by horse racing gamblers the bettors make -the odds. If, for example, five hundred persons bet on a certain horse, -and a hundred bet on another, then the first horse automatically becomes -a five to one choice, and the odds in favor of his winning are five to -one. In the game of life most of us start out by putting the odds on our -failure. - -In horse race gambling the judgment that forms the basis of belief as to -the winning horse has a comparatively secure foundation in a knowledge -of the qualifications of the different racers. In life gambling it is -merely the unsupported opinion or viewpoint of the individual that puts -the odds against himself. The majority of people look on the probability -of their winning out in the life game in any distinctive way as highly -improbable. When they look around and see how comparatively few of the -multitudes of men and women in the world are winning they say to -themselves, "Why should I think that I have a greater percentage of -chance in my favor than others about me? These people have as much -ability as I have, perhaps more, and if they can do no more than grub -along from hand to mouth, of what use is it for me to struggle against -fate?" - -When people believe and figure that they cannot, and therefore never -will, be successes, and conduct themselves according to their -conviction: when they take their places in life not as probable winners, -but as probable losers, is it any wonder that the odds are heavily -against them? - -"Mad! Insane! Eccentric!" we say when some miserable recluse dies in -squalor and wretchedness,--"Starved," the coroner's inquest finds, -although bank books revealing large deposits, or else hoards of gold, -are discovered hidden away in nooks and crannies of the wretched miser's -quarters. - -Are such persons, whom we call mad, insane, eccentric, who stint and -save, and hoard in the midst of plenty, refusing even to buy food to -keep them alive, any worse than those who face life in a -poverty-stricken, failure attitude, refusing to see and enjoy the -riches, the glories all around them? Is it any wonder that life is a -disappointment to them? Is it any wonder that they see only what they -look for, get only what they expect? - -What would you think of an actor who was trying to play the part of a -great hero, but who insisted on assuming the attitude of a coward, and -thinking like one; who wore the expression of a man who did not believe -he could do the thing he had undertaken, who felt that he was out of -place, that he never was made to play the part he was attempting? -Naturally you would say the man never could succeed on the stage, and -that if he ever hoped to win success, the first thing he should do would -be to try to think himself the character, as well as to look the part, -he was trying to portray. That is just what the great actor does. He -flings himself with all his might into the rôle he is playing. He sees -himself as, and feels that he is actually, the character he is -impersonating. He lives the part he is playing on the stage, whether it -be that of a beggar or a hero. If he is playing the part of a hero he -acts like a hero, thinks and talks like a hero. His very manner radiates -heroism. And vice versa, if the part he takes is that of a beggar, he -dresses like one, thinks like one, bows, cringes and whines like a -beggar. - -Now, if you are trying to be successful you must act like a successful -person, carry yourself like one, talk, act and think like a winner. You -must radiate victory wherever you go. You must maintain your attitude by -believing in the thing you are trying to do. If you persist in looking -and acting like a failure or a very mediocre or doubtful success, if you -keep telling everybody how unlucky you are, and that you do not believe -you will win out because success is only for a few, that the great -majority of people must be hewers of wood and drawers of water, you will -be about as much of a success as the actor who attempts to personate a -certain type of character while looking, thinking and acting exactly -like its opposite. - -By a psychological law we attract that which corresponds with our mental -attitude, with our faith, our hopes, our expectations, or with our -doubts and fears. If this were fully understood, and used as a working -principle in life, we would have no poverty, no failures, no criminals, -no down-and-outs. We would not see people everywhere with expressions -which indicate that there is very little enjoyment in living; that it is -a serious question with them whether life is really worth while, whether -it really pays to struggle on in a miserable world where rewards are so -few and uncertain and pains and penalties so numerous and so certain. - -Every boy, every girl should be taught to assume the victorious attitude -toward life. All through a youth's education the idea should be drilled -into him that he is intended to be a winner in life, that he is himself -a prince, a god in the making. From his cradle up he should be taught to -hold his head high, and to look on himself as a son of the King of -kings, destined for great things. - -No child is properly reared and educated until he or she knows how to -lead a victorious life. This is what true education means--victory over -self, victory over conditions. - -It always pains me to hear a youth who ought to be full of hope and high -promise express a doubt as to his future career. To hear him talk about -his possible failure sounds like treason to his Creator. Why, youth -itself is victory. Youth is a great prophecy, the forerunner of a superb -fulfillment. A young man or a young woman talking about failure is like -beauty talking about ugliness; like superb health dwelling upon weakness -and disease; like perfection dwelling upon imperfection. Youth means -victory, because everything in the life of the healthy boy or girl is -looking upward. There is no downgrade in normal youth; it is its nature -to climb, to look up. Its very atmosphere should breathe hope, superb -promise of the future. - -If all children were reared with such a triumphant conception of life, -with such an unshakable belief in their heritage from God, that nothing -could discourage them, we would hear no talk of failure; we would soon -sight the millenium. If they were made to understand that there is only -one failure to be feared,--failure to make good, the failure of -character, the failure to keep growing, to ennoble and enrich one's -life,--this world would be a paradise. - -Just think what would happen if all of the down-and-outs to-day, all of -the people who look upon themselves as failures or as dwarfs of what -they ought to be, could only get this victorious, this triumphant, idea -of life, if they could only once glimpse their own possibilities and -assume the triumphant attitude! They would never again be satisfied to -grovel. If they once got a glimpse of their divinity, once saw -themselves in the sublime robes of their power, they never again would -be satisfied with the rags of their poverty. - -But instead of trying to improve their condition, to get away from their -failure, poverty-stricken atmosphere, they cling the more closely to it -and sink deeper and deeper in the quagmire of their own making. -Everywhere we find whining, miserable people grumbling at everything, -complaining that "life is not worth living," that "the game is not worth -the candle," that "life is a cheat, a losing game." - -Life is not a losing game. It is always victorious when properly played. -It is the players who are at fault. The great trouble with all failures -is that they were not started right. It was not drilled into the very -texture of their being in youth that what they would get out of life -must be created mentally first, and that inside the man, inside the -woman, is where the great creative processes of life are carried on. - -That which man does with his hands is secondary. It is what he does with -his brain that counts. That is what starts things going. Some of us -never learn how to create with our minds. We depend too much upon -creating with our hands, or on other people to help us. We depend too -much on the things outside of us when the mainspring of life, the power -that moves the world of men and things, is inside of us. - -There are times when we cannot see the way ahead, when we seem to be -completely enveloped in the fogs of discouragement, disappointment and -failure of our plans, but we can always do the thing that means -salvation for us, that is persistently, determinedly, everlastingly to -face towards our goal whether we can see it or not. This is our only -chance of overcoming our difficulties. If we turn about face, turn our -back on our goal, we are headed toward disaster. - -No matter how many obstacles may block your path, or how dark the way, -if you look up, think up, and struggle up, you can't help succeeding. -Whatever you do for a living, whatever fortune or misfortune may come to -you, hold the victorious attitude and push ahead. - -A captain might as well turn about his ship when he strikes a fog bank, -because he cannot see the way ahead of him, and still expect to make his -distant harbor, as for you to drop your victorious attitude and face the -other way just because you have run into a fog bank of disappointment or -failure. The only hope of the captain's reaching his destination is in -being true to the compass that guides him in the fog and darkness as -well as in the light. He may not see the way, but he can follow his -compass. That we also can do by holding the victorious attitude towards -life, the only attitude that can insure safety and bring us into port. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -"ACCORDING TO THY FAITH" - - "Where there is Faith there is Love, - Where there is Love there is Peace, - Where there is Peace there is God, - Where there is God there is no need." - - There is a divine voice within us which only speaks when every - other voice is hushed,--only gives its message in the silence. - - -"I shall study law," said an ambitious youngster, "and those who are -already in the profession must take their chances!" - -The divine self-confidence of youth, the unshaken faith that believes -all things possible, often makes cynics and world-weary people smile. -Yet it is the grandest, most helpful attribute of man, the finest gift -of the Creator to the race. If we could retain through life the faith of -ambitious, self-confident, untried youth, its unquestioning belief in -its ability to carve out its ideal in the actual, what wonders we should -all accomplish! Such faith would enable us literally to remove -mountains. - -All through the Scriptures faith is emphasized as a tremendous power. It -was by faith that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt, through -the waters of the Red Sea, and through the wilderness. It was by faith -that Elijah, Isaiah, Daniel, and all of the great prophets performed -their miracles. - -Faith was the great characteristic of Christ Himself. The word was -constantly on His lips, "According to thy faith be it unto thee." He -often referred to it as the measure of what we receive in life, also as -the great healer, the great restorer. Whenever He healed He laid the -entire emphasis upon the faith of the healer and the one healed. "Thy -faith hath made thee whole," "Believe only and she shall be made whole," -"Thy faith hath saved thee." Or He reproved His disciples for the lack -of faith which prevented them from healing, as when He addresses them, -"O faithless and perverse generation, how long shall I be with you and -suffer you." - -Faith believes; doubt fears. Faith creates; doubt destroys. Faith opens -the door to all things desirable in life; doubt closes them. Faith is an -arouser, an awakener of our creative forces. It opens the door of -ability and arouses creative energies. Faith is the link in the Great -Within which connects man with his Maker. It is the divine messenger -sent to guide men, blinded by doubt and sin. Our faith puts us in touch -with Infinite Power, opens the way to unbounded possibilities, limitless -resources. No one can rise higher than his faith. No one can do a -greater thing than he believes he can. The fact that a person believes -implicitly that he can do what may seem impossible to others, shows -there is something within him that has gotten a glimpse of power -sufficient to accomplish his purpose. - -Men who have achieved great things could not account for their faith; -they could not tell why they had an unflinching belief that they could -do what they undertook. But the mere fact of such belief was evidence -that they had had a glimpse of interior resourcefulness, reserve power -and possibilities which would warrant that faith; and they have gone -ahead with implicit confidence that they would come out all right, -because this faith told them so. It told them so because it had been in -communication with something that was divine, that which had passed the -bounds of the limited and had veered into the limitless. - -Men and women who have left their mark on the world have been implicit -followers of their faith when they could see no light; but their unseen -guide has led them through the wilderness of doubt and hardship into the -promised land. - -When we begin to exercise self-faith, self-confidence, we are -stimulating and increasing the strength of the faculties which enable us -to do the thing we have set our heart on doing. Our faith causes us to -concentrate on our object, and thus develops power to accomplish it. -Faith tells us that we may proceed safely, even when our mental -faculties see no light or encouragement ahead. It is a divine leader -which never misdirects us. But we must always be sure that it is faith, -and not merely egotism or selfish desire that is urging us. There is a -great difference between the two, and no one who is true to himself can -possibly be deceived. - -When we are doing right, when we are on the right track, our faith in -the divine order of things never wavers. It sustains in situations -which drive the self-centered egoist to despair. The man who does -not see the Designer behind the design everywhere, who does not -see the mighty Intelligence back of every created thing, cannot -have that sublime faith which buoys up the great achievers and -civilization-builders. - -Our supreme aim should be to get the best from life, the best in the -highest sense that life has to give, and this we cannot do without -superb faith in the Infinite. What we accomplish will be large or small -according to the measure of this faith. It is the man who believes in -the one Source of All who believes most in himself; it is the man who -sees good in everything, who sees the divine in his fellow-man, who has -faith in everybody, who is the master man. The skeptic, the pessimist, -has no bulwark of faith, none of the divine enthusiasm that faith gives, -none of the zeal that carries the man of faith unscathed through the -most terrible trials. - -Without confidence in the beneficence of the great universal plan we can -not have much confidence in ourselves. To get the best out of ourselves -we must believe that there is a current running heavenward, however -much our surroundings may seem to contradict this. We must believe that -the Creator will not be foiled in His plan, and that everything will -work together for good, however much wars and crime, poverty, suffering -and wretchedness all about us may seem to deny this. - -The abiding faith in a Power which will bring things out right in the -end, which will harmonize discord, has always been strong in men and -women who have done great things in the world, especially in those who -have achieved grand results in spite of the most severe trials and -tribulations. - -It takes sublime faith to enable a man to fight his way through -"insuperable" difficulties, to bear up under discouragements, -afflictions and seeming failure without losing heart; and it is just -such faith that has characterized every great soul that has ever made -good. Whatever other qualities they may have lacked, great characters -have always had sublime faith. They have believed in human nature. They -have believed in men. They have believed in the beneficent Intelligence -running through the universe. - -Some of the most important reforms in history have been brought about by -very fragile, delicate men and women, not only without outside -encouragement, but in the teeth of the most determined opposition. They -have agitated and agitated, hoped and hoped, and struggled and -struggled, until victory came. No one could even attempt the herculean -tasks they accomplished without that instinctive, abiding faith in a -Power superior to their own,--a Power which would work in harmony with -honesty, with earnestness, with integrity of purpose, in a persistent -struggle for the right, but which would never sanction wrong. - -Think of what the faith of St. Paul enabled him to do for the world! -Think of what Christ's little band of chosen disciples succeeded in -accomplishing in spite of the might of the Roman empire pitted against -them! The power of the greatest benefactors of the race came largely -from the inspiration of faith in their mission, their belief that they -were born to deliver a certain message to the world, that they were to -make an important contribution to civilization. Think of what the faith -of the inventor has done! It has kept him at his task, kept him nerved -and encouraged in the face of starvation, kept him at his work when his -family had gone back on him, when his neighbors had denounced him, and -called him insane. Think of what the faith of Columbus, of Luther, of -the Wesleys, has accomplished for mankind! It has ever been men with -indomitable faith that have moved the world. They have been the great -pioneers of progress. - -An instinctive faith in the Divine Force which permeates the universe, -which is friendly to the right and antagonistic to the wrong, has ever -been the unseen helper that supported, encouraged, and stimulated men -and women to accomplish the "impossible," or that which to lower natures -seems beyond human capacity. It is this which sustains brave souls in -adversity and enables them to bear up, to believe and hope and struggle -on when everything seems to go against them. It is the same principle -which supported the martyr at the stake and enabled him to smile when -the flames were licking the flesh from his bones. - -Faith has ever been the greatest power in civilization. It has built our -railroads, has revealed the secrets of nature to science, has led the -way to all our inventions and discoveries, and has brought success out -of the most inhospitable conditions and iron environments. In fact, we -owe everything that has been accomplished to faith, and yet when we come -to its practical application in our everyday affairs how few of us avail -ourselves of this tremendous force! The vast majority are looking for -some power outside to help, when we ourselves hold the key which has -ever unlocked, and ever will unlock, all barred doors to aspiring souls. - -If people could only realize what a potent building, creative force -faith is, and would exercise it in their daily lives, we should have -very few paupers, very few failures, very few sickly, diseased or -criminal among us. If, by some magic, a strong, vigorous faith could be -injected into the men and women of the great failure army to-day, the -larger part of them would get out of this army and get into the army of -the successful. - -It is not alone in our life work, or in great or special undertakings -that faith is necessary. We need it every moment of our lives, in -everything, great and small, that concerns us. It is just as necessary -to your health as it is to your success. To build up the faith habit, -faith in human nature, the habit of believing in yourself, in your -ability, of believing that you are sane, sound, and level headed, that -you have good judgment and good horse sense, that you are victory -organized and that you are going to attain your ambition, is to blaze a -path to success. - -A man begins to deteriorate, to go toward failure, not when he loses all -of his material possessions, not when he fails in his undertakings, but -when he loses faith in himself, in his ability to make his dreams come -true. - -When we remember that self-faith characterizes successful people, and -lack of it the mediocres and the failures, one would think that -everybody would cultivate this divine quality which by itself alone has -done so much for the individual and for the world. - -The reason why faith works such marvels is that it is the leader of all -the other mental faculties. They will not proceed until faith goes -ahead. It is the basis of courage, of initiative, of enthusiasm. Much of -Napoleon's power and early success came from his tremendous faith in -his mission, the conviction that he was a man of destiny, that he was -born under a lucky star, born to conquer. Shorn of his mighty belief in -his star, stripped of the faith that he was born to rule, he would have -been no more of a power in human affairs than the dullest private in the -ranks of his army. When warned by his generals not to expose himself to -the enemy, he would reply that the bullet or the cannon had not been -cast which could kill Napoleon. This invincible belief in his destiny -added wonderfully to his natural powers. - -It was her conviction that she was chosen of God to free France from its -enemies that made Joan of Arc, the simple, ignorant peasant girl of -Domrèmy, the saviour of her country. Her mighty faith in her divine -mission gave her a dignity and a miraculous force of character, a -positive genius, that made all the commanders of the French army obey -her as private soldiers obey their superior officers. Faith in herself -and in her mission transformed the peasant maiden into the greatest -military leader of her time. - -There is no doubt that every human being comes to this earth with a -mission. We are not accidental puppets thrown off to be buffetted by -luck or chance or cruel fate. We are a part of the great universal plan. -We were made to fit into this plan, to play a definite part in it. We -come here with a message for humanity which no one else but ourselves -can deliver, and faith in our mission, the belief that we are important -factors in the great creative plan, that we are, in fact, co-creators -with God, will add wonderfully to the dignity and effectiveness of our -lives, will enable us to perform the "impossible." - -If every child were brought up in the firm belief that he was made for -health, happiness, and success; if it were impressed on him that he -should never entertain a doubt of his power to attain them, as a man he -would be infinitely stronger in his powers of self-assertion and in his -self-confidence; and these qualities strengthen the ability, unify the -faculties, clarify the vision, and make the attainment of what the heart -yearns for a hundred per cent. more probable than if he had not been -thus reared. - -A child's faith is instinctive, and if not tampered with, destroyed by -wrong training, would continue through life. We see this sort of -instinctive faith illustrated by the lower animals. Take the birds, or -the domestic hen, for example. See how patiently she sits on the eggs -week after week until the chickens are hatched. She cannot see the -chickens when she begins to sit, but her belief that they will come if -she does her part induces her to give up her liberty for weeks, and to -go sometimes for days without food, that she may keep the eggs at the -right temperature in order to produce the chickens. - -The trouble with most of us is that we do not have sufficient faith in -the creative power of the vigorous determination to do a thing, in the -persistent endeavor backed by self--faith to accomplish what we desire. -We give up too easily under discouragement. We haven't sufficient -stamina and grit to push on under disheartening conditions. We want to -see clear through from the beginning to the end of whatever we -undertake. We refuse to have faith. Yet much of the time throughout life -we may have to work without any goal in sight, or at least without any -clear light to see it, but if the mental attitude is right we know that, -somehow, we shall attain our heart's desire. We have merely been shown a -program which we are capable of carrying out, a table of contents of our -capabilities, the signs of the corresponding realities, for faith is not -an idle dream, an illusive picture of the imagination. We have not been -mocked by ideals and aspirations, soul-yearnings and heart-longings for -the things which have no possible realities. Faith is not a cheat. There -is ability to match the faith. - -There is something about devotion to one's inward vision, the intense -desire and concentrated effort to fulfill what we believe to be our -mission here, that has a solidifying influence upon the character, gives -poise and peace of mind and also helps us to realize our vision. - -The probabilities are that the iceberg which sent the _Titanic_, with -sixteen hundred souls, to the bottom of the ocean did not even feel a -tremor at the shock. More than seven-eighths of its huge bulk was below -the water, deep down in the eternal calm of the sea, beyond the reach of -storm or tempest. Like the giant iceberg, faith reaches down into the -serene within of us, into the eternal calm of the soul. It is not -disturbed by the surface commotions. A life poised in faith rides -steadily, triumphantly, through the tempests and the hurricanes of -existence. - -You will constantly be confronted with things which tend to destroy -faith in God and faith in yourself. There are many times in life when -about all we can do is to hold on to the hand of the Divine Guide until -we have run through the storm zone. We have to learn to turn away from -the heart-breaks of life and to face toward the light. We have to -disregard the criticisms and the discouragement of others, as well as -the assaults of fear and doubt, and press on to our goal. - -If you go in business for yourself, if you are struggling to get an -education, if you are making desperate efforts to realize your ambition, -whatever it is, you will find plenty of pessimists who will predict your -failure. They will tell you that you never can build up a business -without a lot of capital and outside help in these times of terrific -competition, that you cannot work your way through college, that you -can never be whatever you are dreaming of and longing to be. You will -meet plenty of obstacles and much opposition, and it will take a very -stiff backbone, a lot of sand and grit to keep pushing on towards your -goal against great odds, but faith is more than a match for all these. -Nothing else will enable you to win out. - -Remember it is not other people's faith in you but your faith in -yourself that counts most. It is a good thing to have other people's -good opinion, to have their confidence in us, their faith in the success -of our efforts, but it is not imperative. Our own is. No man ever gets -anywhere or does anything great in this world without faith in himself, -without a superb belief that he is on the right track, that he is doing -the thing he was made to do, that he is going to stick to it through -thick and thin to the end. It takes faith to look beyond obstacles, to -see the way over difficulties, to brave opposition and to allow nothing -to swerve us from our course. - -You cannot keep any one from succeeding who has an unshakable faith in -his mission. You cannot crush the faith that wrestles with -difficulties, that never weakens under trials or afflictions, that -pushes on when everybody else turns back, that gets up with greater -determination every time it is knocked down. - -In the sacred Confucian scriptures we are told that a very devoted -disciple of Confucius, on a pilgrimage to his master, was stopped on his -journey by a broad river. As he could not swim and could not procure a -boat, the zealous disciple resolved that he would walk on the water. -Believing that the necessity of seeing his master was most urgent, and -being filled with zeal in the performance of his mission, he boldly made -the attempt--and succeeded. The record of this miracle is supposed by -followers of Confucius to be just as authentic as the Bible account of -the walking of Christ on the water. - -If, like this zealot, you have faith in your power to overcome -difficulties, nothing can keep you from your goal. If, like Joan of Arc, -you believe you are appointed by God to perform a certain work, it will -help you wonderfully to make good. It will dignify your life and your -efforts, and thus save you from a thousand temptations to waste your -time in frivolous pursuits. It will put a higher value upon your -importance to the world. To feel that you have a divine mission that no -one else can perform, that you came here with a sacred message for -mankind, and that it is up to you to deliver it will add a wonderful -motive for effectiveness in your life work. The consciousness that you -are keeping faith with your Creator and with yourself, that you are -keeping faith with your fellowmen and earning their respect and love, -that you are keeping faith with a splendid life purpose, with your -holiest vision, gives a satisfaction which nothing else can afford. - -Cling to your faith no matter what happens. It is your best friend. Like -the magnetic needle on the ship's deck, which will find the north star, -no matter how dense the fog, how dark the night, or how threatening the -tempest, your faith, even though you cannot see, will find the way. It -sees the open road, beyond the mountain of difficulties which shuts out -the vision of the other faculties. - -Some time ago, during one of our periodical business crises, some -newspapers made merry over a statement of President Wilson that the -condition of the United States, illustrated by the fact that eighty -thousand freight cars were at the time side-tracked along the lines of -one of our great railroads alone, could be changed by psychology. One of -these papers sarcastically suggested that if we should take a dose of -the psychology remedy and go to sleep somewhere in the misty, cloudy -lands of theory, and dream that those eighty thousand empty freight cars -were moving, we should see them move. - -Now, in spite of newspaper skepticism, I believe that the psychology -remedy if applied in every financial, business, or other crisis would -prove absolutely effective. If all the people of this country would -persistently hold a mental attitude of faith in our prosperity, which is -the birthright of the inhabitants of this land of plenty; if they would -have faith that our vast resources would enable us to carry on business, -regardless of conditions in Europe or elsewhere, and if they would act -in accordance with their faith, there would be no idle freight cars, no -lack of work, no lack of money at any time. - -It is the mental attitude of the people of the United States that -causes financial panics and recurrent "hard times." And there is -something dead wrong in a state of mind which produces periodical -crises, intervals of nationwide stagnation in a land with resources -great enough to make every one of its citizens rich, in a land where the -State of Texas alone could give every one of them a better living than -the majority get to-day. - -Before we can make business conditions stable we must have faith in the -stability of our limitless wealth, in the opulence of the earth over -which the Creator has given us control. We have got to hold the -prosperous vision, to see better times with the mental eye, not dimly in -the future, but now, to have more faith in our Maker, in our nation, in -ourselves individually. - -Why, if we analyze the matter, we will see that our unparalleled -national prosperity has been built up largely by psychology. Its -foundations had their root in the faith of our forefathers, in their -belief in our country's possibilities. - -We all know that faith has preceded every achievement in the world's -history. The activities of the whole country to-day are based upon -psychology, upon the mental attitude, the faith, the hope, the -expectation of its inhabitants. - -"Without a vision the people perish," and when our vision, our faith, -shrivels, when it is obscured or displaced by doubt, fear, anxiety, lack -of confidence, all our activities suffer accordingly. - -With abundant crops, with a lowering death rate and increasing longevity -of our people, with constantly growing educational facilities, America -ought to register every day of every year a high water point of -prosperity. But when a large portion of the people lack faith in the -future, when, from time to time, uncertainty is in the air, when -everybody is doubting and fearing, waiting to see what is coming next, -of course business will stagnate. It will follow the prevailing mental -attitude, hesitate, waver, doubt, stand still like the idle freight -cars. - -We are just beginning to see that faith is as much a real force as is -electricity. It is faith that removes mountains--mountains of -difficulty, of opposition, of doubt, of distrust. It clears the track -of all obstructions. It makes stepping stones of stumbling blocks. Faith -is the most powerful, the most sublime of human attributes. Without it -the bottom would drop out of civilization. It is the fundamental -principle of life. Faith is the basis of health, of success, of -happiness, of love itself. It believes in, hopes, trusts, clings to the -loved one in spite of all faults and sins. It is faith that heals, that -achieves, that hopes. The very feeling of harmony between ourselves and -our God, that which gives assurance, a sense of protection and of safety -which nothing else can give, is born of our faith in Him, in whom we -live and move and have our being. - -We must realize and appreciate more and more our divinity, the fact that -we are made in the image of our Creator and that we must partake -consciously of His qualities. Then we will have more faith in our -powers. When we are conscious of having qualities like His we can rise -above apparent limitations, above hereditary weakness. It is all -preëminently a question of holding the right thought--the thought that -builds, the thought that creates, that produces, the thought that we -have within us unlimited possibilities, which can be realized. A sublime -self-faith is absolutely indispensable to all great achievement. - -Let no one shake your faith in yourself. That is what brings you into -closest connection with God. It is your mainstay. There is no magic like -faith; it elevates, refines and multiplies the power of every other -faculty. - -Whether we are starting out in life, or going downhill on the other -side, facing the transition we call death, faith is our bracer, the -trusty leader that will never fail to guide us to the home of our -heart's desire. - -If you are filled with a great faith you will not fear, though you walk -through the valley of the shadow. Though the way may be dark faith will -lead you into the light. The Power that has sustained you every moment -of your existence, and without which you could not exist a fraction of a -second, will certainly not leave you in your greatest need. - -If you bade your child jump into your arms, he would not hesitate even -though it was so dark that he could not see you. He would jump because -of his faith in you. He would know that he would be perfectly safe in -doing whatever you told him. Why should we fear to jump into the arms of -the Infinite when we come to death's door, which is only the entrance to -another life? Why should we fear to cross the valley that leads to the -new life when we know that our great Father-Mother-God is on the other -side waiting with outstretched arms to receive us? - - "I will not doubt; well anchored in the faith, - Like some stanch ship, my soul braves every gale, - So strong its courage that it will not fail - To breast the mighty unknown sea of Death. - Oh, may I cry when body parts with spirit, - 'I do not doubt,' so listening worlds may hear it, - With my last breath." - - - - -CHAPTER III - -DOUBT THE TRAITOR - - Faith is the torch that leads the way when the other faculties - cannot see. - - It is doubting and facing the wrong way, facing toward the black, - depressing, hopeless outlook that kills effort and paralyzes - ambition. - - There is a divine current within us which would always flow - Godward, always lead to our ultimate advantage, did we not - obstruct it, or turn it aside by our doubts and fears. - - He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure. - - JAMES ALLEN. - - -When David Hume, the agnostic, was twitted with his inconsistency in -going to hear the orthodox Scotch minister, John Brown, preach, he -replied, "I don't believe all that he says, but _he_ does, and once a -week I like to hear a man who believes what he says." - -If you utter a lie with the conviction that you are speaking the truth -people will believe what you say, whereas if you proclaim a truth in a -weak, hesitating voice, in a doubting manner, no one will believe you. -If you should take a tray of genuine gold pieces upon the street and try -to sell them, while showing by your very expression that you did not -believe in what you had for sale, you could not dispose of those gold -pieces for a tithe of their value. Nobody would believe either in their -genuineness or in your own. Your timid, doubting, hesitating manner -would queer all your chances of doing what you wanted to do. - -I used to go trout fishing with two men, one of whom was always saying -that he never had any luck fishing, that he somehow didn't have the -knack, and never expected to catch many fish. This doubt totally -unfitted him for successful trout fishing. He didn't take enough -interest in the sport to study the habits and the haunts of the trout. -He did not know the likely places in streams and rivers to drop his -hook. He did not know the best kinds of bait to use. His doubt of his -ability led to indifference, and this made him a failure as a trout -fisher. The other man never had a doubt of success. If there were any -trout to be caught he felt sure he would catch them. For years he had -made a study of trout habits. He could tell which side of the big rocks -to cast his hook, and he knew how to cast it in a way that would tempt -the trout. Fishing in the same stream alongside the doubtful, -indifferent fisherman he would catch ten times as many fish. - -If there is a great big doubt in your self-faith, if you have left a -bridge standing for your retreat in case of defeat, if you lack -clean-cut, firm decision, if there is any interrogation point in your -confidence in yourself, there will be a limp in your success gait, and -you will not be able to rise out of mediocrity. - -Our worst enemies are not outside but inside of us. Every human being -harbors a traitor who is always on the watch to thwart his ambition, to -turn him aside from his aim. That traitor is doubt. You must make up -your mind at the very outset of your career that you will always be -followed about by certain mental enemies, mental traitors, which will -try to dissuade you from doing the highest or biggest thing possible to -you. Doubt is one of the most insistent of these, and will dog your -steps to your grave. The man or woman who is not strong enough to -resist its insidious attacks will never do what he or she is capable of -doing, and was sent into the world by the Creator to do. - -The person who is always fearful of consequences, who is in doubt as to -the outcome of his acts, or whether he is really capable of doing what -he undertakes, will always be a weakling. No one who is not bigger than -his doubts can ever accomplish anything great or worth while, because -this subtle enemy kills initiative and self-confidence, and without -these dominant qualities no human being can measure up to his -possibilities. - -But for doubt, which strangles the very beginning of things, initiative -instead of being so rare would be a common virtue among all classes. -Nine out of ten average individuals are held back from testing their -powers by the suggestions of doubt. If it were possible to drive from -the human mind this specter which stands at the door of our hopes, of -our resolution, which throws its baleful shadow across our vision, -civilization would forge ahead by leaps and bounds. This miserable -traitor, under the guise of a friend, is holding down millions of men -and women below the level of their powers, keeping them from beginning -things which they are capable of doing, but which doubt warns them at -their peril not to attempt. - -Doubt is responsible for more suicides, more misery, more bankrupt -lives, more failures, than any other one thing. It makes more people -afraid to start out on a course they know they ought to pursue than any -other thing. Standing right at the gateway of our choice, at the parting -of the ways, when we have fully resolved to take the path that is best -for us, a hard and forbidding one compared with the easy way along the -line of least resistance, doubt calls a halt. It bids us pause and think -once more, asks us to look again at the rugged path we have chosen and -consider whether we really want to pay the price of our choice, to take -that turning when the other looks so much brighter and pleasanter and is -so very much easier. - -This is the point of cleavage which marks the beginning of failure for -the timid soul who is not bigger than his doubt. The suggestions pushed -into his mind by his enemy make him hesitate. He is moved to "stop, -look, and listen." He begins to reconsider, to look again at the -obstacles ahead, and the longer he looks the bigger they grow. He -becomes frightened, fears he cannot do the thing that at first seemed -possible, and finally turns aside to the easier path of mediocrity and -commonness. - -Doubt has killed more splendid projects, shattered more ambitious -schemes, strangled more effective genius, neutralized more superb -effort, blasted more fine intellects, thwarted more splendid ambitions -than any other enemy of the race. - -Talk about drug victims and slaves of drink! Doubt has more victims than -even these terrible enemies of the race. We see them everywhere in -menial and lowly positions, perpetual clerks, discontented drudges, -hewers of wood and drawers of water, paralyzed at the very gateway of -their career by that fatal trait which they have never learned how to -strangle, to neutralize with its opposites, faith, hope, confidence, -assurance. - -How many thousands of employees plodding along in mediocrity to-day -could have been in business for themselves but for this great enemy -inside of them! How many splendid young men have been kept out of the -pulpit, how many superb lawyers, in possibility, have been strangled by -this traitor! How many men are to-day clerks, bookkeepers, or other -subordinates, who might have been managers, superintendents or -proprietors themselves but for the work of this damnable traitor! - -When opportunity presented itself these doubters were afraid. They -waited for certainty. They dared not take chances. They did not realize -that opportunity is a maiden who admires the bold, courageous, -self-confident suitor. They did not wake up in time to the fact that she -will not trust herself to the timid, the hesitant, the over-cautious -suitor. When too late they realized that while the doubter is wavering -and hesitating, wondering if he dare try to win, the daring, intrepid -wooer steps in and wins. - -The great prizes of life are for the courageous, the dauntless, the -self-confident. The timid, hesitating, vacillating man who listens to -his doubts and fears stops to make up his mind, and--the opportunity -has passed beyond his reach. - -Doubt, uncertainty, or fear as to results, is the great discourager of -the human race. It is the dire enemy of all achievement. It tells the -poor boy and girl who long for an education that it is foolish for them -to think of going through school and college without money or without -somebody to help them. It tells them that there are many more poor boys -and girls in every school and college who are trying to pay their way -than will ever find opportunities to make their education available. It -is always whispering to them that there is a big waiting list of men and -women who were graduated years ago everywhere looking and waiting, -trying in vain to get something to do to earn back the amount they spent -on their education. - -No matter what you attempt to do, what new enterprise you may undertake, -what progressive plans you may make, the traitor doubt will bob up and -call a halt, will try to dissuade you from your purpose. It will suggest -to you how many others have undertaken similar things and have gone to -the wall, have failed to accomplish what they expected. It will tell -you that you had better go slow, that it is foolish to go into business -in times like these, that you should wait until you are better prepared, -until you have more capital; in short, that there are stumbling blocks -in the way, and that you must consider the step very carefully before -you venture to decide. - -It does not matter what we plan to do, doubt is always there ready to -knock our resolutions, and, if possible, to discourage us even from -attempting to put our plans in execution. Who could ever estimate how -many superb inventions and discoveries, which would have helped -emancipate the race from drudgery and hard conditions, have been -side-tracked by this traitor! - -Doubt kills activity, discourages ambition and destroys or neutralizes -the biggest brain power. It would make a pigmy of a Webster. By filling -his mind full of doubt of his own creative power, a hypnotist could make -a Shakespeare believe he was a fool. He could inject a doubt into the -mind of a Napoleon that would cut his genius down to the mediocrity of a -common soldier. - -This arch traitor of mankind is so closely related to fear that it is -almost impossible to draw a dividing line between the two. They are -twins. Wherever doubt can get a foothold it introduces its brother fear, -and fear brings with it all of its relatives, worry, anxiety, -discouragement--the whole failure family. A single day of doubts, of -fears, of unbeliefs, of the crime of self-depreciation, will drive away -from a man all that he has attracted to himself in many months. - -There are multitudes of people to-day suffering from the fatal disease -of self-depreciation, the seeds of which were implanted in them by -doubt. All the victims of discouragement, those who are suffering from -despondency, those who are going through life disheartened, hopeless, -despairing, are the authors of their own misery. They persist in killing -the very thing they are pursuing, in queering their own quest by the -poison of doubt. - -The doubting Thomases never get anywhere, because they have no vision, -and "without a vision the people perish." The man who would do anything -worth while in this world must have a vision, and he must have courage -to match it. Courage is the great leader in the mental realm. Whatever -paralyzes it strangles the initiative, kills the ability to do things. -Doubt is its greatest enemy. It suggests caution at the very moment when -everything depends on boldness. If a general were to be over-cautious, -to wait for absolute certainty in regard to results before putting his -plan of campaign into action, he would never win a battle. - -Caution is an admirable trait, but when carried to excess it ceases to -be a virtue and comes perilously near being a vice. It may render -ineffective many noble qualities. There are a great many people who seem -to be courageous enough, but an excessive development of caution holds -everything in abeyance to wait for certainty. I know men who wait and -wait, never daring to undertake anything where there is risk, even -though their judgment tells them they ought to go ahead. - -We are creatures of habit, and the constant raising of doubts in our -minds as to our ability to do what we want to do in time becomes a habit -of thinking we can't, and when we think we can't, we can't. When a man -begins to listen to his doubts he is beginning to weaken. - -Why delay beginning the thing that you know perfectly well you ought to -do? What are you afraid of? Failure, even, in an honorable attempt, is -preferable to forever postponing the thing that you ought to do. Is it -the additional responsibility you shrink from, the extra work? Do you -have a horror of possible failure? Do you shrink from the possible -humiliation of losing out in your venture? What is it that enlarges your -doubt and holds you back? Some handicap, some invisible thread? Are you -carrying a great excess of baggage, clinging to unnecessary things which -handicap you? - -I have heard of a sailor who lost his life in that way. He was one of -the crew of a ship that was carrying a large quantity of gold nuggets to -a distant port. The ship ran upon a rock, and, when all hope of saving -her or her precious cargo was gone, the captain ordered everybody to -leave the sinking ship. The last boat was ready to push off, but this -sailor refused to get into it until he had loaded himself with gold -nuggets. He said he had been a poor man all his life, and now he was -going to be rich at last. He would take away with him just as much of -the sinking wealth as he could carry. Heedless of the warning of the -captain and his companions that they would not wait for him, he loaded -himself with gold. Then, the boats having pushed away, he jumped -overboard and tried to save himself by clinging to pieces of the wreck. -But, owing to the weight he carried, he could neither float nor swim, -and so the wealth he felt he could not leave behind carried him down to -death. - -Your doubt of your success is probably your biggest handicap. But it -would be a thousand times better to make mistakes by forging ahead too -rapidly, by undertaking more than we can carry out, than to be forever -hovering upon the edge of doubt, delaying, postponing, waiting for -certainty, until we become slaves of a habit which we cannot break. And -remember that the habit of putting off, of waiting to see how things are -going to turn out, to see if something more certain, something with less -of risk, will not turn up, is fatal to initiative, fatal to leadership, -fatal to efficiency. - -I know a man who has been resolving for a quarter of a century to start -something in which he thoroughly believes. Every year during that long -period he has told me that this was the year for him to start. He was -really going to begin his great life work, but doubt has engendered the -putting off habit, and this has such a grip upon him that he shrinks -from undertaking anything new. He seems to have a great fear of getting -out of his old rut, to try something different, a fear that things may -not work out right, that it is not the psychological moment to strike. -He has gray hairs now, the enthusiasm of youth is gone, and he never -will begin to do the thing which everybody who knows him believes he is -perfectly capable of doing. - -All history shows that while experience increases wisdom, it does not -always increase faith. The inexperienced youth will often undertake -things which stagger the older and more experienced. Confidence is -characteristic of youth; but after a few setbacks and disappointments, -many begin to wonder whether, after all, their first confidence was -based upon good judgment, whether their enthusiasm and faith were not -the result of lack of experience, and then they begin to doubt and to -fear that this voice of ambition which is ever beckoning them on and -upward is not reliable. They say to themselves: "What if this should be -merely a mirage to lure me on the rocks," and before they realize it -they are weaving doubts and fears and over-caution into a habit that has -ruined multitudes of careers, a habit that is responsible for a larger -percentage of unused ability, of locked-up powers than any other one -thing. - -Have _you_ done the biggest thing you are capable of doing? Is it not -possible that there is something within you, some unworked mental -territory which, if cultivated, would lead you out into that wider field -you dreamed of when a youth? Why do you go on year after year in the -same old rut, expressing nothing, doing the same old thing in the same -old way because doubt whispers it would be rash to try new ways, new -ideas? How long have you been just an ordinary employee? Do you realize -that habit is getting a tremendous grip upon you, and that before you -realize it you may be a "perpetual clerk"? - -The longer you remain in one position, doing the same thing without -promotion, the stronger the inertia habit will grip you, the bigger will -grow your doubt as to the wisdom of making a change. It is a dangerous -thing to get into a rut. Bestir yourself before it is too late and begin -to put into operation that plan which has so long haunted you, but which -doubt has been telling you is not feasible, is not practicable. - -If every human being to-day were doing what he has at least some time -thoroughly believed he could do our whole civilization would be -revolutionized. What has been accomplished is but a tithe of what might -have been accomplished if every one had been true to his vision, had not -allowed it to be blotted out by doubt. If I believed in a real devil I -think it would be that unseen monitor, that mysterious something within -us which whispers doubt, which tells us to hold on, to be careful, to go -slow; which pulls us back when we are attempting to reach out, trying to -do the thing we long to do. - -Are you not tired of having your plans thwarted, your efforts blighted -by the traitor, doubt? Has it not dwarfed your life long enough, has it -not kept you out of your own long enough by forcing you to live on the -husks when you might have had the kernel? Are you not about tired of -being defrauded by this thief of the blessings and the good things which -the Creator intended we all should have? Why not turn it out of your -mental house? Neutralize it with a great splendid faith in yourself, in -your mission, faith in your possible contribution to the world. Doubt -has very little influence with the Saint Paul type of man, with the -masterful type. It is only the weakling that doubt strangles, paralyzes. -Be a man and not a weakling, a mere apology of a man. - -You know that the devil which has followed you through life, which has -blocked your progress, put out the lights in your path, tortured you and -undermined your confidence in yourself, has been the devil of doubt. It -has been the whispering fiend which told you that you could not do this -and you could not do that, which stepped in and killed your initiative -when you were about to begin to do that which your ambition had hoped to -accomplish. - -Don't let this enemy thwart and baffle you any longer. Have a good heart -to heart talk with yourself and break the habit chain of unbelief in -self with which it has bound you. Say to yourself, "I will not listen -any longer to the voice of this fiend. I will not allow it to spoil -God's plan for me. There is something inside of me which insists that I -was planned for victory, not for defeat, for happiness, not for misery, -for peace of mind, not for a life of worry, anxiety, and fear. I do not -believe that I was placed here to be a mere puppet of circumstances. -Faith, hope and confidence are my helpers. Doubt is a child of fear, and -fear has the great majority of human beings hypnotized, so that they do -not dare to forge ahead, do not dare to undertake the things they are -perfectly capable of accomplishing. From henceforth it has no power over -me. I will not listen to its treacherous voice." - -If you would succeed, you must avoid rashness as well as over-caution. -But when you have fully considered in all its bearings whatever project -you are about to undertake, and have decided on your course, don't let -any fears or doubts enter your mind. Commit yourself to your -undertaking, and don't look back to see if you could have done something -else, or started in some other way. Push on, and don't be afraid. - -After we have launched out in an enterprise, have committed ourselves -before the world, pride steps into the situation and pushes us on -through hardships which would have discouraged and turned us aside -before we had fully committed ourselves. But when we have taken the -plunge, made the venture, we have practically said to the world, "Now, -watch me make good. I have made up my mind to put this thing through, -and I am not going to turn back." Our confidence grows as we advance and -then it is comparatively easy, even under difficulties, to keep forging -ahead. - -Every child, every youth should be taught the danger of this fatal human -enemy, doubt. They should be so imbued with the philosophy of expecting -success instead of failure that doubt would never get sufficient grip on -them to strangle their capabilities and blight the fulfillment of their -dreams. If every child were reared with the conviction that he was born -for happiness, that it was intended he should realize his vision, his -mind would be turned towards the light, his whole mentality would be so -firmly set toward success and happiness that doubt could not get hold of -him. As it is the lives of multitudes of people are constantly filled -with doubts and fears and uncertainty in regard to the future. Young -impressionable minds are often stamped with the failure suggestion -before they are out of their teens. Most of us are born with the doubt -germ implanted in our brain. - -There are hundreds of thousands of people in this country to-day who -have splendid ambitions, who have made resolutions to carry out those -ambitions, but who are cowering victims of doubt, which keeps them from -making a start. They are just waiting. They are unable to make a -beginning while this monster stands at the door of their resolution. -They are afraid to burn their bridges behind them, to commit themselves -to their purpose. - -At the very outset of your career make up your mind that you are going -to be a conqueror in life, that you are going to be the king of your -mental realm, and not a slave to any treacherous enemy, that you will -choose the wisest course, no matter how forbidding or formidable the -difficulties in the way, that you will take the turning which points -toward the goal of your ambition, no matter who or what may bar your -onward path. Don't let doubt balk your efforts. Don't let it paralyze -your beginning and make you a pigmy so that you will not half try to -make good when you have a waiting giant in you. Confidence, -self-assurance, self-faith--these are the great friends which will kill -the traitor doubt. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE - - "Every great soul of man has had its vision and pondered it, until - the passion to make the dream come true has dominated his life." - - "You will be _what you will to be_; - Let failure find its false content - In that poor world 'environment,' - But spirit scorns it, and is free. - - * * * * * - - "The human Will, that force unseen, - The offspring of a deathless Soul, - Can hew a way to any goal, - Though walls of granite intervene." - - -Washington, in a letter written when he was but twelve years old, said: -"I shall marry a beautiful woman; I shall be one of the wealthiest men -in the land; I shall lead the army of my colony; I shall rule the nation -which I help to create." - -General Grant, in his "Memoirs," says that as a boy at West Point, he -saw General Scott seated on his horse, reviewing the cadets, and -something within him said, "Ulysses, some day you will ride in his place -and be general of the army." - -Every one knows how those boyish visions were realized by the mature -men. - -The late J. Pierpont Morgan's fortune was built largely by the dynamic -forcefulness of his thought, of his mental visualizing, the nursing of -his youthful visions. He was a man of varied and æsthetic tastes, but he -concentrated upon finance and he became the world's master in its -science. - -Ancient Greece concentrated on beauty and art, and she became the great -beauty model and art teacher of the world. The Roman Empire concentrated -upon power--and became mistress of the world. England concentrated on -the control of the seas and commerce, and she has become the ruler of -the seas and the greatest commercial nation in the world. We are a -nation of money-makers because Americans have concentrated largely upon -the dollar. They think in its terms; they dream dollars; they hate -poverty and they long for wealth. - -Whatever an individual or a people concentrates upon it tends to get, -because concentration is just as much of a force as is electricity. The -youth who concentrates upon law, thinks law, dreams law, reads -everything he can get hold of relating to law, steals into courts, -listens to trials at every chance he gets, is sure to become a lawyer. - -It is the same with any other vocation or art,--medicine, engineering, -literature, music; any of the arts or sciences. Those who concentrate -upon an idea, who continue to visualize their dreams, to nurse them, who -never lose sight of their goal, no matter how dark or forbidding the -way, get what they concentrate on. They make their minds powerful -magnets to attract the thing on which they have concentrated. Sooner or -later they realize their dreams. - -What could have kept Ole Bull from becoming a master musician? Who or -what could keep back a boy who would brave his father's displeasure, -steal out of his bed at night, and go into the attic to play his "little -red violin," which haunted his dreams and would not let him sleep? What -could keep a Faraday or an Edison, whom no hardships frightened, from -realizing the wonderful visions of boyhood? - -If you can concentrate your thought and hold it persistently, work with -it along the line of your greatest ambition, nothing can keep you from -its realization. But spasmodic concentration, spasmodic enthusiasm, -however intense, will peter out. Dreaming without effort will only waste -your power. It is holding your vision, together with persistent, -concentrated endeavor on the material plane, that wins. - -There are thousands of devices in the patent office in Washington which -have never been of any use to the world, simply because the inventors -did not cling to their vision long enough to materialize it in -perfection. They became discouraged. They ceased their efforts. They let -their visions fade, and so became demagnetized and lost the power to -realize them. Other inventors have taken up many such "near" successes, -added the missing links in their completion and have made them real -successes. - -"Get thy spindle and distaff ready, and God will send the flax," saith -the proverb. If we would only take God's promises to heart, and do our -necessary part for their fulfillment no one would be unsuccessful or -unhappy. If we were to send out our desires intensely; to visualize them -until our very mentalities vibrated with the things we long for, and to -work persistently in their direction, we would attract them. - -Everywhere there are disappointed men and women who have soured on life -because they could not get what they longed for,--a musical or art -education, the necessary training for authorship, for law or medicine, -for engineering, or for some other vocation to which they felt they had -been called. They are struggling along in an uncongenial environment, -railing at the fate which has robbed them of their own. They feel that -life has cheated them, when the truth is they have cheated themselves. -They never got the spindle and distaff ready that would have drawn to -them the flax for the spinning of a happy and complete life web. They -did not insistently and persistently send out their desires and -longings; they did not nurse them and positively refuse to give them up; -above all, they did not put forth their best efforts for their -realization. - -Three things we must do to make our dreams come true. Visualize our -desire. Concentrate on our vision. Work to bring it into the actual. The -implements necessary for this are inside of us, not outside. No matter -what the accidents of birth or fortune, there is only one force by which -we can fashion our life material--mind. - -The bee and the snake draw material from the same plant. The one -transmutes it into deadly poison; the other into delicious honey. The -power that changes the stuff into a new substance is within the bee and -the snake. - -Of two boys or two girls in the same wretched environment, one picks up -an education, trains himself or herself for place and power, while the -other grows up a nobody. It is all in the boy or the girl. Each has -similar material to work in. One transmutes it into gold; the other into -lead. - -Two sailors force the same breeze to send their boats in opposite -directions. It is not the wind, but the set of the sail that determines -the port. - -The power that makes our desire, our vision, a reality is not in our -environment or in any condition outside of us; it is within us. - -There is some unseen, unknown, magnetic force developed by a -long-continued concentration of the mind upon a cherished desire that -draws to itself the reality which matches the desire. We cannot tell -just what this force is that brings the thing we long for out of the -cosmic ether and objectifies it, shapes it to correspond with our -longing. We only know that it exists. The cosmic ether everywhere -surrounding us is full of undreamed of potencies and the strong, -concentrated mind reaches out into this ether, this sea of intelligence, -attracts to it its own, and objectifies the desire. - -All human achievements have been pulled out of the unseen by the brain, -through the mind reaching out and fashioning the wealth of material at -its disposal into the shapes which matched the wishes, the desires, of -the achievers. - -All the great discoveries, great inventions, great deeds that have -lifted man up from his animal existence have been wrought out of the -actual by the perpetual thinking of and visualizing these things by -their authors. These grand characters clung to their vision, nursed it -until they became mighty magnets that attracted out of the universal -intelligence the realization of their dreams. - -Most revolutionary inventions have evolved from a flash of thought. The -sewing machine, for example, started with a simple idea, which the -inventor held persistently in his mind until through his efforts the -idea materialized into the concrete reality. Elias Howe used to watch -his wife making garments, sewing, sewing far into the night, and it set -him thinking, questioning whether such drudgery was really necessary. As -he watched her busy needle fly back and forth, he began to wonder if -this same work which it took his wife so long to do could not be done -with less labor and in half the time by some sort of mechanical -contrivance. He kept nursing his idea, thinking what a splendid thing it -would be if some one could relieve millions of women from this toil, -which frequently had to be done at night after a day of hard work. He -began to experiment with crude devices, clinging to his vision through -poverty and the denunciation of friends, who thought the man must be -crazy to spend his time on "such a fool idea." But at last his vision -materialized into a marvelous reality, a perfected machine which has -emancipated the women of the world from infinite drudgery. - -The idea of the telephone was flashed into the mind of Professor -Alexander Bell by the drawing of a string through a hole in the bottom -of a tin can, by means of which he found that the voice could be -transmitted. The idea took such complete possession of the inventor that -it robbed him of sleep and, for a time, made him poor. But nothing could -rob him of his vision or prevent him from struggling to work it out of -the visionary stage into the actual. - -I lived near Professor Bell, in the next room, indeed, while he worked -on his invention. I saw much of his struggle with poverty, heard the -criticisms and denunciations of his friends, as he persisted in his -visionary work until the telephone became a reality,--a reality without -which modern business could not be conducted. - -All of Edison's inventions, those of every inventor, have been wrought -out on the same principle that gave us the sewing machine and the -telephone. They all started in simple ideas, in dream visions which were -nursed and worked into actualities. - -According to Darwin, the desire to ascend into the heavens preceded the -appearance and development of the eagle's wings. It is said our -different organs and functions have been developed from a sense of need -of them, just as the wings of the eagle developed from a desire to fly. - -The brain cells grow in response to desire. Where there is no desire -there is no growth. The brain develops most in the direction of the -leading ambition, where the mental activities are the most pronounced. -The desire for a musical career, for instance, develops the musical -brain cells. Business ambition develops that part of the brain which has -to do with business, the cells which are brought into action in -executive management, in administering affairs, in money making. -Wherever we make our demand upon the brain by desire that part responds -in growth. - -For years a poor country boy builds air castles of his future. He -visualizes the great mercantile establishment over which he is to -preside. The ridicule of his family and of young companions cannot daunt -him or blur the bright vision he sees away in the distance. He continues -to nurse his vision, and behold, out of the unknown, unexpected -resources come, and soon he finds himself an office boy in a great -mercantile house in the city of his dreams. He watches everything with -an eagle eye; he absorbs information and ideas; he is alert, active, -energetic, resourceful, and in a few months he is promoted, and then -again promoted. He attracts the attention of the head of the -establishment, who calls him into his private office, tells him that he -has had his eye on him for many months and that he believes he is the -youth he has been looking for to manage the business. He gives him a -little stock; the business prospers still further under his management, -and in a few years the new manager is made a full partner in the house -which he entered as an office boy. This is the flowering out of his -dream, the objectifying of his vision, the matching with reality his -youthful longings. His brain has been continually developing along the -line of his vision, drawing to him the material to make it real. - -A poor girl, the daughter of humble people in Maine who thought that to -become a public singer was an unforgivable sin, could not in the -beginning see any possible way to realize the dreams she held in secret, -but she kept visualizing her dream, nursing her desire and doing the -only thing for its realization her parents would allow,--singing in a -little church choir. Gradually the way opened, and one step led to -another until the little Maine girl became the famous Madame Nordica, -one of the world's greatest singers. - -No matter if you are a poor girl away back in the country, and see no -possible way of leaving your poor old father and mother in order to -prepare for your career, don't let go of your desire. Whether it be -music, art, literature, business or a profession, hold to it. No matter -how dark the outlook, keep on visualizing your desire and light and -opportunity will come to enable you to make it a reality. Whatever the -Creator has fitted you to do He will give you a chance to do, if you -cling to your vision and struggle as best you can for its attainment. - -Think of the Lillian Nordicas, the Lucy Stones, the Louisa Alcotts, the -Mary Lyons, the Dr. Anna Howard Shaws, the thousands of women who were -hedged in just as you are, by poverty or forbidding circumstances of -some sort, yet succeeded in spite of everything in doing what they -desired to do, in being what they longed to be. Take heart and believe -that God has given you also "all implements divine to shape the way" to -your soul's desire. - -If you are a boy on a farm and feel that you are a born engineer, yet -see no possible way to get a technical education, don't lose heart or -hope. Get what books you can on your specialty. Cling to your vision. -Push out in every direction that is possible to you. It may take years, -but if you are true to yourself your concentration on your desire, your -pushing toward it, will open a door into the light, and before you know -it you will be on the road to your goal. - -The Washingtons, the Lincolns, the Faradays, the Edisons, the men who -have done most for their country and for humanity have had to struggle -as hard as you are struggling to attain their heart's desire. The -opportunities for boys and girls to bring out whatever the Creator has -implanted in them are ten to one to-day to what they were one hundred, -or fifty, or even twenty-five years ago. The great danger in our time is -not lack of chance or opportunity but of losing our vision, of letting -our ambition die. - -Most of us instead of treating our desires seriously trifle with them as -though they were only to be played with, as though they never could be -realities. We do not believe in their divinity. We regard our heart -longings, our soul yearnings as fanciful vagaries, romances of the -imagination. Yet we know that every invention, every discovery or -achievement that has blessed the world began in a desire, in a longing -to produce or to do a certain thing, and that the persistent longing was -accompanied by a struggle to make the mental picture a reality. - -It is difficult for us to grasp the fact that ambition, accompanied by -effort, is actually a creative power which tends to realize itself. Our -minds are like that of the doubting disciple, who would not believe that -his Lord had risen until he had actually thrust his finger into the -side which had been pierced by a cruel spear. Only the things that we -see seem real to us when, as a matter of fact, the most real things in -the world are the unseen. - -We never doubt the existence of the force that brings the bud out of the -seed, the foliage and the flower out of the bud, the fruits, the -vegetables from the flower. It is invisible. We cannot sense it, but we -know that it is mightier than anything we see. No one can see or hear or -feel gravitation, or the forces which balance the earth and whirl it -with lightning speed through space, bringing it round its orbit without -a variation of the tenth of a second in a century, yet who can doubt -their reality? Does any one question the mighty power of electricity -because it cannot be seen or heard or smelled? - -The potency of our desires, of our soul longings, when backed by the -effort to make them realities, is just as real as is that of any of the -unseen forces in Nature's great laboratory. The great cosmic ether is -packed with invisible potentialities. Whatever comes out of it to you -comes in response to your call. Everything you have accomplished in life -has been a result of a psychic law which, consciously or unconsciously, -you have obeyed. - -Do not make the mistake of thinking that the way will not open because -you cannot now see any possible means of achieving that for which you -long. The very intensity of your longing for a certain career, to do a -certain thing, is the best evidence that you have the ability to match -it, and that this ability was given you for a purpose, even to play a -divine, a magnificent part in the great universal plan. The longing is -merely the forerunner of achievement. It is the seed that will germinate -if nurtured by effort. - -If, however, you stop at sowing the seed you will get just about as much -harvest as a farmer would get if he should sow his seeds without -preparing the soil, without fertilizing or cultivating it or keeping -down the weeds. It is the blending of the practical with the ideal that -brings the harvest from the seed thought. You must keep on struggling -toward your ideal. No matter how black and forbidding the way ahead of -you, just imagine you are carrying a lantern which will advance with you -and give light enough for the next step. It is not necessary to see to -the end of the road. All the light you need is for the next step. Faith -in your vision and persistent endeavor will do the rest. There is no -doubt that if we do our part, the Divinity that has created us, given us -an appointed place and a work in the plan of the universe, will bring -things out better than we can plan or even imagine. - -Send out your wishes, cherish your desires, force out your yearnings, -your heart longings with all the intensity and persistency you can -muster, and you will be surprised to see how soon they will begin to -attract their affinities, how they will grow and take tangible shape, -and ultimately become actual things. Fling out your desires into the -cosmic ether boldly, with the utmost confidence. Therein you will gather -the material which shall build into reality the castle of your dreams. - -The trouble with us is that we are afraid to do this. We fear that fate -will mock us, cast back to us our mental visions empty of fruition. We -do not understand the laws governing our thought forces any more than we -understand the laws governing the universe. If we had faith in their -power, our earnest thoughts and efforts would germinate and bud and -flower just as does the tiny seed we put into the earth. - -Think how the seed must be tended and nurtured before it will give forth -the new life. See how the delicate bud has to be coaxed by the sun and -air for many months before it pushes its head up through the tough sod -to the light. Suppose it were afraid to make the attempt and should say: -"It is impossible for me to get out of this dark earth. There is no -light here. I am so tender the slightest pressure will break me and stop -my growth forever. The only way out of my prison is to push up through -this tough sod, and it would take a tremendous force to do that. I would -be crushed, strangled, before I got half way through." - -But the sun beckons, coaxes, encourages. The bud is moved into -attempting the "impossible," and behold, in a few days it rears its -tender head above what it considered the great enemy of its progress. -The dark sod, the very thing which it thought was going to make its -future impossible, becomes its support and strength. The very struggle -to get up through the soil has strengthened its fiber and fitted it to -cope with the elements above, with the storms it must meet. - -Just like this tender plant, you may be hemmed in by seemingly -insurmountable obstacles; you may not see a ray of light through the sod -of hard, forbidding circumstances, but hold your vision and keep -pushing. In your struggle you will develop strength, you will find -sunshine and air, growth and life. You may be shut in by an uncongenial -occupation and tempted to lose heart and give up your dreams because you -can see no way to better yourself. This is just the time to cling to -them, and to insist that they shall come true. Without knowing it you -may be just in the middle of the sod, and if you keep pushing where you -are, in season and out of season, you will come to the sunlight and the -air, to freedom. - -There is no human being who doesn't have some sort of a chance. If your -present position cramps you; if it does not give you room to express -yourself, you can make room by filling it to overflowing, by doing your -work as well as it can be done, by keeping your mind steadfastly fixed -on the ladder of your ascent. In your mind you make the stairs by which -you ascend or descend. Nobody else can do it for you. The master key -which will unlock that cruel door that keeps you back is not in the hand -of fate. You are fashioning it by your thoughts. - -Your next step is right where you are, in the thing you are doing -to-day. The door to something better is always in the duty of the -moment. The spirit in which you do your work, the energy which you throw -into it, the determination with which you back up your ambition--these, -no matter what opposes, are the forces that unlock the door to something -better. If you hold to your vision and are honest, earnest and true, -there is nothing that can stand in the way of its realization. - -I have never known a person who was dead-in-earnest in his efforts to -gain his heart's desire who has not finally reached his goal. No great, -insistent, persistent, honest longing backed by downright hard, -conscientious work ever comes back empty-handed. - -Desire is at the bottom of every achievement. We are the product of our -desires. What we long for, strive for, the vision we nurse, is our -great life shaper, our character molder. - -Very few can realize the close coördination which exists between their -visions, their mind pictures, and the actual accomplishments of their -career. If I were asked to name the principal cause of the majority of -failures in life I should say it was the failure to understand this, to -grasp the relation of thought to accomplishment. The gradual fading out -of one's dreams, the losing of one's vision, may be traced to this -cause. - -When we first start out in life we are enthusiasts. Our vision is bright -and alluring, and we feel confident we are going to win out, that we -shall do something distinctive, something individual, unusual. But after -a few setbacks and failures we lose heart, and faith in our vision dies. -Then we gradually awaken to the fact that our ambition is beginning to -deteriorate. It is not quite as sharply defined as formerly. Our ideals -are a trifle dimmed, our longings a trifle less insistent. We try to -find reasons and excuses for our lagging efforts and waning enthusiasm. -We think it may be due to over-work; because we are tired and need a -rest, or because our health is not quite up to standard, and that by and -by our former intense desire to realize our dreams will return. But the -whole process is so insidious that before we realize it our fires, for -lack of fuel, are quite burned out. Our grip on our vision was not -strong enough. We did not half understand its mighty power, when firmly -and persistently kept in mind, to help us to our goal. - -What we get out of life depends very largely on fidelity to our visions. -If we believe in them we will not let them die for lack of nursing. If -we really have ability to match them, and are not self-deceived by -egotism, petty vanity and conceit, no misfortunes, no failure of plans, -no discouragements, no obstacles, nothing in the world can separate us -from them. We will cling to them to our dying day. - -The man who believes in his life vision, who is not a mere egotist or -idle dreamer, who sees in his desire a prophecy of something which he is -perfectly able to make come true,--he is the man who has ever made the -world move. He flings his life into his effort to match his vision with -its reality. - -The world stands aside for such a one, for one who believes in his -vision, who consecrates himself without reserve to its fulfillment. -People know there is something back of the dreamer who has such faith in -his life dream that he will sacrifice everything to make it come true. - -How much of a grip has your vision on you? Does it clutch you with a -force that nothing but death can relax, or does it hold you so lightly -that you are easily separated from it, discouraged from trying to make -it real? - -Constant discouragements are a great temptation to abandon one's life -dreams, to drop one's standards. One's vision is apt to become blurred -in passing through great crises, in periods of general depression, in -times of financial stress, but this is really the test of a strong -character,--that he does not allow obstacles to divert him from his one -aim. The man who is made of the stuff that wins hangs on to his vision, -even to the point of starvation, for he knows that there is only one way -of bringing it down to earth, and that is by clinging to it through -storm and stress, in spite of every obstacle and discouragement. - -Never mind what discouragements, misfortunes or failures come to you, -let nobody, no combination of unfortunate circumstances, destroy your -faith in your dream of what you believe you were made to do. Never mind -how the actual facts seem to contradict the results you are after. No -matter who may oppose you or how much others may abuse and condemn you, -cling to your vision, because it is sacred. It is the God-urge in you. -You have no right to allow it to fade or to become dim. Your final -success will be measured by your ability to cling to your vision through -discouragement. It will depend largely upon your stick-to-it-ive-ness, -your bull dog tenacity. If you shrink before criticism and opposition -you will demagnetize your mind and lose all the momentum which you have -gained in your previous endeavor. No matter how black or threatening the -outlook, keep working, keep visualizing your life dream, and some -unexpected way will surely open for its fulfillment. - -Put out of your mind forever any thought that you can possibly fail in -reaching the goal of your longing. Set your face toward it; keep looking -steadfastly in the direction of your ambition, whatever it may be; -resolve never to recognize defeat, and you will by your mental attitude, -your resolution, create a tremendous force for the drawing of your own -to you. If you have the grit and stamina to stick, to persevere to the -end, if you persistently maintain the victorious attitude toward your -vision victory will crown your efforts. - - - - -CHAPTER V - -A NEW ROSARY - - There is a great significance in that passage in St. Mark: "All - the things whatsoever ye pray and ask for believe ye _have_ - received them and ye have." We are bidden to believe that what we - wish _has already been fulfilled_; that if we take this attitude - we shall obtain our desire. - - The benefit we derive from prayer is the harmonizing poising, - balancing of our own mind, putting ourselves into closer communion - into a more vital connection with the Divine Mind, through which - we receive a larger supply of our Father's blessings. - - Prayer is the opening up of the pinched supply pipes of the mind - which shut out the divine inflow; it is the letting into our lives - greater abundance from the unlimited supply which continually - flows from the Source of all sources. - - -"Mary," said a young girl to a Catholic friend, "why do you carry that -rosary everywhere, and what possible good does it do you to count those -beads over and over?" - -"Oh," answered Mary, "I never could make you understand what a comfort -this rosary is to me. When I am tired out, or blue or discouraged about -anything; or when I long very much for something that it seems -impossible I should ever get, I take my rosary and begin to pray. Before -I have gone over half of its beads, everything is changed. The tired, -discouraged feeling is gone, or if I have been asking for something I -long to have, it doesn't seem nearly so far away as before; and I know -that if I don't get just what I ask for, I'll get something better." - -Those who are too narrow-minded or too prejudiced to see anything good -in a creed which is not their own, often sneer at the Catholic custom of -"saying the rosary." To them it is only "superstition," "nonsense," to -repeat the same prayer over and over. These people do not understand the -philosophy as well as the religion underlying this beautiful old custom. -They do not know the power that inheres in the repetition of the spoken -word, and in the influence of the thought expressed. - -Any one can prove this for himself or herself. It isn't necessary to get -a rosary made of beads. You can make your own, an intangible but very -real rosary, and if you say it over, not once, or twice a day, but over -and over many times, and especially before retiring at night, you will -be surprised at the wonderful results. - -Is it a fault you wish to correct; is it a talent or gift you desire to -develop and improve; is it money, or friends, an education, success in -any enterprise; is it contentment, peace of mind, happiness, power to -serve, power in your work,--whatever it is you desire, make it a bead in -your rosary, pray for its accomplishment, think of it, work for its -fulfillment and your desire will materialize. - -There are many ways of praying. All our prayers are not vocalized -petitions to the Almighty. They are also our inspirations, the -aspirations of the soul to be and to do. Desire is prayer. The sincerest -prayer may be the longing of the heart to cultivate a talent or talents, -or the intense desire to get an education so that one may be of greater -service in the world. That which we dream of and struggle to attain, our -efforts to make good; these are genuine prayers. - -When Jane Addams, as a little girl, longed for the power to lift up -other little girls and make them happy; when she dreamed of a time when -she should be grown up and doing a great work in the service of -humanity, she was praying. She was even then laying the foundations of -Hull House, and the Hull House of to-day is an answered prayer. Her -whole life from childhood up was a prayer, because it was a preparation -for a great and noble work. - -When the child, Frances Willard, longed and dreamed in her remote -Wisconsin home, she was praying and building as surely as in her later -years when she was the moving power of the great organization she had -brought into being. "I always wanted to react on the world about me to -my utmost ounce of power," she said in telling of her early life and -aspirations. "Lying on the prairie grass and lifting my hand toward the -sky, I used to say in my inmost spirit, 'What is it? What is the aim to -be, O God?'" - -Such noble heart yearnings are, in the truest sense, prayers. The -uttered prayer clothed in beautiful language, that which is delivered in -the pulpit to be heard of men, may not be a real prayer at all. The -collective prayer of the congregation may be a mockery. I have often -been in churches where people were repeating prayers automatically, -while looking all about the auditorium watching other people, mentally -occupied, while their lips moved in a so-called prayer, in noticing what -they wore and how they looked. There is no real praying in such a -performance as this. It is not soul expression, not heart talking. It is -mere parrot talking. All mechanical mumbling of prayers in our church -services is an insult to the Creator, who does not hear prayers which do -not come from the heart. - -"Prayer is the heart's sincere desire." What we long for and hope for we -pray for by our very longing and hope. The real prayer may be struggling -in the heart without words, it may be a noble desire, a heart longing -which no language can express. It may be voiceless or it may not, but -the true prayer always comes from the heart, and it is always answered. - -A remarkable illustration of this is afforded in a story told by John -Wesley. He was once riding through a dark wood, carrying with him a -large sum of money intrusted to his safe keeping. All at once a sense of -fear came over him, and dismounting from his horse, he offered up a -prayer for protection. Years afterward Wesley was called to see a dying -man. This man told the preacher that at the time he had passed through -the wood, so many years before, he, the robber, had been lying in wait -to rob him of the money he carried. He told Wesley that he had noticed -him dismounting and how, on his remounting and resuming his journey, the -appearance of an armed attendant riding beside him had so filled him -with awe and a great fear that he had abandoned his purpose. - -Balzac said truly: "When we are enabled to pray without weariness, with -love, with certainty, with intelligence, we will find ourselves in -instant accord with power, and like a mighty roaring wind, like a -thunderbolt, our will will cut its way through all things and share the -power of God." - -Everybody prays, because everybody hopes and desires, has longings and -yearnings which he hopes will be realized. In a sense the atheist, the -agnostic, the unbeliever, although they may not know it, pray just as -much as do believers, for every longing of the heart, every noble -aspiration, is a prayer. We pray as naturally as we breathe, for the -desire for a better, nobler life, for grander and higher attainment, is -an unconscious prayer. Prayer is really our heart hunger for oneness -with the Divine, with the Eternal. It is the union of the soul with its -Maker. It is literally what Phillips Brooks described it to be, the -sluice gate between God and the soul. - -Many people mistake the very nature of prayer, and complain that it is -no use to pray, because their prayers are never answered. - -The reason is clear, and is admirably expressed in Irving Bacheller's -pithy verses on "Faith." - - "Now, don't expect too much o' God, it wouldn't be quite fair - If fer anything ye wanted ye could only swap a prayer; - I'd pray fer yours, an' you fer mine, an' Deacon Henry Hospur - He wouldn't hev a thing t' do but lay abed an' prosper. - - "If all things come so easy, Bill, they'd hev but little worth, - An' some one with a gift o' prayer 'u'd mebbe own the earth. - It's the toil ye give t' git a thing--the sweat an' blood an' care-- - That makes the kind o' argument that ought to back yer prayer." - -If your prayers come back to you unanswered it is because they are not -backed by the conditions on which the answer to prayer depends,--faith -and work. You don't get the thing you pray for either because you don't -really believe you will get it, or you don't back your prayer with the -necessary effort, or because you fail in both requisites. - -To pray for a thing and not work for it, not strive and do our level -best to obtain it, is a mockery. To ask God to give us that which we -long for, but are too lazy to help get ourselves, is begging. In answer -to our prayers and longings and efforts we get that which we call out of -the universal supply, which is everywhere. Every day some prayer is made -visible, something is wrought out of the invisible, manifested in the -actual by those two mighty instruments--prayer and work. But if you -think your stumbling block will be removed, or your desire realized -without raising a finger to help yourself, you may pray until doomsday -without ever getting an answer. Prayer without faith is of no avail. And -faith without work is a barren virtue. - -In the second stanza of a little poem entitled "God's Answer," Ella -Wheeler Wilcox gives us the answer to the plaint of the discouraged, -unsuccessful soul, who cries that his prayers are not heard, and that no -hand is stretched out to lead him to the heights he would attain. - - "Then answered God: 'Three things I gave to thee-- - Clear brain, brave will and strength of mind and heart, - All implements divine to shape the way; - Why shift the burden of the toil on Me? - Till to the utmost he has done his part - With all his might, let no man _dare_ to pray.'" - -The answer to your prayers is right inside of yourself. They are -answered by your obeying the natural as well as the spiritual law of all -supply. If you don't do your part in the actual working world down to -the minutest detail your prayer is bound to come back to you unanswered. - -Everything in the universe has its price, a perfectly legitimate one. -You can realize what you desire if you are willing to pay the price, and -that is honest, earnest, persistent effort to make it yours. The Creator -answers your prayer by fitting you to answer it yourself, by enabling -you to put into practice the law of demand and supply, the fundamental -principle on which answer to prayer is based. You must put yourself in -absolute harmony with the thing you pray for. It cannot be forced. You -must attract it. Answer to prayer comes only to a receptive mind in a -positive condition, that is, in a condition to create, to achieve. - -The law of affirmation and the law of prayer are one and the same. -"Affirm that which you wish, work for it, and it will be manifest in -your life." Affirm it confidently, with the utmost faith, without any -doubt of what you affirm. Say to yourself, "I am that which I think I -am--and I can be nothing else." But if you affirm, "I am health; I am -prosperity; I am this or that," and do not believe it, you will not be -helped by affirmation. You must believe what you affirm; you must -constantly strive to be what you assert you are, or your affirmations -are but idle breath. - -Make yourself a New Thought rosary, not of set formal prayers, but an -original one whose beads shall be your heart's aspirations, your desires -to e-volve the strong, radiant, successful happy man or woman the -Creator has in-volved in you. - -If you are unhappy, crushed by repeated failures and disappointment, -suffering the pangs of thwarted ambition, put this bead in your rosary -and say it over to yourself frequently: "The being God made was never -intended for this sort of life. Mary (or John)," addressing yourself by -name, "God made you for success, not failure. He never made any one to -be a failure. You are perverting the great object of your existence by -giving way to discouragement, going about among your fellows with a -long, sad, dejected face, as though you were a misfit, as though there -were no place for you in this great glad world of abundance. You were -made to express gladness, to go through life with a victorious attitude, -like a conqueror. The image of God is in you; you must bring it out and -exhibit it to the world. Don't disgrace your Maker by violating His -image, by being anything but the magnificent man or woman He intended -you to be." - -Back up every "bead," or prayer you put in your rosary by action during -the day, otherwise you might as well save yourself the trouble of -stringing your beads, for - - "It's the toil ye give t' get a thing--the sweat an' blood an' care-- - That makes the kind o' argument that ought to back yer prayer." - -Don't be afraid of thinking too highly of yourself, not in the -egotistical sense, but because (the Creator having made you in His -image) you must have inherited divine qualities, omnipotent -possibilities. It is an insult to God to depreciate what He has made and -has pronounced good. - -If you are a victim of timidity and self-depreciation, afraid to say -your soul is your own; if you creep about the world as though you -thought you were taking up room which belonged to somebody else; if you -shrink from responsibility, from everything which draws attention to -yourself; if you are bashful, timid, confused, tongue-tied, when you -ought to assert yourself, turn to your rosary and add another bead. - -Say to yourself, "I am a child of the King of kings. I will no longer -suffer this cowardly timidity to rule me,--a prince of heaven. I am made -by the same Creator who has made all other human beings. They are my -brothers and sisters. There is no more reason why I should be afraid to -express what I feel or think before them than if they were in my own -family. I have just as much right on this earth as any potentate, as -much right to hold up my head and assert myself as any monarch. I am my -Father's heir, and have all the rights of a prince. I have inherited the -wealth of the universe. The earth and the stars and the sun are mine. I -will quit this everlasting self-depreciation, this self-effacement, this -cringing habit of forever appearing to apologize for being alive. It is -a crime against my Maker and myself. Henceforth I shall carry myself -like a prince. I will act like one, and will walk the earth as a -conqueror. I will let no opportunity pass to-day for assuming any -responsibility which will enlarge me, for expressing my opinion, for -asserting myself whenever and wherever necessary. - -"This specter, this shadow of self-depreciation which has held me back -so long, which has darkened my path in life must go, for I shall walk -henceforth with my face toward the sun so that the shadows of life will -fall behind me, and not across my path as before. I am going to face -life with a self-respecting, victorious attitude, with a hopeful -outlook, for I know that I am victory organized. Hereafter I am going -to think more of myself. I am not going to put myself on the bargain -counter any longer by going around as though I had a skim milk opinion -of myself. No more of the poorhouse attitude of inferiority for me. I -know that I was born for victory, born to conquer. I am going to win out -in this great inspiring game of life." - -If you feel that you lack initiative, if you are not a self-starter, -boldly assert the opposite and add the assertion to your rosary. Stoutly -affirm your ability to begin things, to do them as well as they can be -done, and to push them through to a complete finish. Learn to trust the -God in you. This trust is a divine force which will carry you through. -Never again allow yourself to harbor thoughts of your inferiority or -deficiency. Say to yourself, "I am going to assert my manhood or -womanhood and stand for something. I am going to be a force in the world -and not a weakling. I was made to make my life a masterpiece and not a -botch; I was created for a great end, and I am going to realize that -end. There are forces inside of me which if aroused and put into action -would revolutionize my life, and I am going to get control of them, to -use them. I am going to find myself and use a hundred per cent. instead -of a miserable little fraction of my ability." - -If you are obsessed with the idea that you are not as bright, that you -have not as much ability as most other people; if you have been called -dull, dense, stupid by your parents and teachers, until you have lost -confidence in yourself; if you have been dwarfed by the suggestion of -inferiority, either through what others have said of you, or the thought -you have held of yourself, you must change all this. You must assert -your ability and hold tenaciously the ideal of the able, efficient man -or woman you long to be and that it is in you to become. You must not -only affirm your power to be that which you wish, but you must replace -the picture of your inferiority with the ideal of wholeness, of -completeness, of the man or woman the Creator intended you to be. Cling -to this ideal of yourself, assert your superiority, and you will soon -drive out the dwarfed, inferior, defective image which others, or your -own false thoughts, have established in your subconsciousness. Holding -the truth, the perfect ideal, in mind will give you confidence, -assurance to do the thing you are capable of doing. - -Thousands of students have failed to pass examinations not because of -inability to answer test questions, but because of fear, loss of -self-confidence engendered by the blighting suggestion of inferiority. -This is especially true of highstrung, sensitive natures. - -If you brood over the failure suggestion, if you visualize an inferior -picture of yourself, you will become obsessed with the failure idea, -with the thought of your inefficiency, and make it wellnigh impossible -for you to succeed in any undertaking. If for any reason you have -dropped into the failure habit, you will have to make a very determined -effort to break away from it, or your life will indeed be a failure. - -I know a young man who is both efficient and ambitious, but when the -opportunity for which, perhaps, he has been working a long time comes, -he wilts. His courage fails and he does not feel equal to it. He can see -how somebody else can do the thing required, but he fears it is too much -for him. He has never done anything like it before; and he is afraid to -make the attempt because he might fail. - -Now, if you feel this way about yourself, just add another bead to your -rosary. Cut "I can't" out of your vocabulary and substitute "I -can,"--for he can who thinks he can. Napoleon, one of the greatest -achievers the world has ever seen, hated the word "can't" and would -never use it if it could be avoided. He did not believe in the -"impossible." When he was praised for his daring and genius in crossing -the Alps in the dead of winter, he said, "I deserve no credit except for -refusing to believe those who said it could not be done." - -Did you ever think that every time you say "I can't" you weaken your -confidence in yourself and your power to do things? Did you ever know a -person who has a great many "I cant's," and excuses in his vocabulary to -accomplish very much? Some people are always using the words, "Oh, I -can't do that;" "I can't afford this;" "I can't afford to go there;" "I -can't undertake such a hard task, let somebody else do that." These -negative assertions undermine power. Have nothing to do with them. In -all questions of achievement, let your rosary deal in affirmations. -Instead of "I can't," say "_I can_," "_I must_," "_I will_." Begin what -you fear to undertake, and half its difficulties will vanish. - -If you are vexed, worried, and like Martha, "troubled about many -things;" if you are suffering from all sorts of discord; if you are not -feeling well, you will get great comfort from turning to your rosary and -repeating some of the blessed Biblical promises. "Neither shall any -plagues (discord or harm) come nigh thy dwelling. This is the promise to -him that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High. I will restore -health into thinking and I will heal thee of thy wounds." "He that -dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the -shadow of the Almighty," "The Lord is my refuge, my fortress. In Him -will I trust." "Thou shalt not be afraid of the terror by night, nor for -the arrow that flieth by day," "Surely He shall deliver thee from the -snare of the fowler, from the pestilence that walketh in darkness," "He -shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou -trust." - -The contemplation of God and the frequent repetition of these beautiful -Bible passages will increase your faith and your consciousness of -oneness with the Infinite. - -Make it a rule never to affirm of your health, your success, or yourself -what you do not wish to be true. Don't say that you feel "rocky," that -you are used up, played out, that you feel miserable, that you don't -feel like doing anything. Never tell people of your aches and pains, for -every repetition means etching the black pictures of these conditions -deeper and deeper into your consciousness. Instead of thus intensifying -them, say to yourself, "The Power that created, and that sustains me -every instant of my life, repairs, renews, restores, cures me. I am -health, I am vigor, I am power, I am that which I think I am." Refuse to -see or to hold for an instant an imperfect, discordant sin or -disease-marred image of yourself. Do not harbor a suggestion of your -inferiority, physically or mentally. Always picture yourself as a great, -strong, splendid man or woman, clean, true, beautiful--a sublime -specimen of humanity. Do not allow yourself to harbor a thought of -physical or mental weakness. Think health, power, perfection at every -breath. Persist in holding the thought of yourself as you long to be, -the ideal which your Creator saw ahead of you when he fashioned you. -Cling to your vision of health without taint, weakness or defect. - -Have you a hair-trigger temper, and do you fly all to pieces over the -least provocation, starting raging fires in your brain that are as -destructive to your mental and physical forces as are the great forest -fires to the vast tracts of territory over which they sweep? If you have -you are minimizing all your powers and seriously endangering your -success, your happiness, your life itself. Ask Sing Sing what the hot -tempers, the fires of uncontrolled anger, of jealous rage, of revenge, -of hate, of all the explosive passions have done. Ask the poorhouses, -the insane asylums, the morgues, ask the records of human wreckage -everywhere, what the fruits of uncontrolled passions of every sort are. - -Anger, whatever its cause, is temporary insanity. Are you in the habit -of losing your temper, of flying into a rage over trifles? If you could -only see what a miserable spectacle, what a fool exhibition, you make of -yourself on such occasions, when you go all to pieces and rave like a -madman because you miss your train, or because you think some one -insults you, when you step down from the throne of your reason and let -the brute sit there and rule in your place, you would be so chagrined -and mortified that you would leave nothing undone to rid yourself of -your fault. Why, nothing could hire you, when in your right mind, to -make such a ludicrous and contemptible exhibition of yourself. You only -do it when under the stress of angry passion, when shorn of your power -by this temporary insanity. - -To retain self-control, mental poise, equanimity, under all -provocations, great or small, is an index of a fine strong character. It -is a triumph of strength over weakness, of greatness over littleness. -The habit of conquering ourselves is the habit of victory; it -strengthens all the faculties. - -You can bring this great force of control to your aid, by calling on the -divinity within you, by asserting your oneness with the Divine who is -eternal calmness. Say to yourself, "God's image is in me. I am of divine -lineage. I was not intended to be passion's slave. It is unworthy of a -real man, of a real woman, to be the plaything of temper, or any sort of -explosive tearing down passion. There is something divine in me and I -will not allow my lower nature to get control." - -The constant affirmation of your oneness with your Creator, with _the_ -One, will give you a wonderful sense of power, and will help you to -overcome every handicap. But you must be very positive, very insistent -and persistent in your affirmations. No matter what fault you are trying -to overcome or what good quality you are anxious to acquire there must -be no weakness, indecision or vacillation in your affirmations or your -efforts. - -If you are cursed with the fatal habit of indecision; if you are a weak -vacillator, always taking things up for reconsideration because you are -not quite sure that you have done the right thing; if you allow yourself -to waver, to doubt the wisdom of your decision, you will be incapable of -ever under any circumstances arriving at an intelligent conclusion. - -You can cure the curse of indecision by asserting your power to see -clearly, think quickly and act decisively. If you are in doubt as to -what career to choose; if you hesitate in regard to what course you -should take in any difficulty, which of two or three paths you should -follow, whatever your problem may be, ask for light and the divine power -within will come to your aid and guide you aright. Repeat the "I am" in -every instance. "I am positive." "I can decide vigorously, firmly, -finally." Resolve every morning that you will, during that day, decide -things without possibility of recall or reconsideration. First go over -the matter to be decided very thoroughly and carefully. In making your -decision use the best judgment at your command and then close the -incident. You will secure yourself against vacillation by refusing, -after it is thus closed, to wonder whether you have done the wisest -thing, by resisting every temptation to open the matter for -reconsideration. - -If you feel that you are a coward somewhere in your nature, you can -strengthen this deficient faculty wonderfully by holding the courageous -ideal, by thinking and reading about heroic people and things, holding -the thought of fearlessness, that you are God's child, that you are not -afraid of anything on the earth. Study the stories of heroic lives; -think, act, live, the heroic thought. Say, "I am a son of God, and I was -never made to cower, to slink, to be afraid. Fear is not an attribute of -divinity. I am brave, courageous; I am a conqueror." - -If you are suffering with the poverty disease, if your whole life has -been stunted by poverty, saturated with poverty-stricken thoughts and -convictions, if you have been heading towards the poverty goal, just -turn about face, and put the law of abundance into operation. Face -towards prosperity and success instead of poverty and failure. All the -good things you need are yours by inheritance. Claim them, expect them, -work for them, pray for them, and you will realize them in your life. -Make this last stanza of Ella Wheeler Wilcox's splendid little poem -"Assertion" a new bead on your rosary. Repeat it frequently, and work -cheerfully, confidently, courageously toward its fulfillment. - - "I am success. Though hungry, cold, ill-clad, - I wander for a while. I smile and say, - 'It is but for a time--I shall be glad - To-morrow, for good fortune comes my way. - God is my father, He has wealth untold, - His wealth is mine, health, happiness and gold.'" - -If you have made fatal mistakes for which you have been ostracized from -society; if you are morbidly worrying over some unfortunate experience, -thus making it bigger, blacker and more hideous, just thrust it out of -your mind, bury it, forget it, say to it, "You have no power over me; I -will not allow you to destroy my peace and thwart my career; you are not -the truth of my being; the reality of me is divine, and you cannot touch -that. I can and I will rise above all my troubles, make good all my -mistakes and errors. From now on I will work with the God in me. I will -not be overcome. I will overcome." - -If you are the slave of a demon habit which has blasted your hopes, -blighted your happiness, thwarted your ambition, cast its black shadow -across your whole life, say to yourself: "I will break away from this -vile habit. I will be free and not a slave." - -If it is impurity, say, "I was not made to be dominated by such a -monstrous vice. God's image in me was not intended to wallow in this -filth. I have suffered long enough from this damnable habit, which is -undermining my health, killing my chances of success in life, and -lowering me below the level of the beast. I am a child of the Infinite, -sent here to make a worthy contribution to humanity, to make good. I am -going to make good. I am going to free myself from this base habit and -recover my self-respect, my manhood, at any cost. I am going to be a -MAN, not a THING, a son of God, not of the devil." - -Continually flood your mind with purity thoughts and affirmations which -will neutralize your sensual desires. Repeat again and again your -determination not to allow your life to be spoiled by unrestrained -passion. Make such an emphatic and vigorous call upon your better self, -make the demand so appealing that your higher nature will be aroused and -will dominate your acts. Say, "The Creator has bidden me look up, not -down. He made me to climb, not to descend and wallow in the mire of -animalism." - -If it is drink, opium, excessive smoking, or any other vicious habit -that is robbing you of manhood and holding you back in life, string this -bead on your rosary, "I was not made to be dominated by you, a mere -weed, an extract of grain, a habit which I forged. I am done with you -once and forever. The appetite for you is destroyed. There is something -divine within me which makes me perfectly able to overcome you. You are -a vile thing, and have disgraced me for the last time. Never again can -you humiliate me and make me despise myself. There can be only one ruler -in my mental kingdom and I propose to be that one. I don't propose to -allow you Whiskey, Cigarette, Opium, or other Drug or Devil, to ruin my -life, to force me to carry in my face the signs of my defeat, the -scarlet letter of my degradation, my failure. You have humiliated, -insulted me, tyrannized over me long enough, making me confess that I -hadn't enough strength of mind to stand up against a single vicious, -degrading habit. Now I defy you. Your power over me is at an end. The -spell is broken. Hereafter I am going to walk the earth as a conqueror, -a victor, not as a slave. I am going to front the world with my head up -and face forward. God and one make a majority. I am in the majority -NOW." - -_There is no inferiority or depravity about the man God made._ No matter -how low you may have fallen, the God image in you never can be smirched -or depraved. It is as perfect in the worst criminal in the penitentiary -as it is in the greatest saint. There is something in every human being -that is incontaminable, something which is never sick, never diseased, -and which never sins. This is the God in us, and herein lies the hope of -the most brutal human being on the earth. There is something in him that -is divine, sinless, immortal, the God in him which when called will -instantly rush to his aid. - -If you feel that you have wandered very far from your God, that you had -gotten out of the current which runs Heavenward, just repeat to yourself -such things as this, "Nearer My God to Thee, Nearer to Thee." This will -help you to put up your trolley pole, to make your connection with the -Divine wire which carries omnipotent power. The sense of separateness -will disappear and the load under which you staggered before will grow -light, will be lifted from you. - -The secret of all health, prosperity, happiness, power, love, of -victorious living, is a consciousness of union, of oneness with the -Divine. This is the secret of all human blessedness. When you are in -this Godward current you are "nearer to God," and you cannot fear, for -you know that no harm can come to infinite power. - -The closer we are to divinity, the greater our strength and efficiency. -What makes us weak and inefficient is that we have shut off this power -by our wrong thinking, vicious living. Your life will take on a new -meaning, a diviner dignity, when you consciously realize your -at-one-ment with the great creative, sustaining Principle of the -universe. - -Nothing will be of more help to you in achieving this great result than -the constant daily use of your New Thought rosary. It will help you to -put further and further away the things that make you weak, that make -you think you are a mere puppet, at the mercy of a cruel Fate, which -tosses you about in the world regardless of your own birthright, -desires, and volition. You can make each bead a prayer, an affirmation, -to lead you closer and closer to the Source of all things. Whether it -be the overcoming of a vicious habit, the strengthening of some defect -or deficiency, the getting away from poverty and despair, whatever you -desire, you can repeat your affirmation concerning it, silently, if with -others, audibly when you are alone, until it becomes a part of you. -Especially repeat the beads of your rosary which fit your greatest needs -before retiring to sleep. - -If you have been demagnetizing yourself, neutralizing your hopes, your -ambition and your efforts by your black, vicious outlook upon life, by -your doubts, and worries, your fear of poverty, of sickness, of -misfortune, of death, put these things out of your mind, and say, "God -is my helper. God is my supply, I cannot want. God is my shepherd, I -cannot lack. I must live in full realization of my oneness with Infinite -Life." - -Each one of us is a part of the living God and we are powerful, -victorious and happy just in proportion as we realize our oneness with -Him, and weak, abject and miserable just in the degree we separate -ourselves from Him, the All-Source, the All-Supply. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -ATTRACTING THE POORHOUSE - - As long as you hold the poorhouse thought you are heading toward - the poorhouse. A pinched, stingy thought means a pinched, stingy - reply. - - No matter how hard one may work, if he constantly holds the - poverty ideal, the poorhouse thought in his mind, he is driving - away the very thing he is pursuing. - - The man who sows failure thoughts, poverty thoughts, can no more - reap success, prosperity harvests, than a farmer can get a wheat - crop from sowing thistles. - - -Poverty is a mental disease. - -Some one has said that no one ever went to the poorhouse who did not -attract the poorhouse by his poorhouse mental attitude. Observation and -long study of the question have convinced me that, as a rule, people who -make miserable failures of their lives expected to do so. They had such -a horror of the poorhouse, they lived in such terror of coming to want, -that they shut off the very source of their supply. They had so warped -their minds that they could see nothing ahead but poverty. They wasted -the precious energy which might have been utilized in happiness and -prosperity building, in expecting, dreading and preparing for the dire -things that might come upon them, and, according to the law, they got -what they dreaded and feared. - -Thinking war, talking war, anticipating it, getting ready for it, in -other words, preparedness for war, the perpetual war suggestion, was -largely responsible for the outbreak of the greatest war in history. If -all the nations involved had talked peace, thought peace, expected it, -prepared for it, there would have been peace, not war. - -So long as people talk poverty, think poverty, expect it, get ready for -it, they will have poverty. Preparedness for poverty, expecting it, -attracts it, confirms poverty conditions. - -We are constantly drawing to ourselves that which we expect. If you are -sending out a perpetual poverty thought current, a doubt current, a -discouragement current, no matter how hard you may be working in the -opposite direction, you will never get away from the current you set in -motion. The sort of thought current you generate will flow back to you. - -Everywhere we see people trying hard to get on, struggling early and -late to better their condition, and yet never expecting, or even hoping -to be prosperous. They do not believe they are going to get what they -are working for, and they do not. - -A typical example of those who keep themselves in the poverty current is -a woman I know who is constantly affirming her inability to better her -condition. She answers her better-off friends who tell her that she -ought to have this and that by saying, "Oh, it is all very well for you -rich folks to talk this way, but these things are not for me. We have -always been poor and I suppose we always shall be; we can only have the -bare necessities of life, and are fortunate if we get these. Of course I -might indulge in a little treat for myself and the children now and -then, but that would be extravagant, and I must save for a rainy day." - -Now, I have no quarrel with people who save for a rainy day. It is the -part of prudence to be prepared for all emergencies. It is a splendid -thing to save for spending, for enjoyment in our later years, but people -who begin early to provide for the "rainy day," and who deny themselves -every little pleasure and enjoyment for the sake of adding to this -provision, fall into the habit of pinching themselves, and usually -continue to do so through life. - -This woman limits her supply by her conviction that every cent she can -spare must go to the rainy day fund because she is always going to be -poor. She assures herself and others that she is never going to have the -things she would like to have, because of her poverty, and so she -starves the lives of herself and her boy and girl in anticipating a day -of possible want. She is a type of a multitude of men and women who -settle down to their poverty, become half reconciled to its limitations, -and do not make a strenuous effort to get away from it. That is, they -never dream of exercising their creative, positive thought, but continue -to live and to realize in their conditions the negative, destructive, -poverty thought. - -These are the people who are always saying they "cannot afford" things. -They cannot afford to send the boy or girl to school or college this -year. They cannot afford the necessary clothes or the needed vacation -because of the rainy day, which, like a specter, rises at every feast, -on every occasion when they try to get some enjoyment or satisfaction -out of the present. They are always postponing things till next year. -But this "next year" never comes, and the children never go to the -academy or college, and they themselves never take the needed vacation, -the travel in one's own country or the long promised trip abroad. They -keep forever postponing the enjoyment of the good things of life until -they can "afford it;" and that time never comes for people of this -apprehensive habit of mind, because they always want to lay up a little -more for the future. - -I know a number of people well along in years who are still pinching -themselves not only on the comforts but even on the necessities of life -in anticipation of the possible rainy day, for which they are always -planning. They make life one long continuous rainy day, and little -realize that they often tend to create the need for which they are -perpetually saving. - -We sometimes read in newspapers striking illustrations of the results of -this starved, rainy day habit of mind. A New York daily recently -reported a typical instance; that of an aged woman who had died alone in -the slums of the metropolis. She had been dead several days when her -body was found, and so wretched were her surroundings, it was at first -supposed that she was penniless. On investigation, however, it was found -that the woman had had in ready cash and in bank deposits, almost ten -thousand dollars. - -Pauperized by her diseased mind, this wretched creature, like many -another poverty-stricken soul, died of starvation in the midst of -plenty. Her mind was so obsessed with the poverty thought that she even -denied herself the necessities of life. For years she had shut herself -away from the great stream of life flowing all around her, so that she -might hoard, and hoard, and hoard. She would allow no one to enter her -rooms, and died alone and uncared for, leaving behind her the money -which would have made her comfortable, happy, useful, and would have -prolonged her life. She was as truly a victim of the poverty disease as -though she didn't have a cent. - -The children of Israel while passing through the wilderness were -constantly reflecting the poverty thought,--"Can God furnish for us a -table in the wilderness? Of course not, it is not reasonable. We shall -starve if we do not get back to Egypt." But for the faith of their great -leader, Moses, in the Power that led them, they would have gone back to -Egypt, back to the slavery and poverty from which they had fled. Even -after the manna had been given them fresh every day for a long time, -they did not believe the supply would continue. They were still -skeptical and tried to store enough manna for "a rainy day," but it -would not keep and they were forced to trust to a new supply every day. - -"But where is our supply coming from? How are we going to pay the rent, -the mortgage off the home, the farm? Where is the money coming from? -What will happen to us if we cannot get it? Where are the children's -clothes coming from? How are we going to get the necessaries of life? -Where is our supply coming from? Why can't I get a job that will enable -us to really live?" These are the questions multitudes of people all -over the world are asking themselves. They express the acuteness of the -suffering from the poverty disease, so apparent in every civilized -country. - -Nothing else gives human beings so much anxiety, nothing else is such a -perpetual irritant as this fear of what is coming in the future, this -dread of poverty, of not being able to provide for the necessities and -the comforts of those dear to us, the fear of not being able to maintain -ourselves and to rear our children in comfort and respectability. It -demagnetizes us, drives away the things we want and draws to us those we -dread. Job said, "The thing I greatly feared has come upon me"--that -which I was afraid of has come to me. People who have an abnormal fear -of poverty attract the very condition they dread and are trying to get -away from, because the mind relates with whatever it dwells on. Our -doubts and hatreds and fears; the thing we relate with, we attract. - -Whatever you allow your mind to dwell on, you are unconsciously -creating. If you think continually of misfortunes, of poverty; if you -fear you are going to fail in your work, that you may come to want; if -you are always thinking about the possibility of your business -declining; if you fear you are losing your grip on your trade or -profession, you are aggravating your trouble and making it worse and -worse. There are multitudes of people who never expect even to be -comfortable, to say nothing of having luxuries. They expect poverty, -hard times, and do not understand that this very expectancy increases -their magnetic power to attract what they do not want. - -Not long ago a young man who was greatly depressed because he could not -get on in the world, asked me what I thought the trouble was. He said he -had always worked hard, but did not seem to make any headway. About all -he could do was to earn a bare living. Everything appeared to go against -him. Fate, he complained, seemed determined to keep him down, no matter -how hard he might struggle against it, and he was doomed to be poor, to -be a nobody. He believed that hard luck, poverty and failure were family -traits; for his father and grandfather, he said, were hard workers too, -but they could never get on, never get away from poverty, and he didn't -expect he ever would either. - -Another, an older man, who sought my advice in a similar difficulty, -lamented the fearful inequality of human conditions, and railed against -his luck and the injustice of fate. "I work early and late, Sundays and -holidays," he said, "and haven't taken a vacation for years. I have been -struggling and striving and pushing to make my way in the world since I -was a boy, and here I am past fifty and have never succeeded in anything -yet. Now there is something wrong somewhere in society when such -persistence and such constant efforts do not enable one to get anywhere, -or to rise to any position worth while." - -I asked him about his early training and education. He acknowledged that -he had not made much of a preparation for his life work, because, he -said, his father also had been a tremendous worker, had always tried -hard to better his condition but like himself had never succeeded, and -so he had come to the conclusion that success was not in the family, and -that it was no use to spend years in preparing for a career, for there -was no chance that very much would come to him anyway. - -These two are types of people who are constantly heading toward poverty -and failure in their minds, and then complaining when they have got what -they invited. By the law of mental attraction they could not get -anything but poverty and failure. Each had desired success and -prosperity but had always expected the opposite. He had slaved and -toiled in an aimless sort of way, belittling himself and his talents, -with the inner belief that it was all he was good for anyway, and that -if success by any chance ever came his way it would be a stroke of luck, -and not because it was his due by inherent right. - -No man can become prosperous as long as he holds in his mind the picture -of limitation, of lack and want. We do not get things in this world -which we do not believe we can get. We do not accomplish what we doubt -we can do, even though we have the ability to do it. - -I knew a boy in college who always felt certain he was going to fail in -his examinations, and he did fail invariably. Yet it was due more to his -fear, his terror, of failure than to a lack of ability or preparation -in his studies. He had formed a habit of expecting failure, of -predicting misfortunes, of looking and preparing for them, and so far as -I know they have followed him through life. - -In every community, in every occupation and profession, there are able, -conscientious men and women who try very hard, so far as their actual -labor is concerned, to get on in the world, but who don't expect to get -on. It is pitiful to see them toiling day after day, but always facing -in the wrong direction. They are working for success in their vocations, -working for a competence for themselves and their families, but all the -time expecting failure, anticipating poverty, living in an atmosphere of -mental penury. - -There is no law of philosophy by which you can possibly produce just the -opposite of what you are holding in your mind, what you are -concentrating on. If you are thinking down, if you are afraid, are -worried, if you have fears and doubts, if you keep visualizing, -thinking, talking hard times, panics and financial crises, your business -will shrink and shrivel accordingly. If, on the other hand, you have -confidence, expectation of better things, if you are convinced that -conditions are going to improve, you set in motion a thought current -that will back your efforts with an irresistible force. But a thought -current saturated with the fear of failure, with doubts and -discouragement will neutralize your most strenuous efforts. - -Instead of starting on their active careers with the victorious -attitude, with the idea that their careers are to be a triumphal march, -many, if not the majority of youths, begin with the impression that they -are not victory organized. This is because they have lived in a failure -atmosphere, and have absorbed the poverty idea. They have been reared -with the fear of failure in their minds, a dread of poverty, a terror of -coming to want. - -Write it in your heart that a beneficent Creator, who planned a universe -full of good things for our use and enjoyment, never meant that we -should starve or be miserable. If we are unsuccessful, unhappy, it is -because of our attitude toward God and life. Most of us assume the -position of beggars instead of that of children of an all-powerful -Father, and we remain beggars to the end. - -One of the worst things about being very poor is the danger of becoming -reconciled to penury, expecting it, holding the conviction that we shall -always be poor, that there is no help for it. The habit of thinking we -must remain poor because we are so is a paralyzing habit. - -Whatever we have accustomed ourselves to for any length of time tends to -become a fixed mode of life. Multitudes of people have become so -accustomed to their poverty environment, so used to taking it for -granted that they are going to remain poor, that they do not take the -necessary steps to get away from poverty; and they do not even know that -the first step must be a mental one. Instead of this they are all the -time affirming their poverty, getting more and more deeply imbedded in -the poverty condition by their poverty thoughts and convictions. - -The early years of multitudes of children are saturated with the poverty -suggestion. They breathe a poverty atmosphere. They hear poverty talk -perpetually. They acquire a poverty vocabulary. Their fathers and -mothers are always talking poverty, bemoaning their hard conditions, -complaining that they were born poor, and must die poor. Children reared -in such a mental environment get a sort of poverty habit from which it -is very difficult to get away. - -The facing toward poverty and despair, heading toward hopelessness and -failure, is the worst thing about poverty. The fixity of their -conviction that they cannot get away from poverty, their resignation to -it, their firm belief that they can never rise into prosperity,--these -are the most distressing things about the very poor. There is a -tremendous difference between the prospects as well as the mental -attitude and the facial expression of a poor boy on a farm who dreams of -the day when he can go to college, who pictures himself there, who -believes with all his heart that his dream will be realized, and the -prospects, the mental attitude and face of another boy similarly -situated, who also longs for an education, but has abandoned all hope of -ever going to college, or ever getting away from the grinding drudgery -and monotony of the farm which he hates. - -We must change our thought before we can change our conditions. The -thought always leads in any achievement. It would be as impossible for -the great mass of poor people to improve their position materially while -holding their present mental attitude, the persistent belief that they -are always going to be poor, and that they never can do what others have -done to get out of their rut, as it would be for the boy who longs to go -to college, but who has made up his mind that it is impossible, to get a -higher education. While they think that all others are lucky and they -are unlucky, while they continue talking about their hard fate and -thinking that the rich are getting all the good things of the world and -that they are getting only the dregs and never will get anything else, -why, of course they will never get anything else. - -Most poor people have about the same attitude toward poverty that those -who are constantly ailing have toward health. Habitual invalids never -expect to be really well. They are always anticipating the development -of some disease, looking for the symptoms, imagining that they are going -to have this or that physical disability or disease. The way to have -health is to think it, to expect it, to visualize it, to realize that -health is a positive everlasting fact, and disease only negation, the -absence of health, which is brought about largely by a wrong mental -attitude, by self-thought poisoning, by disobeying the laws of health. -If we are going to be well, we must think vigorous, robust, cheerful, -health thoughts, and we must observe the laws of health. We shall have -the same degree of health that we give to our mental health model. It is -our visualizing of health that brings the expected condition. It is the -same with poverty. - -Not long ago a poor man told me he would be perfectly satisfied if he -could be assured that he would never have to go to the poorhouse, that -he would have enough to provide the bare necessities for his little -family. He said he never expected to have anything better. He was -satisfied that it was not intended for him to have any luxuries. He had -always been a poor man, and he always expected to be poor. - -Now, this is just the thing that kept this man poor, for he was a hard -worker. He always expected to be poor. He did not expect anything -better. He merely worked for the bare necessities of life, did not -expect anything else, and of course he only just managed to squeeze -along, making but a bare subsistence. This attitude of the poor toward -poverty tends to increase it, to aggravate their disease. So long as one -holds the poverty thought he is making himself a poverty magnet, and -continually drawing to himself unfortunate conditions. - -We have a good illustration of this, a real object lesson, in the -grayhaired men everywhere seeking a job. I have watched these desperate -men on their rounds looking for work. They are poverty stricken in -appearance; their expression is one of utter hopelessness. They look -like men who are going downhill, men who have reached the period of -diminishing returns, and they feel exactly as they look. Their -appearance is the reflex of their thought. Their dress, their manner, -their gait, the look in their eyes, everything about them corresponds to -their mental attitude, and all point downgrade. - -If these men would only brace up, look up, dress up, before they seek a -job, there would be some hope for them. If they can't get better clothes -they can brush the old ones, blacken their shoes, have a bath and shave, -and above all a mental clean-up, and their chances will be ten to one -compared with what they were before their physical and mental clean-up. - -A man has got to radiate confidence in himself, the expectation of -success, before he can get a job. He has got to show that he has reserve -power, that there is a lot of good blood in him, working material, -success possibilities, or nobody will want him. The man who goes to an -employer in a discouraged attitude and begs for work on the ground that -he needs it very much; who whines and complains how hard it is for any -one who shows the signs of age to get a job, is not going to get one. - -If you are in the clutches of a poverty so dire that it robs you even of -the desire to get away from it, you are cursed with self-thought -poisoning. This is what mars and embitters so many lives, drives away -happiness, health and prosperity. - -Poverty is usually a disease. It is just as much a disease as is -smallpox or tuberculosis. It is just as abnormal to the human being as -any disease of the flesh. So is failure. Fear, worry, anxiety, these are -all mental diseases, from which few human beings seem to escape. But we -are gradually finding an antitoxin for the virus of those diseases so -fatal to efficiency, health, happiness and prosperity. - -The Bible tells us "The destruction of the poor is their poverty." Every -investigator of slum life in our big cities, every record of the lives -of the unfortunate poor in our midst proves that this is an absolute -truth. - -Extreme poverty is a scourge that draws its victims down from depths to -lower depths; that makes life a bitter struggle for the bare crumbs that -hold body and soul together. When these are not forthcoming it drives -the weak, despairing struggler to crime in order to keep himself from -starving, or if he is still too proud to steal, to beg, or to go to the -poorhouse he ends his life, rather than wait for the slow cruel process -of starvation to quench it out. Every year poverty claims its tens of -thousands of innocent victims among the little children who die of -disease and neglect in damp, foul cellars where the sun never enters. -It sweeps them into mills and factories where, robbed of the rights of -childhood, they become warped and twisted men and women, full of -bitterness, discontent, unrest and unsatisfied ambitions and longings. -It drives multitudes to crime, to insanity, to death. In short, poverty -is responsible for more ignorance and crime, more discontent and -unhappiness, more suicides and ruined ambitions, more wrecked hopes and -homes than almost anything else. Verily "the destruction of the poor is -their poverty." - -If we are to progress as a race, as a civilization, we must, -emphatically, drive this crushing poverty disease from our midst. -Instead of lauding its blessings, as some do, it is our duty to get away -from it, and to help others to do so. - -The poverty disease, the poverty curse, is not a decree of Providence. -It is largely the result of ignorance. Every human being on this earth -could be living in comfort if they knew the powers locked up in -themselves and were willing to work and make the best use of them. If -the poverty antidotes were as generally known as are the poison -antidotes there would be no poor people. - -Human beings in the aggregate are in much the same position regarding -the poverty antitoxin as the medical profession in regard to newly -discovered antitoxin for some terrible disease. Physicians do not know -how to apply it safely and effectively, and until practice has -established its great value its use is limited. When the knowledge and -the use of the poverty remedy become general the disease will be -conquered. - -As the race becomes more intelligent and better educated we eliminate a -multitude of conditions to which people formerly thought they were born, -and that there was no escape from them. Many evils which have been -conquered by science and education were at one time regarded as scourges -sent by God to punish us for our sins, to chasten us. Diseases which -struck terror to the hearts of human beings a hundred years ago, and -from which they fled in horror, are not feared at all to-day. -Intelligence and science have mastered the great plagues which in the -Middle and Dark Ages carried off their terrified victims by the million. -We have no fear of those plagues to-day, because we have obliterated -their causes. We know now that the prevention of those frightful -epidemics is merely a matter of sanitation, scientific hygiene, -intelligent, healthful living. We know that they were scourges forged by -ignorance and not "judgments" of God. - -Is it not reasonable to believe that, having conquered so many of the -enemies of the race by intelligent thought and scientific methods, we -can conquer them all by similar means? Poverty is a plague, a mental -disease which can be conquered by intelligent scientific methods. We -know its causes and we can remove them. They are largely mental. - -It is not necessary to call in a physician to treat the poverty disease. -The sufferer can be his own physician. He can heal himself. If you are -afflicted with the disease, and want to know how to get rid of it, read -the next chapter. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -MAKING YOURSELF A PROSPERITY MAGNET - - Though culture is the most important business of life. The habit - of claiming as our own, as a vivid, present reality that which we - desire with all our heart, is a magnetic power which attracts the - things we long for. The more persistently we hold the prosperity - thought, the more we strengthen and intensify it, the more we - increase its power to attract prosperity. - - Thinking abundance, visualizing prosperity, will open up the mind, - and set the thought currents toward increased supply. - - -We are so made that about all we get in life is the reflex of what first -flows out from us. Whatever thought you send out will draw to you in the -material world a corresponding reality. - -Every human being is a magnet, the attractive power of which may be -developed in any desired direction. Each one can so direct this power -that he can draw to himself whatever he wills. - -Before your life can be really effective you must make yourself a magnet -for the things that will make it so. You must learn how to attract, how -to draw to yourself all that will help you to succeed in your work, that -will enable you to attain your ambitions. - -If poverty is holding you down, you can conquer it by making yourself a -prosperity magnet. We are living in the midst of a stream of -inexhaustible supply. It is one's own fault if he does not take from -this stream whatever he needs. - -What we get in life we get by the law of attraction. Like attracts like. -Whatever you may have managed to get together in this world you have -attracted by your mentality. You may say that you have earned these -things, that you have bought them with your salary, the fruit of your -endeavor. True, but your thought preceded your endeavor. Your mental -plan went before your achievement. - -The mere changing of your mental attitude will very soon begin to change -conditions. Your decision to face toward prosperity hereafter, to -cultivate it, to make yourself a prosperity magnet will tend to draw to -you the things that will satisfy your ambition. - -The text "He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed" is the -expression of a fundamental truth. The pictures you make in your mind's -eye, the thoughts you harbor are day by day building your outward -conditions. They are real forces working ceaselessly in the unseen, and -the more you think and visualize favorable conditions the more you -increase your power to realize them. You make yourself a magnet for the -thing you desire. This is a psychological law. - -If you want to become a prosperity magnet you must not only think -prosperity but you must also turn your back resolutely on poverty. Begin -to-day. Don't wait for to-morrow or next day. If you don't look -prosperous, assume a prosperous appearance. Dress as far as possible -like a prosperous man or woman, walk like one, act like one, think in -terms of prosperity. A mental healer could not cure a cancer by holding -in his mind a picture of the hideous disease, with all its horrible -appearances and symptoms. He must eliminate all this from his mind. He -must see his patient whole, clean, healthy, just as God intended him to -be, free from all disease. He must picture to himself the ideal man, and -declare his divinity. - -The same thing is true in curing yourself of poverty. You can not do -this as long as you hold poverty-stricken conditions in your mind. If -you want to be prosperous you must hold the prosperous thought, the -prosperous picture in your mind. You must refuse to see or recognize -poverty. You must not acknowledge it in your manner. You must erase all -marks of it, not only from your mental attitude, but just as far as -possible from your appearance. Even if you are not able to wear fine -clothes at first, or to live in a fine house, you can radiate the hope -and expectancy of the glorious inheritance which is your birthright, and -everything about you will reflect this light. - -Prosperity begins in the mind. You must lay its foundations in your -thoughts, surround yourself with a prosperity atmosphere. In other -words, you will build into your environment, into your life, whatever -dwells in your mind. - -We hear of some people that "they are always lucky"; "everything seems -to come their way." Things come their way because there are invisible -thought forces radiating from their minds toward the goal they have set -for themselves. Things fall in line and come our way just in proportion -to the force and velocity of the thought forces we project. - -Thinking better things might be called the first aid to the poor. To -picture yourself as prosperous, living in a comfortable home, wearing -good clothes, surrounded with the refinements of life, in a position to -do your best work in the service of mankind, this is to put yourself -into the current that runs successward. - -It is a strange thing that most of us believe the Creator will help us -in everything but our financial troubles. We seem to think that it is in -some way almost sacrilegious to call upon Him for money to meet our -needs. We may ask for comfort, for solace in our afflictions, for the -assuaging of our griefs and the healing of our diseases, but to implore -God to help us to pay the rent, to pay off the mortgage on the home or -the farm, does not seem quite right. - -Yet we know perfectly well that every mouthful of food we eat, the -material for the clothing we wear and for the houses we live in, every -breath we breathe must come from this Divine Source, of infinite supply. -If the sun were to be blotted out, or to cease to send its magic rays to -the earth, in a few days there would not be a single living thing on the -globe. Not a human being, not an animal could exist without it. Not a -tree, not a plant, not a flower, no fruits, no vegetables, no grass, -nothing green, no vegetable life would be possible. Without the sun's -energizing power all life would cease on this planet. It would be as -cold, barren and lifeless as on the moon. The Creator is the builder and -provider of the universe. Everything we have comes from Him, and without -the supply which flows from His abundance we could not live a single -instant, and why should we not look to this great Source for our money -supply? - -The truth is we were all intended to live the life abundant. The Creator -never meant His children to grovel in poverty, to spend their lives in -drudgery and uncertainty. They have a right to their inheritance of all -that is good and beautiful, all that is needful for their welfare. We -were not intended to live the pinched, starved, stunted lives of -paupers. It is our own fault if we do. The door to opulence is open to -every human being born into this world, and no one but himself can close -that door. No human being can shut out the lowliest child that is born -from his divine inheritance. The only real poverty is in the mind, and -no one can control one's mind but himself. - -Never for a moment harbor the thought that anything can come to you but -prosperity, for this is your birthright; and because it is, you should -demand it. Instead of admitting poverty say to yourself, "I am in the -midst of abundance. I lack nothing that I need because my Father is the -Infinite Source." - -Turn your back on poverty. Make up your mind that you will never again -have anything to do with it, that you will not encourage it by dwelling -on and visualizing poverty suggestions. Face toward prosperity. Think -of, and plan for prosperous conditions; struggle toward prosperity with -all your might and you will draw it to you. - -Suppose you are poor and live in a humble home, just have a talk with -your wife and children, and make up your minds that you will all focus -on your objective--improved conditions,--that you will face the other -way, toward prosperity instead of poverty. Say to yourself, "It is a -shame for God's children to exhibit such a pauperized appearance. It is -a reflection on my Father-Mother-God to go about among my fellows -looking as though everything had gone wrong with me, as though I were -disappointed with life. This is ungrateful. I can at least show -gratitude for health, for the privilege of living in God's pure air and -sunlight by holding up my head and walking erectly, joyously, as His -child should. I am really insulting the Creator, to whom I pray, by -reflecting such despair and degrading poverty in my mental attitude, -thus erasing the divine image from my face. No matter how little I have, -I can at least appear respectable. I can show that I respect myself by -doing away as far as possible with the depressing appearance and -influence of poverty." - -Tidy up your little home and make it as neat and cheerful as possible. -Do the same with your dress and general appearance. Keep yourself better -groomed; look up, brace up, brush up, struggle up. Surround yourself -with an atmosphere of hopefulness and show everybody by the new light in -your eyes, the light of hope and expectancy of better things, that there -is a change in you. Your neighbors will notice it. They will see a -change in your home, in your wife, in your children. The change in the -mental attitude of yourself and family, through facing toward the light -instead of darkness, toward hope instead of despair, will make a -tremendous change in your whole outlook on life. - -In this way you are making yourself a prosperity magnet; you are -radiating thought waves of hope, of ambition, of determination. Your new -mental attitude is expressed in an erect, manly carriage, in squared, -thrown back shoulders, in a neat, clean appearance, even though the -clothing be old and threadbare, in a winning, forceful, magnetic -countenance. You are thus establishing the conditions of success. The -positive prosperity thought flows out like a wireless current and -connects itself with similar thought currents. Hold the prosperity -conviction, work steadily toward your object; see opportunity and -success in your vista, determine to be somebody, hold firmly to the -resolve, and your mentality will direct the invisible magnet of your -personality to lift you higher and higher, to attract toward you others -who will help you in the direction in which you are moving. - -If you want a better position, more salary, money to pay off debts, or -to get what you need, whatever it may be, cling with all the power of -your mind to the thing you are trying to get, and never for a moment -doubt you will get it. You do not inherit poverty, squalor. Lack and -want have nothing whatever to do with God's children. Your inheritance -is divine, grand, sublime. Poverty is a mental disease, and you carry -the antidote to its poison in your mind. You owe it to the One who has -given you life, health, who has given you brains to make something of -yourself, to improve your situation. - -As long as you keep yourself saturated with the poverty conviction you -cannot rise out of poverty. You must think yourself out of it. "The Lord -is my Shepherd, and I _cannot_ want." Hold that thought firmly and -steadfastly in your mind. Believe it. Live up to it. - -Abundance will never flow through pinched, doubting, poverty thoughts, -any more than clear, crystal water can flow freely through foul, -grease-clogged pipes. A right viewpoint must be your mental plumber to -keep the connection open and free. Things of a kind attract one another. -The poverty thought attracts more poverty, the fear thought more fear, -the worry thought more worry, the anxiety thought more anxiety. On the -other hand, the faith thought, trust thought, and the confidence thought -attract things like themselves. - -Poverty is a disease that can only be cured by prosperity remedies. The -prosperity thought is the natural antidote for the poverty germ. It -kills it. The poverty thought cannot exist in the mind at the same -moment with the prosperity thought. One will drive out the other. It -rests with you which one you will harbor and encourage. - -Cling to the consciousness of your oneness with the All-Supply. Keep the -supply pipes between you and the Infinite Source of all good always -open. Don't pinch them. Don't cut off the supply by the limiting -poverty thought, the doubt thought, the fear thought, the worry -thought. Keep your supply pipes open by great faith in your -Father-Mother-God, who is more solicitous for your welfare than any -human parent could be. Hold fast to the anchor of your union with the -Infinite Life; keep in the current running Godward and your life will -not dry up or become barren, will not be blighted and blasted by the -poverty drought. - -The trouble with us is that we have been in the habit of looking for a -material supply when our first supply must be mental. We keep the supply -avenues open or we close them with our thoughts, our convictions. We -materialize poverty by our doubting thoughts, by our fears of it. We are -just beginning to find that we get out of this world what we think into -it and work out of it, that our thought plan precedes its material -realization just as the architect's plan precedes the building. - -Remember that prosperity can not flow into your life while your mind is -filled with poverty thoughts and convictions. We go in the direction of -our thought and our convictions. By no law can you expect to get that -which you do not believe you will get. Prosperity can not come to you -if you are all the time driving it away from you by your poverty -thought. - -You must think in a positive determined way that you are going to -succeed in whatever you desire to do or to be before you can expect -success. That is the first condition by which you make yourself a magnet -for the thing you are after. It doesn't matter whether it is work or -money, a better position or health, or whatever else it is, your -thoughts about it must be positive, clean cut, decisive, persistent. No -weak, wobbly "Perhaps I may get it," or "Maybe it will come some time," -or "I wonder if I shall get this," or "if I can do that" sort of thought -will ever help you to get anything in this world or the next. - -When young John Wanamaker started with a pushcart to deliver his first -sale of clothing he turned on a positive current toward a merchant -princeship. As he passed big clothing stores he pictured himself as a -great merchant, owner of a much bigger establishment than any of those -he saw, and he did not neutralize or weaken this thought current by all -sorts of doubts or fears as to the possibility of reaching the goal of -his ambition. - -Most people think too much about blindly forcing themselves ahead. They -do not realize that they can, by the power of thought, make themselves -magnets to draw to them the things that will help them to get on. -Wanamaker attracted to himself the forces that make a merchant prince. -Every step he took was forward, to match the vision of his advance with -its reality. - -Marshall Field projected himself mentally out of a little country store -into a clerkship in Chicago. Then he thought and worked himself out of -this clerkship into a partnership. Still thinking and climbing upward, -he next visualized himself at the head of the greatest merchandizing -establishment in America, if not in the world. His mind always ran -ahead. He was always picturing himself a little higher up, a little -further on, always visualizing a larger business, and so making himself -a magnet for the things he sought. - -If John Wanamaker had been satisfied with himself at the start he would -have remained in his first little store in Philadelphia, and thus cut -off all possibility of becoming what he is--one of the greatest -merchants the world has ever seen. If Marshall Field had stopped -thinking himself higher up when the man he worked for in the little -Pittsfield store predicted that he never would succeed as a merchant, he -never would have been heard from. But Deacon Davis's telling Marshall -Field's father that the boy would not make a salesman in a thousand -years did not stop him thinking himself ahead. "On to Chicago, the City -of Opportunity," he said to himself, and on and up he went until the -little country merchant who predicted his failure was a Lilliputian in -comparison. - -The story of each of these men is, so far as the success principle is -concerned, the story of every man who has ever succeeded in his -undertakings. They may not have been conscious of the law underlying -their methods, but they worked in unison with it, and hence succeeded. - -The same thing is true of Andrew Carnegie, and of all the millionaires -and self-made men among us who have raised themselves from poor boys to -the ownership of colossal fortunes, or to commanding positions in some -phase of the world's activities. - -Any one who makes the accumulation of a fortune his chief goal, and who -has grit, determination, will power and sufficient faith in himself to -stick to his purpose will get there. But long before the youth who -chooses such a goal has reached it, he will have dwarfed his manhood, -and shriveled his soul. - -To get away from poverty is one thing; to set one's heart on money as -the ultimate good is another, and quite a different, thing. There is a -whole world of difference between so saturating one's mind with the -thought of money and its acquisition that there is no room for any other -aspiration, and the constant dwelling on the black and hopeless poverty -thought, the incessant picturing yourself as a pauper until you are so -convinced of poverty's hold on you that you destroy the very ability -which should help you to get away from it. - -People who are down and out financially are down and out mentally. They -are suffering from a mental disease of discouragement and loss of hope. -There ought to be institutions conducted by government experts for the -treatment of these poverty sufferers, for they are just as much in need -of it as are the inmates of our hospitals. They need advice from mental -experts. They have lost their way on the life path, and need to be shown -the way back. They need to be turned about mentally, so that they will -face the light instead of the darkness. They should be shown that they -are stopping up their prosperity pipes, cutting off their source of -supply by their pinching, poverty-stricken, limiting thought. Their -whole mental attitude points toward failure, toward poverty, and by a -natural law their outward conditions conform with the pictures they hold -in mind. - -This poverty disease could be cured in the case of the majority of down -and outs, the failures, by proper mental treatments. If the people in -the great failure army to-day could be shown that as long as they hold -the poverty thought and go about with a sad, dejected expression on -their faces, as though there were no hope in life for them, they will -continue to be poor; but that if they will only turn about and face the -sun, so that their shadows will fall behind them, their conditions will -begin to improve, they would quickly take a new lease of life and -courage. These mental prosperity treatments would generate in them a new -hope that would cause them to brace up all along the line. - -What a revelation would come to the poor people of the world if they -would only eliminate from their minds for a single year the poverty -thought; if they would erase from their minds poverty pictures and all -the suggestions of grinding want that sadden and discourage; if, instead -of expecting poverty, and all that the idea implies, they could go -through one year expecting just the opposite,--prosperity,--visualizing, -talking prosperity, thinking prosperity, acting as though they expected -to be, as though they were, prosperous! Just this radical change of -thought, this transposition of mental attitude, the persistent holding -of the prosperous viewpoint for a year would not only change their whole -outlook on life, but would revolutionize their material conditions. - -They would brush up and clean up the things they have; their ambition -would grow; their new way of looking at life would give an upward -tendency to their surroundings. No matter how poor, their squalid aspect -would go. Everything would take on a different appearance. There would -be a new light in the people's faces. There would be hope there instead -of despair,--expectancy of better things would give a glow of -cheerfulness to their countenances. There would be a light in their eyes -which never was there before. Working in the spirit of hope and -expectancy of better things instead of that of discouragement and the -fears of even greater poverty, they would forge ahead in a way that -would astonish themselves. - -The time is not far away when we shall have prosperity practitioners who -will make a specialty of teaching people how to free their minds from -thoughts that produce poverty by replacing them with their opposites, -thus constantly enlarging the mental power of attraction until the mind -becomes a powerful magnet, ever attracting prosperity. - -These specialists will teach people the creative power of right -thinking, and will show them how to attract their desires instead of -killing them, as so many do, by wrong thinking. Clergymen of the future -will do much toward eliminating poverty from among their people by -instructing them to turn their backs on it and to face toward -prosperity. They will teach them how to draw to themselves the sunlight -of prosperity. - -The cure of physical disease is effected by arousing the curative, -restorative forces within the individual. These are brought into -operation largely through faith in the physician, in the remedy, in the -healer. The healthful mental attitude thus created overcomes the -disease. - -The cure of poverty,--poverty is usually a mental disease,--is effected -in a similar way. The sufferer must first of all have faith in the great -Physician of the universe. When that is fully and firmly established -there will be no difficulty in flooding his mind with the prosperity -thought, the thought that our Father-Mother-God is the Author of -abundance, the Author of all the wealth of the earth, and that He is -infinitely kinder and more solicitous for our welfare than the fondest -mother could be for her child. - -We have not yet tapped the possibilities of any part of the world's -resources. Every inhabitant of the earth to-day is treading on secrets -which would emancipate man from drudgery and allow him to live happily -instead of merely to eke out a wretched subsistence as he has done up to -the present. Hitherto, in the great majority of cases, we have barely -been existing on the husks of things. Now we are beginning to taste the -kernel, because we are coming into a knowledge of the powers locked up -within ourselves, and also of the illimitable supply of God's abundance. -Here and there, people are mastering the law of opulence. They are -demonstrating that they can conquer poverty by making themselves -prosperity magnets; that is, by thinking and working in conformity with -the law of opulence, of abundance. - -It is monstrous that so many of God's children are starving right on the -shores past which the stream of inexhaustible plenty flows, a stream -laden with all the rich things of the universe. There is no excuse for -the horrible misery and suffering that exist in our midst. There is no -reason why the children of the King of kings should be harassed and -tortured, driven into premature graves by poverty, for the Creator has -produced enough to make every one of His children rich, to give them an -abundance of all they need. There is no necessity for those who have -inherited all the good things of the earth to remain poor. - -The very structure of the human machine indicates that it was intended -for the best, that it was planned for comforts, for luxuries, and not -for poverty-stricken conditions. If we could only realize the -far-reaching influence of always expecting the best to come to us, -always expecting opulence, success, we would never allow ourselves to be -dominated by the black pictures of poverty and failure. If every one who -is suffering from the limitations and humiliations imposed by a grinding -poverty would proceed to establish the prosperity habit along the lines -suggested; if they would, by continually holding the prosperous thought, -convince the sub-conscious self that we were made to be successful, that -prosperity belongs to us we should soon sight the millennium. - -When we affirm our divinity, and claim our heritage; when we realize -that our birthright keeps us in touch with the very Source of all -supply, when we know that it was never intended that God's children -should be poor or go hungry, that it was never intended they should live -in poverty-stricken conditions, then we shall have struck the very basic -principle of prosperity. - -Hold the victorious attitude toward life and you will overcome all -unfavorable conditions. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -THE SUGGESTION OF INFERIORITY - - As the initials which boys cut in the bark of a sapling become - great, ugly scars on the grown tree, so the suggestions of - inferiority etched upon the young mind become great ugly scars - in the life of the adult. - - You may succeed when others do not believe in you, when everybody - else denounces you even, but never when you do not believe in - yourself. - - -In olden times criminals, fugitives from justice, and slaves were -branded. The words, "I am a fugitive," "I am a thief," or others -indicating their crime or their inferior status were seared on some part -of the body with a red hot iron. - -In Rome robbers were branded on the forehead with a degrading letter. -Laborers in mines, convicts, and gladiators were also branded. In Greece -slaves were sometimes branded with a favorite poetical passage of their -master. In France the branding iron used on slaves and criminals often -took the form of the fleur-de-lis. In England deserters from the army -were marked with the letter D, and vagabonds, robbers and brawlers were -branded in some way to advertise their disgrace. - -The barbarous custom of branding human beings with the badge of crime or -inferiority persisted in America even after it had been discontinued in -the mother country. Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" gives us a vivid -picture of the suffering inflicted on the moral delinquent by Puritan -moralists in Colonial days. The tragic heroine, Hester Prynn, is never -allowed to forget her sin. The sinister scarlet letter with which she is -branded proclaims her shame to every one she meets. While long after the -Colonial period, up to the time of their emancipation, slaves were -branded in Christian America with the initials of their owners as they -were in Pagan Greece and Rome. - -The mere idea of this stamping human beings with an indelible badge of -disgrace, of inferiority, shocks us moderns. Yet we do not hesitate to -mark people to-day with the scarlet letter of outlawry, the brand of -ostracism. We put the criminal badge on our prisoners by shaving their -heads and clothing them in stripes, thus perpetually keeping before them -the suggestion that they are criminals, outlaws, apart from their kind. - -We even carry our branding into our homes. In order to satisfy our cheap -vanity, we force our domestic workers to wear as a mark of inferiority, -a distinctive livery to remind them that they are menials, a lower grade -of being than ourselves. As a matter of fact, if it were not for these -branding distinctions, the maid would, in many instances, be taken for -the mistress and the valet for the master whom they far outrank both in -appearance and character. - -There are certain inalienable rights which human beings inherit from -their Maker, rights which no fellow being, no human law or authority is -justified in taking away. No matter what offense a person may commit -against society we have no right to degrade him below the level of a -human being; we have no right so to bombard him with the suggestion of -degradation, of inferiority, that we are almost certain to make him less -a man; to lower his estimate of himself to such a degree that we rob -him of the power even to attempt to regain his self-respect and his -position in society. We have no right to insist that those who work for -us shall wear a badge of inferiority. We have no right to thrust the -suggestion of inferiority perpetually into the mind of any human being. - -One of the greatest injuries we can inflict on any one is to convince -him that he is a nobody, that he has no possibilities, and will never -amount to anything. The suggestion of inferiority is responsible for -more blighted ambitions, more stunted lives, more failures, more misery -and unhappiness than almost any other single cause. Just as the constant -dripping of water will wear away stone, so the constant iteration of a -statement will cause its acceptance by the average person. Even though -the facts may be opposed to it, a constant suggestion presented to the -mind impresses us in spite of ourselves and tends to a conviction of its -truth. - -When the weight of the Civil War was nearly crushing Lincoln, when it -was the fashion to denounce and criticise and condemn him, when he was -being caricatured as a hideous monster in the jingo press all over the -world, one day, walking the floor in the White House, he was overheard -saying to himself, "Abe Lincoln, are you a dog or are you a man?" During -these dark days it would appear that Lincoln sometimes had a doubt as to -whether he was really the man his closest friends knew him to be, or the -one an antagonistic press pictured him. - -The curse of the inferiority suggestion not only tends to destroy our -faith in ourselves, but it often makes even the innocent take on the -appearance of guilt. When Lieutenant Dreyfus, through a foul conspiracy, -was convicted of the crime of treason against France, he showed -outwardly all the manifestations of guilt. When stripped, in the -presence of a vast multitude, in a public square in Paris, of all his -insignia of rank as an officer in the army of France, the epaulettes and -buttons being cut from his uniform and his sword broken, although -conscious of his innocence of the crime imputed to him he actually -looked like the guilty thing he was accused of being. And all but a very -few close friends in the vast concourse that witnessed his public -disgrace believed that even his appearance corroborated his guilt. The -brain of the unfortunate Dreyfus was a wireless receiving station for -the hatred, the contempt of millions of people who believed they were -looking at a vile traitor who had sold valuable military secrets to -Germany. - -We are all influenced for good or ill by suggestion, but children and -young people are peculiarly susceptible to it. The constant suggestion -of stupidity, badness, and dullness by teachers or parents, filling a -child's mind with the idea that he is a blockhead, always blundering, -making mistakes, that he is no good, and never will amount to anything, -makes an indelible impression on his plastic mind. - -The child naturally looks up to its parents and teachers and accepts -what they say as truth. He has implicit faith in their superior -knowledge and experience, which seem wonderful to him, and when they -tell him he is stupid, dull, slow, or bad, he takes what they say for -granted. He makes up his mind that, since they say so, he must be a -blockhead, and that they are right in thinking he is no good and will -never amount to anything. - -It is criminal for a parent or teacher to brand a child as dull, stupid, -bad; to tell him that there is nothing in him and that he will never be -anybody or amount to anything in life. The effect on a sensitive child -is disastrous. Thousands of boys and girls have been stunted mentally, -their careers handicapped, and in some instances completely ruined by -such cruel suggestions of inferiority. - -I have known men who kept taunting their sons with what they called -their imbecility and stupidity until the lads came to believe that they -were partial idiots and could not possibly make anything of themselves. -Many of them never did, because they were unable to overcome the -conviction of inferiority impressed upon them by their fathers. - -I remember one quite pathetic instance of a sensitive boy whose -slightest mistake evoked a volley of abuse from his father. He would -tell him that he was not "half baked," that he was "an imbecile," "a -blockhead," "a blunderer," "a hopeless good-for-nothing." The little -fellow so completely lost faith in himself and became so cowed that he -hardly dared look people in the face. He could not be induced to enter -his home when there were callers or guests present. He would slink away -and hide himself in the shed or barn until they had gone. In fact, he -became so morbid that he shrank from association even with other boys -and the neighbors whom he had known from babyhood. The boy really had a -fine mind, and when the death of his father threw him on his own -resources, he managed, by sheer will force and dogged persistence, to -succeed in making an honorable place in life. But he has never been able -to get away from the early conviction of his inferiority, of his lack of -ability compared with others around him. All his later life has been -handicapped by those pernicious suggestions. Whenever he is asked to -assume any responsibility, to take a place on a committee or a board, to -speak in public or make himself prominent in any way, these boyhood -mental pictures of his "good-for-nothingness" rise before him like -terrifying ghosts and seriously cripple or paralyze his efforts. He has -always felt that there is some grave defect in his nature and that, try -as he may, he can not entirely overcome his handicap. This crippling, -cramping defective image of himself impressed on this man in childhood -and youth has robbed him of much of the best of life, of all the joy and -exhilaration that come from spontaneity, from the free, unshackled -expression of oneself, of all one's faculties. - -Children are affected by praise or blame just as animals are. It is easy -to kill the spirit of a dog by abuse and ill treatment, so that in a -short time he will slink about with his tail between his legs, look -guilty and self-depreciatory. In short, he will take on all the -appearance of a "whipped cur." Thoroughbred horse trainers say that -after a horse has been beaten or abused a few times he loses confidence -in himself. His spirit is broken and when he sees the other horses -getting neck and neck with him, or perhaps gaining on him a little, he -is likely to give up the race. The destruction of self-confidence has -caused many a youth with the latent qualities of a thoroughbred to fail -in life's great race. - -There are thousands and thousands of boys who do not develop quickly. -Their brains are strong and capable, but they work slowly, and as a -consequence the boys are misjudged and misunderstood by parents and -teachers alike. In other instances the stupidity and dullness for which -children are berated are only apparent. They are often the result of -timidity, shyness, excessive self-consciousness. The youngsters do not -dare to assert themselves. Especially is this true in families where the -parental rule is stern and repressive. The children are afraid to speak -aloud or to express themselves in any way. - -The suggestion of inferiority deepens this defect till it becomes a -mania. Many of the tragedies of the pernicious "ranking system" by -examinations in our public schools and colleges are the result of an -acute sense of inferiority. Every year quite a number of public school -pupils and students in academies and colleges suffer nervous breakdown, -become insane or commit suicide because they fail to pass their -examinations. Chagrin and humiliation at the sense of inferiority -suggested by their failure unbalances them. In most of those cases lack -of confidence, not lack of ability, is the cause of failure. - -You may say this is foolishness, but it is true. And if the suggestion -of inferiority is powerful enough to drive young people to suicide, -certainly the opposite, the suggestion of superiority, would multiply -the youth's ability and work a miracle in his career. - -A child should never hear the slightest hint to the effect that it is in -any way inferior. Its whole training should tend to develop faith, -confidence in himself, in his powers, in his great possibilities. As the -twig is bent the tree is inclined. The child who is impressed in its -tender formative stage with the idea of its inferiority suffers a wrong -for which nothing in the after years can compensate. - -Many young employees, especially if they are at all sensitive, are -irreparably injured by nagging, fault-finding employers, who are -constantly reminding them of their shortcomings, scolding them for every -trivial mistake, and never giving them a word of praise or -encouragement, no matter how creditable their work, or how well they -deserve it. - -Enthusiasm is the very soul of success and one cannot be enthusiastic -about his work, he cannot take continued pride in it, if he is -constantly being told that it is no good, that it is in fact -disgracefully bad, that he should be ashamed of himself, and that he -ought to quit if he can't do better. This fault-finding and continual -suggestion of inferiority has ruined many a life. - -A young writer, for instance, often gets a serious setback in his early -efforts because of a severe criticism, an unqualified condemnation of -his first book by a reviewer, or the return of his initial manuscript, -with an editor's sneering suggestion that he has made a mistake in his -calling. Harsh critics, editors and book reviewers have deterred many -young writers from developing their talent. The fear of further -criticism or humiliation, of being called foolish, dull or stupid, has -blighted in the bud the career of many talented young people who under -encouragement might have done splendid work. If he is of a sensitive -nature even though he really have great ability such rebuffs often so -dishearten him that he never has the confidence to try again. - -In the same way many a possible clergyman or orator has been discouraged -by early failure and the humiliation of ridicule. In other words, unless -a youth is made of very strong material and has a lot of pluck and -indomitable grit, the suggestion of inferiority, perpetual nagging and -discouragement may seriously mar his career. - -If instead of carping and harping on the little faults and mistakes of -those under their jurisdiction, and prophesying their utter failure and -ruin, parents, teachers, employers and others in responsible positions -would recognize and appreciate laudable qualities, there would be less -misery and crime in the world, fewer human failures and wrecks. - -The perpetual suggestion of inferiority holds more people back from -doing what they are capable of than almost anything else. In the Old -World,--China, Japan, India, in England and other European countries, -for example,--who can measure the harm it has done in the form of -"caste." Think what superb men and women have been held down all their -lives, kept in menial positions, because they were reared in the belief -that once a servant always a servant; that because their parents were -menials they must also be menials! - -What splendid brains and fine personalities we see serving in hotels, -restaurants and private households in Europe--often much superior to -the proprietors themselves. Saturated with the idea that the son must -follow in the father's footsteps, though they may be infinitely superior -in natural ability to those they serve, these men remain waiters, -butlers, coachmen, gardeners or humble employees of some sort. No matter -what talents they possess they are held in leash by the ingrained -conviction of generations that the accident of birth has decided their -position in life. They are convinced that the barriers established by -heredity and by caste, an outworn feudal system, are insurmountable. - -How delightfully the gentle humorist Barrie satirizes this Old World -condition in his play, "The Admirable Crichton." How skillfully he -portrays the clever and resourceful butler, Crichton, who in the -crucible of a great emergency proves himself a born leader, a man head -and shoulders above the noble lord, his master. - -When the yacht carrying the master and his family, Crichton and some -other servants, is wrecked, they escape with their lives to a desert -island. In their desperate plight the barriers of caste are broken down, -and master and man change places. Removed from an artificial -environment, where hereditary rank and wealth determine the status of -the man, Nature unmistakably asserts herself, and Crichton, by the tacit -consent of all, becomes leader. By the force of his inborn ability he -controls the situation. He commands, the others obey. Yet when they are -rescued by a passing ship and brought back to England, old conditions at -once resume their sway. Crichton, without a murmur, or thought of -change, falls back to his former menial position, and all goes on as -before. - -While we Americans laugh at, or severely criticize and denounce, the -snobbishness of class distinctions in other countries, we are guilty of -similar snobbishness, especially in regard to one section of our -fellow-Americans--the Negro race. No matter how highly educated, how -able, how refined or charming a man or a woman, if he or she has but a -drop of Negro blood, we brand him or her with the stigma of race -inferiority. - -I always feel sympathy for the colored people, especially for the better -educated and more refined men and women of this class who must suffer -keenly from the discrimination against their race. They see white people -avoiding them everywhere; refusing to sit down beside them in public -places, in churches, on trains and cars, everywhere they can possibly -avoid it. In the South they are not permitted to ride in the same cars -with whites, and in other parts of the country, while they may travel on -the ordinary day coaches, they are not allowed on the Pullman cars, -except as waiters and porters. Our hotels, private schools, public -places, and even many of our churches, practice similar discrimination. -The churches pretend to draw no color lines, but by their attitude most -of them practically do so. - -Everywhere they turn in this land of ours, where we boast that every man -is "born free and equal," Negroes are embarrassed, placed at a -disadvantage. In all sorts of ways white people are constantly -humiliating them, reminding them that they belong to an inferior race, -and they take their places according to the valuation of those born to -more favorable conditions. This constant suggestion of inferiority has -done much to keep the colored race back, because it has added -tremendously to their sense of real or fancied inferiority and has been -a discouragement to their efforts to make themselves the equals of those -who look down upon them. - -We can not help being influenced by other people's opinion of us. It -makes us, according to its nature, think more or less of ourselves, of -our ability. We are similarly affected by our environment. We -unconsciously take on the superiority or inferiority of our -surroundings. Employees who work in cheap, shoddy stores or factories -soon become tagged all over with the marks of inferiority, the cheap -John methods employed in the establishments in which they work and spend -their days. - -If the employees in a store like Tiffany's or Altman's, for example, -were to be mixed up with those of some of the cheap, shoddy New York -stores, it would not take much discernment to pick out the worker in the -superior environment from the one in the inferior. To spend one's best -years selling cheap, shoddy merchandise will inevitably leave its mark -on those who do so. Even though we may struggle against it, we are -unconsciously dyed by the quality of our occupation, the character of -the concerns for which we work. - -In making your life choice, avoid as you would poison shoddy, fakey -concerns which have no standing in their community. Keep away from -occupations that have a demoralizing tendency. Every suggestion of -inferiority is contagious, and helps to swerve the life from its -possibilities. - -Every influence in our environment is a suggestion which becomes a part -of us. If we live with people who lack ambition, who are slovenly, -slipshod, or with people of loose morals, of low flying ideals, we tend -to reflect their qualities. If we mingle much with those who use slangy, -vulgar, incorrect English, people who are not careful about their -manners or their expression, these things will reappear in our own -conversation and manners. If we read inferior books, or associate with -perpetual failures, with people who botch their work and botch their -lives our own standards will suffer from the contagion. - -It does not matter whether inferiority relates to manner, to work, to -conversation, to companions, to thought habits--wherever it occurs, its -tendency is to pull down all standards and to cut down the average of -achievement. We are all living sensitive plates on which the example, -the thoughts and suggestions of others, our own thoughts and habits, our -associations and surroundings indelibly etch themselves. - -I wish I could burn it into the consciousness of every person who wants -to make a success of life that he cannot do so while he associates -himself with inferiority and harbors a low estimate of himself. Get away -from both. Have nothing to do with them. If you are a victim of the -inferiority suggestion, deny the suggestion, drive it from your mind as -the greatest enemy of your welfare. - -You can only do what you think you can. If you hold in mind a cheap, -discreditable picture of yourself; if you doubt your efficiency you are -shackled, you are not free to express yourself. You erect a barrier -between yourself and the power that achieves. - -The mere mental acknowledgment or feeling that you are weak, -inefficient, is contagious. It is sensed by other people and their -thought is added to yours in undermining your self-confidence, which is -the bulwark of achievement. No matter what others say or think of you, -always hold in mind a lofty ideal of yourself, a picture of your own -efficiency. Never allow yourself to doubt your ability to do what you -undertake. You can not be inferior, because you are made in God's image. -You can, if you will, make a masterpiece of your life, because it is -part of His plan that you should. - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -HAVE YOU TRIED LOVE'S WAY? - - Love, like the sun, never sees the dark side of anything. - - You can purchase a man's labor, you've got to cultivate his good - will. - - Sweeter than the perfume of roses is the possession of a kind, - charitable, unselfish nature, a ready disposition to do for others - any good turn in one's power. - - -A New York man who saw a little girl carrying a crippled boy across a -street, offered to assist her, telling her that the boy was too heavy -for her to carry. "Oh, no," said the child quickly, "he's not heavy; -_he's my brother_." - -Oh, marvelous power of love that lightens all heavy burdens and smooths -all rough roads! What would become of humanity were it not for love, -which sweetens the hardest labor and makes self-sacrifice a joy? It is -the greatest force in the universe. Without its transforming power we -should still be primitive barbarians. - -In spite of the loud cries of pessimists and skeptics to the contrary, -its light is still leading men upward. Although the dream of the world's -peacemakers has come to naught and Europe is plunged in a merciless war, -yet there are multitudes of signs of the reign of love. Its merciful -healing power is at work even on the cruel battlefield. We see it -animating the great army of Red Cross surgeons and nurses, who, -regardless of creed or country, racial or social differences, are -treating all the wounded soldiers as brothers, binding up their wounds -and nursing them back to health and life. Love is healing the hurts made -by hate and discord. - -We see its influence in the miracle which the leaven of the Golden Rule -is performing in the business world, in the passion for social service -in the world at large, in the gradual obliteration of class -distinctions, in the growing efforts to ameliorate the conditions of the -poor, in the great wave of reform that is beating against the walls of -all our institutions, our jails, our poorhouses, our reformatories, our -insane asylums. The abuses with which these places were filled are -gradually being cleared up by love. - -In many of our prisons, the kindly, brotherhood system of treatment that -has been inaugurated is really helping to reform criminals, whereas the -old system of penology killed men, broke their spirit, or made them more -hardened in crime. It rarely, if ever, reformed. Love's way must in time -banish altogether the old cruel prison methods, and ultimately the -criminal himself. When the world is run by love, by the Golden Rule -plan, crime will die a natural death. - -Every one who slips from the right path, no matter what he has done, -should be given another chance, a fresh opportunity to make good, to -rebuild his character. One who has sinned against society should not be -expelled from the sympathies, the good-will and the kindliness of his -fellowmen. Criminals should be treated as unfortunate brothers and -sisters who have stumbled and lost their way on the life path. Love is -the only medium that will help them to rise, to get back into the -current that runs Godward. - -People who understand them, who see a God in the ruins that evil -influences have made, would make good men and women out of the great -majority of our prisoners. - -Many of these poor wretches never had an opportunity. They never felt -the magic touch of love, never knew the influence of a good home, of -honest, loving parents. Most of them did not have a right start in life. -They were handicapped at birth by ignorance, by disease, by vicious -parentage. They never had a fair chance. Love's way would give them one. -Shutting them into cramped, miserable, sunless cells, with none of the -comforts or conveniences of life, where none of the humanities reach -them; meting them out treatment we would not dream of inflicting on our -domestic animals, is like trying to put out fire with kerosene oil. Such -treatment makes them worse, arouses their basest passions of revenge, -bitterness and hatred, fills them with a determination to "get even" -with society. - -Society is beginning to wake up to the futility of such brutal methods. -It is beginning to apply love's way to its criminal classes, to all -classes. - -Our free hospitals, our homes for the aged and poor, our public asylums, -are all, like our prisons, working upward toward the light. The fallen, -the sick, the poor, the old, the maimed, the bruised and suffering, -everywhere are receiving more consideration, more humane treatment, more -kindness. And we are finding that greater trust in them, greater -sympathy and greater interest in our unfortunate brothers and sisters, -are working a marvelous change in human conditions. - -In other words, in spite of many seeming contradictions, many glaring -evils in our midst, many setbacks and discouragements, the spirit of the -Christ, of the Golden Rule, is acting like a healing leaven and -performing miracles in the great human mass. - -Love is the great mind opener, the great heart opener and life-enricher, -the great developer. It is what holds society together, and if children -were trained to love humanity, to love all countries and their -inhabitants as they are taught to love their own country and countrymen, -there would be no wars. War proceeds largely from what is called -patriotism. And patriotism in its narrower sense, which seeks only its -own good, its own aggrandizement, at the expense of other countries and -peoples, has ever been the curse of the race. When our love is big -enough to say, "The world is my country," wars will cease. - -A few days ago I was attracted by an advertisement in a morning paper -which said, "When every other physician has given you up; when you have -failed to find relief from all other sources, then come to me. You are -the sort of person I cure." The advertiser may have been a quack, but -the advertisement would make its appeal, perhaps, to the desperate, the -discouraged, who had been given up as incurable by the regular -profession, and it set me to thinking. "Why, this," I said to myself, -"is the language of Divine Love's advertisement. 'Come unto me all ye -that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.' When you have -failed to find comfort, satisfaction or joy in anything else, when your -friends have deserted you, when your business is ruined, when you have -made fatal mistakes and society has closed its doors on you, when -everybody else rejects and denounces you, when everything else has -failed, then come to me and you shall find peace and rest." - -Love is the sovereign remedy. It is the last resort of those driven to -desperation. When nothing else is left, when life is full of bitterness -and anguish, the thief, the murderer, the failure, the outcast turns to -Love and finds a refuge, for "Love never faileth." - -Love is to every human being what mother love is to the erring child. No -son or daughter has ever fallen so low as to get beyond a mother's love. -When society has turned its back on the outcast, when the prison door -closes behind him, when companions have fled, when sympathy and mercy -have departed, when the world has forgotten, the mother remembers and -loves her child. She visits her boy in the "death house," her daughter -in the dens of vice in the slums. The child can never stray too far for -the mother's love to follow. It is the most perfect prototype of our -Father-Mother-God's love. - -The Vedanta scriptures, which are thousands of years older than the Old -Testament of our Bible, commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves -because we are all neighbors, because of the oneness of all life, -because the same spirit is in all human beings. Until we see and live -in conscious coöperation with this oneness of spirit, until the world -sees it in all human beings, there will be public strife, private -quarrels, greed, selfish ambition, inhumanity of man to man, poverty, -crime, all sorts of wretchedness and misery. Love alone can wipe all -these out. Human laws, repression, punishment will never do it. Christ's -way, Love's way, holds the solution of all life's problems. - -I was talking recently with a cold-blooded, overbearing, brow-beating -business man who told me he was going out of business because he was so -tired and sick of incompetent, dishonest help. His employees, he said, -were always taking advantage of him, stealing, spoiling merchandise, -blundering, shirking, clipping their hours. They took no interest in his -welfare, their only concern being in what they found in their pay -envelope. "I have enough to live on," he concluded, "and I don't propose -to run a business for their benefit. I have tried every means I know of -to get good work out of ignorant, selfish help, but it is no use, and -now I have done with it. My nervous system is worn out and I must give -up the game." - -"You say you have tried everything you could think of in managing your -employees, but has it ever occurred to you to try Love's way?" I asked. - -"Love's way!" he said disgustedly. "What do you mean by that? Why, if I -didn't use a club all the time my help would ride right over me and ruin -me. For years I have had to employ detectives and spies to protect my -interests. What do these people know about love? Why I would have the -red flag out here in no time if I should attempt any such fool business -as that." - -A young man who had been successful in Golden Rule management hearing of -the situation saw in it a possible opening, and asked this man to give -him a trial as manager before giving up his business altogether. - -The result was, he was so pleased with him that in less than half an -hour he had engaged him as manager, although he still insisted that it -was a very doubtful experiment. - -The first thing the new man did on taking charge was to call the -employees in each department together and have a heart to heart talk -with them. He told them that he had come there not only as a friend of -the proprietor, but as their friend also, and that he would do -everything in his power to advance their interests as well as those of -the business. The house, he told them, had been losing money for years, -and it was up to him and them to change all that and put the balance on -the right side of the ledger. He made them see that harmony and -coöperation are the basis of any real success for a concern and its -employees. - -From the start he was cheerful, hopeful, sympathetic, enthusiastic, -encouraging. He quickly won the confidence and good will of everybody in -the establishment, and had them all working as heartily for the success -of the business as if it were their own. The place was like a great -beehive, where all were industrious, happy, contented, working for the -hive. So great was the change that customers began to talk about the new -spirit in the house. Business grew and prospered, and in an incredibly -short time, the concern was making instead of losing money. - -Yet in many respects the new manager was not nearly as able as his -employer, but he had a different spirit. He was animated by a belief in -the brotherhood of man. He had sympathy, tact, diplomacy, and a real -personal interest in those who worked under him. He never scolded them -when they did not do right; he simply talked with them like an elder -brother and made them ashamed of themselves. He showed them there was a -better way, and they followed it. In short, he won their love and -respect and they would do anything for him. - -The Golden Rule method had driven out hate, selfishness, greed and -dissension. The interests of all were centered on the general welfare, -and so all prospered. When the proprietor returned from abroad, whither -he had gone for a few months' rest and recuperation, he could scarcely -believe in the reality of the transformation that "love's way" had -effected in his old employees and in the entire establishment. - -You who have been tortured and torn to pieces for years with hot -tempers, with worry, with fear, with hatred and ill will; you who have -already committed suicide on many years of your life, why not turn your -back on all this and try love's way? So far your life has been a -disappointment. There must be a better way for all who bear the scars -and stains of strife, who have been battered and buffeted by the old -evil way, in which there has been no rest, no harmony, no sweetness. Why -not try love's way? Try it for every trouble, for every hurt and sorrow. - -Try it you whose home life has been a bitter disappointment; you -husbands and wives who have quarreled, who have never known what peace -and comfort are, try love's way. It will smooth out all your wrinkles, -it will put a new spirit into your home that was never there before, it -will bring a new light into your eyes, new hope into your heart, and new -joy into your life. - -You mothers who have worn yourselves to a frazzle and prematurely aged -yourselves in trying to bring up your children by scolding, nagging, -punishing, driving, why not try love's way instead? You can love your -boys and girls into obedience and respect much more quickly and with far -better results to them and to yourself than by driving them; appeal to -their best and noblest instincts instead of their worst, and you will -be surprised how quickly and readily they will respond to your appeal. -There is something in human nature which protests against being driven -or forced. If you have been trying to force your boys and girls in the -past, give it up and try the new way, love's way. See if it does not -work wonders in your home. See if it will not make your domestic -machinery run much more smoothly. See if it will not wonderfully relieve -the strain upon yourself. Give love's way a trial. - -Try it, you fault-finding, scolding housewife. Instead of nagging your -family, fretting and stewing from morning till night, blaming, -upbraiding, complaining, try love's way. Instead of berating a maid -before your guests when she accidentally breaks a piece of china, put -yourself in her place, try to realize her embarrassment, and pass over -the mishap cheerfully. Then, in private, give her a gentle word of -caution. She will be more careful in the future. If your laundress -returns a piece of smirched linen, or if her work is not quite so well -done as it was the last time, don't give her a brutal scolding. Harsh -treatment will only make her sullen and unhappy, but you will find her -susceptible to kindness and gentle words. - -Give sympathy and kindness instead of scolding and nagging and you will -work a revolution in your household. You will be delighted to find how -quickly love's way will change the atmosphere in your family, how soon -helpful relations will take the place of antagonistic ones. Praise, -generous, whole-hearted, unstinted praise, now and then, will not hurt -any one, but, on the contrary, will act like lubricating oil on dry -squeaky machinery, and its reflex action on yourself will be magical. - -You husbands who have been substituting money and luxury for love, who -have thought that if a woman had a fine house, beautiful clothes and all -her bills paid, she ought to be satisfied and happy; you who have so -miserably failed of your object in this substitution will be surprised -to find how much happier you can make your wife by bestowing on her a -generous, unselfish love. A very little money, a very humble home with -love will make every true woman happier than millions, a palatial home, -with indifference. - -Try love's way, you men who have been lording it over your families, -bullying and brow-beating your wives and children, using slave-driving -methods in your home. You know that this old brutal way has not brought -you happiness or satisfaction; you have always been disappointed with -it, then why not try the new philosophy, try love's way? It is the great -cure-all, it is the Christ remedy which is leavening the world. - -Try it you who are worn out with the discord and the hagglings, the -trials and tribulations you encounter every day in your business. You -men and women who have never been able to get good help, who are driven -to desperation with the wicked breakage and wastage of your employees; -you who have been through purgatory in your struggle with dishonesty and -inefficiency, whose faces are furrowed with cruel wrinkles and -prematurely aged in trying to fight evil with evil, try love's way. It -will create a new spirit in your store, your factory, your office. -Whatever your business, whatever your trials and difficulties, love will -ease the jolts of life and smooth your way miraculously. Try love's way -all you who have hitherto lived in purgatory because you did not know -this better way. - -You have tried the "getting square" policy, the hatred and grudge -method; you have tried the revenge way, the jealousy way; you have tried -the worry, the anxiety method, and these have pained and tortured you -all the more. You have tried law and the courts to settle troubles and -difficulties with neighbors and business associates, and perhaps you won -lawsuits only to make bitter, life-long enemies. But perhaps you have -never yet tried love's way, excepting in spots. If you have not yet -tried it as a principle, as a life philosophy, as a great life -lubricant, begin now. It will smooth out all the rough places and -wonderfully ease your journey over the jolts of life. - -You may be wondering why you have so few friends, why you do not attract -people, why others are not more interested in you. Look into your heart -and you will find the reason. If you are sending out a current of -selfishness, of uncharitableness, unkindness, indifference, ingratitude, -you can not get a return current of friendship, of encouragement and -helpfulness. The stream that leads back to you will be just like that -which goes out in your thought, in your habitual mental attitude. To -have friends, to win love you must make yourself a magnet for love. You -must send out the friendly thought current, the helpful current, the -kindly, loving current of human fellowship. If you give out stinginess, -narrowness, meanness, selfishness, you will not receive love's gifts in -return. As you give, so will you receive, and the more generously you -give of love and kindness and service the more generously will the -current that returns bear them back to you. - -The most beautiful thing on this earth, that which every human being -craves most is love. It is, as Henry Ward Beecher said, "the river of -life in this world. Think not that ye know it who stand at the little -tinkling rill, the first small fountain. Not until you have gone through -the rocky gorges, and not lost the stream; not until you have gone -through the meadow, and the stream has widened and deepened until fleets -could ride on its bosom; not until beyond the meadow you have come to -the unfathomable ocean, and poured your treasures into its depths--not -until then can you know what love is." - -All through the Bible are passages which extol the height and depth, the -breadth and power, the inexhaustibleness of love. The more of love we -give out, the more we have. Love maintains perpetual summer in the soul -and shuts out winter's chill. Love of man is love of God, and love of -God prolongs life. - -"With long life will I satisfy him," declares Jehovah in the words of -the Psalmist, "because he hath set his love upon me." Love is harmony, -and harmony prolongs life, as fear, jealousy, envy, friction, and -discord shorten it. Those who are filled with the spirit of love, whose -sympathies are not confined to their own family, but reach out to every -member of the human family, are more exempt from the ills of mankind -than the selfish and pessimistic, who lose the better part of life, the -joy and the strength that come from giving themselves to others. - -Some natures are so permeated with the spirit of love, of helpfulness, -of unselfishness, that their very presence acts like a balm upon the -wounded soul. They radiate harmony, soul sunshine. There is a personal -charm about them which strengthens, reassures, and uplifts. - -No more scientific advice was ever uttered on this earth than "Love your -enemies." Nothing will take the sting out of unkindness like kindness; -nothing will disarm prejudice, hatred, and jealousy like love. It is -impossible for any one to continue to hate us, when we send out to him -only love thoughts, love vibrations, or to be jealous of us when we send -out to him only kindly, generous, helpful thoughts. Hatred or the spirit -of revenge cannot live in the presence of love any more than an acid can -retain its eating, biting qualities in the presence of an alkali. - -One whose heart is filled with love for all cannot possibly have an -enemy very long, because love dissolves all enmity, all jealousy, -neutralizes, antidotes all hatred. One-sided hatred cannot exist because -there is nothing to keep it alive. It must be fed in some way or the -fire will die out for lack of fuel. - -It is simply impossible to keep on feeling unkindly towards another, to -continue hating him very long when we discover that he feels kindly -toward us and is willing to help us. I have never felt so humiliated in -my life as when years ago, in my hot youth, I was rendered a very great -service by a man whom I disliked intensely, and against whom I had for -some time cherished a grudge. His great-hearted, generous act, which was -a real help to me, made me feel utterly ashamed of myself. It showed me -as nothing else could have done what a mean, unworthy, contemptible -thing it is to nurse a feeling of hate or revenge toward a fellow-being. - -We cannot hold the love thought without feeling the uplift, the glow, -the divine energy which it sends through the whole system. Nor, on the -other hand, can we hold the hate thought, the revenge, the jealous, the -envious, or any other mean, selfish thought, without a feeling of -depression, a feeling of smallness, of contemptibleness, which robs us -of self-respect and of power. - -When you denounce and condemn others, when you nurse bitterness and ill -will in your heart, you start boomerang vibrations which impair your -cell life and seriously mar your happiness and efficiency. One of the -great benefits of devotional exercise, of prayer, of contemplation, of -divine thinking, is that this mental attitude sets in motion vibrations -which have a helpful, uplifting influence on both mind and body. Where -love and affection are habitually vibrating through the cell life they -develop a poise and serenity of character, a sweetness and strength, a -peace and satisfaction that reënforce the whole being. Love soothes and -strengthens. Hate lacerates, wrinkles, weakens. The character of people -who keep themselves continually stirred up by discordant emotions, who -live in discordant homes where there is perpetual wrangling, criticism, -denunciation, scolding, twitting are cold, skeptical, unlovely, selfish. -Their affections become marbleized. There is nothing outside of vice -which will deform the character so quickly as living in an atmosphere of -perpetual hatred, jealousy, envy and revenge. The wear and tear of their -vicious vibrations is ever getting in its deadly work. - -Love is the great disciplinarian, the supreme harmonizer, the true -peacemaker. It is the great balm for all that blights happiness or -breeds discontent, a sovereign panacea for malice, revenge, and all -brutish passions and propensities. As cruelty melts before kindness, so -the evil passions find their antidote in sweet charity and loving -sympathy. - -One reason why a happy home is the sweetest, most beautiful spot on -earth is because the love atmosphere, the harmony vibrations give a -blessed sensation of harmony, of rest, of safety, security and power. -The moment we enter such a place we feel its soothing, reassuring, -uplifting atmosphere. It produces a feeling of mental poise, of serenity -which we do not experience anywhere else. - -During a recent visit to a large family I was much impressed by the -power of one person to create this beautiful home spirit. In this family -was one sister who, though the youngest member, seemed to take the place -of the mother, who was dead. This young girl was the apparent center of -the home. Nothing of importance was undertaken by any of her brothers -without consulting her. Not one of them would leave the house without -first kissing her good-by, and she was the first one they sought when -they came home. They all seemed anxious to confide to her their little -secrets, to tell her of what had happened to them during the day, to -have her opinion and advice in all difficulties. - -The secret of this young girl's influence lay in her great interest in -the boys, and her wonderful love for them. In talking with the brothers -I discovered that each thought that the sister was especially interested -in him and his affairs, and that he would not think of undertaking or -deciding anything of importance without first consulting her. Each and -all of them seemed to prefer her company to that of any other young -lady, and were always proud to escort her when she went anywhere. Those -boys are all clean-minded, open, frank and chivalrous, and I could not -help thinking that a great deal of it was due to the sister's influence. - -"To love, and to be loved," said Sydney Smith, "is the greatest -happiness of existence." Every one, rich and poor, high and low, is -reaching out for love. What will not a man do to win the love of one who -embodies his ideal of womanhood; one in whom he sees all the beautiful -qualities that he himself lacks! This love is really a divine hunger, -the longing for possession of what would make him a whole man instead of -the half one he feels he is. - -Why is it that when a coarse-grained, brutal, dissipated man falls in -love with a sweet, pure girl he immediately changes his ways, looks up, -thinks up, braces up, drops his profanity, is more refined, more choice -in his language, more exclusive in his associations, and is, to all -appearances, for the time at least, a changed man? Simply because love -is a more powerful motive to the man than dissipation. He drops the -latter, and if his love is steady and true he will never again indulge -in any degrading practice. - -Who has not seen the magic power of love in transforming rough, uncouth -men into refined and devoted husbands? I have known women who had such -great, loving, helpful hearts, and such charm of manner, that the worst -men, the most hardened characters would do anything in the world for -them--would give up their lives even to protect them. But these men -could not be reformed by prison methods, could not be touched by -unkindness or compulsion. Love is the only power that could reach them. - -I do not believe there is any human being, in prison or out, so -depraved, so low, so bad but that there is somebody in the world who -could control him perfectly by love, by kindness, by patience. Many a -man has been kept from performing a disgraceful, a criminal act by the -thought that somebody loved him, believed in him, trusted him. - -"Though thy sins be as scarlet they shall be made whiter than snow." -Love purifies, lifts up, regenerates. We are all familiar with its -wonderful transforming power; how it erases the scars of sin, smooths -out the wrinkles which vice has left in the face, softens the hard -features and puts its own divine stamp there. We know how it changes the -coarse, brutal, sinful man into its own divine likeness, how it brings -the color back to the pale cheek, the luster to the dull eye, how it -restores courage to the disheartened, hope to the distressed and the -despairing. We know how it calls into the face a light which was never -there before, and which is not of earth. - -In the remarkable play, "The Passing of the Third Floor Back," we have a -striking illustration of the subtle, silent force of the love motive. -Those who have seen or read the play will remember how in response to an -advertisement in a London paper, "Room to let, Third floor back," comes -a remarkable man, who is given the title of "The Stranger." This man -takes the "third floor back," and finds himself in a boarding house -filled with questionable characters, petty thieves, gamblers, people who -have led fast lives, all sorts of uncharitable, envious men and women. -They stoop to every kind of meanness. One woman even steals candles. -Every one tries to cheat every one else and is cheated in return. The -landlady is of the same type as her boarders. She preys on them and they -prey on her. She waters the milk and adulterates the food. Then to keep -herself from being robbed she puts everything under lock and key. - -The mere presence of the Stranger seems antagonistic to the practices -and low-flying ideals of the boarders and the landlady. They begin to -make all sorts of fun of him. But he takes no notice. Instead he gives -them kindness for unkindness, love for hate, and a pleasant smile as the -only answer to their sarcastic, cutting remarks and innuendoes. -Gradually, as they become better acquainted, he begins to talk to them -of themselves, to point out their good qualities, and to show them what -great ability they have in certain lines, what wonderful things are -possible to them. - -He told one of the young men who had made merry at his expense that he -had a fine artistic temperament, and that he had in him the making of a -great artist. He showed another his possibilities as a musician, and so -on with every member of the discordant, jangling group, until each one -finally came under the spell of his love and kindness. - -The little London "slavey," or maid-of-all-work who was abused and -constantly reminded that she had been in State Prison and hence was a -nobody, under the Stranger's uplifting influence became a -self-respecting, noble woman. The landlady, who had hitherto treated the -girl like a slave, began to favor her and made her go outdoors and get a -little change while she did the work. A man and wife who had lived a cat -and dog life were brought together in harmony. All of the boarders, -without exception, even those who had been the most brutal and selfish, -gradually changed and became thoughtful, helpful and kindly toward one -another. They became friends. The whole atmosphere of the house was -changed. The Stranger had shown every man and woman of them his or her -better self, and in so doing had literally made them anew. - -Thus did one who typified the Christ spirit, a simple, quiet man who -loved his fellowmen and who found his greatest joy in serving others, -manage to divert all of these people out of the crooked channels in -which they had lived and into the right path toward happiness. Love, -discovering to them these higher possible selves, transformed them. THIS -IS LOVE'S WAY. - -Love tames the fiercest animals. How quickly their wild, ferocious -expression is replaced by a milder, softer, more gentle one under the -kindly treatment of one who really loves them, one who looks upon them -as did St. Francis, as his "little dumb brothers and sisters." The brute -nature is gradually softened and distrust gives way to confidence. The -suspicious look is replaced by a trustful one. Affection takes the place -of dislike and fear; love goes out to meet love. Is there any more -beautiful illustration in Nature of the influence of love and kindly -treatment than the evolution of our pet dogs from the ferocious wolf? -Note the gentle, peaceful face of a cow or a horse which has been -brought up as a family pet. Such animals would not step on or injure a -child any more than we would ourselves. We love and trust them and they -love and trust us in return. Love begets love. - -Some people mistake selfishness or self-love for real love. Everywhere -we see the sort of base substitute which says, "If you do this for me -I'll do that for you." The woman that says to a man, in her heart, if -not with her lips, "If you'll support me and give me a home, I'll love -you," does not love. This is selfishness. A great many people confuse -love of the thing given with love of the giver. They mistake the love of -their own comforts, of a good time, of dress and luxuries, for love of -the person who supplies them with these things. This is a mere travesty -of the genuine thing. Love simply loves and asks nothing in return. -There is no self in it. Abuse, bitterness, indifference, ingratitude do -not change or destroy love. It simply loves on. And no love is ever -lost, whether it is returned or not. Genuine love is a force that -always wins out. Even if it is not reciprocated it wins by chastening, -softening, elevating, beautifying and enriching the life of the one who -loves. THIS IS LOVE'S WAY. - -What mothers endure for many years for their children would kill them or -drive them to an insane asylum in half the time but for love. This is -the healing balm that cures all hurts, lightens all burdens, that takes -the drudgery out of service. It is love alone that enables the poor -mother to risk her life for her child, to go through terrible -experiences in her struggles with poverty and sickness to rear her -children. A burden half as great which had no love in it would crush the -life out of her. But love lightens the load, takes the sting out of -poverty, the pain out of sacrifice. - -The same thing is true of the loving father, though his burden in the -nature of things is rarely as heavy as the mother's. But he is often -virtually a slave for half a lifetime or more for those he loves, and if -he is a real man he does not complain. Love lightens the burden and -cheers the way. Where the heart is, there the burden is light. - -"A new commandment give I unto you, that ye love one another; as I have -loved you love ye also one another." - -In the literal fulfilling of this commandment lies the salvation of the -world. Among the many noble souls of our own time who have tried to live -in accordance with it, one of the most conspicuous was Count Leo -Tolstoy. In one of his own beautiful stories Tolstoy shows how every -one, no matter what his station or how poor his circumstances, may do -this, by following the Master's example in treating every human being as -we would a loved member of our own family. - -A very devout Russian peasant, so runs the story, had prayed for years -that the Master might sometime come to his humble cabin home. One night -he had a vision in which the Master appeared to him, and told him He -would come to his cabin next day. - -Filled with joy, the peasant awoke. So real seemed his vision that he -arose and immediately went to work putting his cabin to rights and -preparing for the expected heavenly guest. - -A terrible storm of sleet and snow raged throughout the day. While -performing his simple household duties, heaping fresh logs in his crude -fireplace, preparing his pot of cabbage soup, the Russian peasant's -daily dish, the man would look out into the storm with anxious, -expectant eyes. Presently he saw a poor half-frozen peddler with a pack -on his back struggling toward the light, but almost overcome by the -fierce blasts of snow and sleet that beat upon him. The peasant rushed -out and brought the wayfarer into his cabin. He dried his clothing, -warmed him, fed him some of the cabbage soup, and started him on his way -again, comforted and rejoicing. - -In a little while he saw another traveler, a poor old woman, trying -feebly to beat her way against the blinding snow. Her also the -compassionate peasant took into his cabin. He warmed and fed her, -wrapped his own coat about her, and, strengthened and encouraged, sent -her too on her way. - -The day wore slowly away and darkness approached, but still no sign of -the Master. Hoping against hope, the man went once again to his cabin -door, and looking out into the storm he saw a little child, who was -utterly unable to make its way against the blinding sleet and ice. He -took the half-frozen child in his arms, brought it into the cabin, -warmed and fed it, and soon the little wanderer fell asleep before the -fire. - -Sorely disappointed because the Master had not appeared, the peasant sat -gazing into the fire, and as he gazed he fell asleep. Suddenly the room -was radiant with a light that did not come from the fire, and there -stood the Master, white-robed, and serene, looking upon him with a -smile. "Ah, Master, I have waited and watched all this long day, but -thou didst not come." The Master replied, "Three times have I visited -thy cabin to-day. The poor peddler whom thou rescued, warmed and fed, -that was I; the poor woman to whom thou gavest thy coat, that was I; and -this little child whom thou hast saved from the tempest, that is I. -Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these, you have done it -unto me." - -The Christ vision faded. The peasant awoke. He was alone with the child, -who was smiling in its sleep. But he knew that the Master had visited -his cabin. - - "The love of God! _The love of God!_" I said,-- - And at the words through all my being went - A sudden shudder of light; the firmament - Not otherwise seems riven by the red - Jagg'd lightning-flash that quivers overhead - When for an instant heaven and earth are blent. - So for a dazzling space my heart was rent, - And I beheld--beheld--but all had fled. - - Had fled! nor has returned; yet on my way - Along the pave or through the clanging mart, - Sometimes a stranger's eye falls full on mine; - "You too?" We have no speech, we make no sign, - But something seems to pass from heart to heart, - And I am full of gladness all that day. - - C. A. PRICE in _Scribner's Magazine_. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -WHERE YOUR SUPPLY IS - - He who dares assert the I, - May calmly wait - While hurrying fate - Meets his demand with sure supply. - HELEN WILMANS. - - Never affirm, or think about yourself, your prospects, your - career, or your happiness what you do not wish to come true. - - Every child should be taught to expect success and happiness, to - believe that the good things of the world are intended for him. - - We never can get more out of ourselves than we expect. If we - expect large things, demand them; if we hold the large mental - attitude toward our work, toward life, we shall get much greater - results than if we depreciate ourselves, and look for only little - things. - - -That man who dares not "assert the I" with undaunted assurance, with the -conscious vigor and determination of one who believes in his divinity, -will never do great things, because he will never make the demand that -will draw a "sure supply." - -Before one can hope to win out in any undertaking he must be able to -say "I" positively, with the force of conviction. He must polarize his -mind to the positive attitude. This is the attitude that creates, that -produces results in the world of matter as well as in the realm of -spirit. - -The positive man is forceful because he has faith in himself. He forms -his opinions without the aid of others and is not afraid to stand for -what he thinks. He does not hesitate to differ with others. He is not a -"mush of concession," like the negative weakling who subscribes to what -everyone he meets says, thinks or believes. He makes statements with -positiveness, without hesitation. - -The Bible would never have gained such a dominating place in the life of -the race had it referred to authorities to substantiate its statements; -had it tried to prove its doctrines. Much of its supremacy has come from -its tremendous positiveness, its vigorous affirmation of facts. - -You will find nothing negative or wishy-washy in the Great Book. Its -assertions are imperious, positive, dogmatic. It is one perpetual -hammering, driving home of truths, of great fundamental facts. The -Biblical writers speak with assurance and authority because of their -profound conviction of the truths they utter. They do not argue or -plead. They affirm. There is no appeal. As has been well said of the -Bible, "It never appeals to readers for confirmation. It states. Every -line breathes dominance, superiority and confidence." - -We find the same imperious dominant qualities, the same positiveness in -great leaders of men. They deal in affirmations. They throw themselves -with intense conviction into whatever they attempt. They continually, -both mentally and vocally, assert their power to do it, and--the result -is a natural corollary; they succeed in what they attempt. - -The difference between the positive and the negative mind, the man who -can "assert the I" with vigor and the man who cannot, is the difference -between success and failure. - -The positive man keys his life to the "I can" note, the negative man to -the "I can't." - -The positive man denies the limitations of environment, of resources, of -opportunities. He not only believes but _knows_ that infinite bounty -surrounds him, and that he can make it his own. - -The negative man, on the other hand, will not fight against environment, -no matter how hard it may be, but will yield to it without a struggle. -He sees limitations and difficulties everywhere. To him obstacles are -insurmountable. - -But for the positive, dominant qualities in man we would still be living -in caves and eating our food raw. It is the positive, forceful man that -overcomes. Obstacles do not frighten, or turn him from his purpose. They -are to him but the apparatus in the gymnasium, which give him additional -strength and reinforce his determination to achieve. He knows that he -can command infinite supply, that the great forces of the universe are -working for him, and that he has only to direct them. He knows that it -is his birthright to conquer; that the Creator put him here for that -very purpose--to overcome, to grow, to ascend, to be godlike. - -Every one has sufficient positive power to guide and direct his own life -if he will only use and develop that power. If he does not use he will -lose. If you do not think and act for yourself, if you do not assert -yourself and push your own way, the forces about you will take command -and push you. And remember this: _When you are pushed you go down-hill_; -_when you push yourself you go up-hill._ Every one is either pusher or -pushed in this world. Even the kingdom of heaven is taken by violence. -He who would attain it must be aggressive for truth. No namby-pamby -weakling who is afraid to stand on his own feet and fight for the right -can get there. - -If you ever expect to do anything to justify your existence, quit -looking for some outside agent which will move your life train. Your -power is coiled up right inside of you. There is where your engine is. -The name of that engine is _I_. Use the great force at your command. Get -up steam and forge ahead. You will never get very far by any other -means. You are only losing time in trying to get any power outside of -yourself, in pulls or influence, to move you forward. When the Creator -made you a co-partner in His work, He put inside of you all the -machinery necessary for the part you were to play. Claim what He -intended for you. Develop and use your machinery, and no power on earth -can hold you back from the goal you set for yourself. - -Say to yourself, "It is my duty to make good, to obey that inner urge, -that ambition prod which ever bids me up and on. I am resolved never -again to allow anything to interfere with the free and untrammeled -exercise of my physical and mental faculties. I will unfold all the -possibilities that the Creator has infolded in the ego, the I of me. -There is no lost day in God's calendar, no allowance for waste, and I am -determined henceforth to make the most of the stuff that has been given -me, to play the part of a son of Omnipotence." - -As a matter of fact, every day has a splendid possible prize awaiting -every human being, a prize which no money can buy. It can be obtained -only at the price of splendid effort and self-assertion. We are too -timid, too fearful of results even to attempt what we long to do. And we -are too easy with ourselves, too willing to drift with the tide of our -moods. Every man who has ever achieved grandly has been a stern -schoolmaster to himself. He has incessantly affirmed his ideal and held -himself unwaveringly to its realization. - -By cultivating the positive we drive out the negative. This is a -psychological law. It is to "empty by filling." Affirmation is always -more potent than negation. - -Prof. Halleck says "By restraining of an emotion, we can frequently -throttle it; by inducing an expression, we can often cause its allied -emotions." - -Prof. Wm. James makes a similar statement. "Refuse to express a -passion," he says, "and it dies. Count ten before venting your anger and -its occasion seems ridiculous. Whistling to keep up courage is no mere -figure of speech. On the other hand, sit all day in a moping posture, -sigh, and reply to everything with a dismal voice, and your melancholy -lingers. There is no more valuable precept in moral education than this, -as all of us who have experienced know. If we wish to conquer -undesirable emotional tendencies in ourselves we must assiduously, and -in the first instance cold-bloodedly, go through the outward movements -of those contrary dispositions which we wish to cultivate. Smooth the -brow, brighten the eye, contract the dorsal rather than the ventral -aspect of the frame, and speak in a major key, pass the genial -compliment and your heart must indeed be frigid if it does not gradually -thaw." - -Few of us realize the tremendous force there is in the vigorous -incessant affirmation of conditions which we long to establish. United -with the visualizing of the man or woman we yearn to be or the thing we -are determined to achieve, it becomes an irresistible power in shaping -events. Act the part, affirm the possession, the assured realization of -the thing desired, and it will tend to materialize. This is a -fundamental law of creation. - -What is called auto-suggestion, or self-suggestion, is one of the most -active agencies employed in mind building. We can literally make our -minds, thought by thought, as we can our bodies, fiber by fiber, through -vigorous affirmation. - -There is a mysterious power in the spoken word which gets a greater hold -upon us than simply passing the same word through the mind or looking at -it on the printed page. The vocal expression of a thought makes a -greater impression upon the memory and especially influences the -subconscious mind. It works like a leaven in the whole nature, putting -agents in motion that establish a connection between us and our desires, -the objects for which we are working. The persistent affirmation of our -ability to do that which we have undertaken in a superb, kingly fashion, -is a great stimulus, a positive, creative force. - -There is nothing more helpful in building a strong positive character -than bracing yourself up by searching, heart to heart talks with -yourself. In this way, better perhaps than in any other, you can take -stock of your mental assets and improve yourself all along the line. - -If you are timid, for instance, or even feel that you are something of a -coward, stoutly deny it. Insist that you are no shirker, no coward, that -you are brave even to daring. Boldly assume the quality of a hero, -vehemently affirm that you actually possess invincible courage, and you -will be surprised at your immediate increase of strength and -positiveness. Deny that you have any weakness, defect or deficiency -which can handicap your career. Insist upon affirming the opposite -quality, the winning quality. - -If you lack decision, if you are a waverer, a vacillator, if you are a -putter-off of things, if procrastination runs in your blood, -persistently affirm that you possess the opposite qualities. At the same -time resolve that you are going not only to play the heroic part in -life, that you are not only going to begin work upon the duty awaiting -you, but that you are going to put it through, that you are going to do -things, and that you will never again allow yourself to waver, to -procrastinate in the smallest matter, even if you do make mistakes now -and then. Better make a mistake and forge ahead than to remain negative -and inactive. - -The habit of vigorous affirmation is the habit of victory. But remember -that action must follow on the heels of resolution or you will never go -any farther. Affirmation and resolution without prompt endeavor for -realization are worse than useless. It is the man of action, of -continued and repeated action, the man who never acknowledges defeat who -ultimately wins out. - -During our Civil War the Southern generals said it didn't do any good to -beat Grant, because he never knew when he was beaten and, consequently, -wouldn't stay beaten. - -Men who leave their mark on the world are men of iron resolution, of -grim determination. If youth were only taught at home and in school the -power of an inflexible resolve, an inexorable affirmation of the thing -they are determined to accomplish; if they were only taught the -invincibleness of an unshakable will, of the positive victorious mental -attitude, of a resolve which knows no defeat, life would not be half so -hard. - -"Nerve us with incessant affirmatives. Don't bark against the bad, but -chant the beauties of the good." The positive, creative, affirmative -elements are our friends. They draw us our sure supply. All negatives -are our enemies. They drive away supply. Affirm the good, never the bad; -the bright, never the dark; the true, and never the false; harmony, -never discord. We should never forget that whatever tends to optimism is -ready to "give us a lift." - -The first step toward a happy, successful life is to get control of the -supply that is ready to flow in answer to our demand. This you can do by -forming the habit of affirming that the best will come to you, that only -the things that are good for you can come into your life. Don't let -yourself slip into the foolish habit of anticipating trouble, -misfortune, sickness, disaster, accidents. To anticipate or expect such -things is to affirm their reality and draw them to you. The habit of -anticipating them will get them into the habit of "arriving." You will -thus be drawn into a current of circumstance corresponding to the -character of your negative thought. - -Put yourself into a positive, success and happiness attitude the first -thing every morning by taking time, even if only a few minutes, to -commune with the Creator. Get into tune with the Infinite, the Source of -your strength, the moment you awake. Keep yourself in harmony with the -Principle which underlies your being during the day and your every act -will be a step forward on the desired road. - -Say to yourself constantly, "Happiness is my birthright. I was made to -exult in life, not to go about with a long, sad, dejected face as though -it had been a bitter disappointment, as though I were a misfit in the -world. I was made to radiate joy and gladness and to go through life as -a conqueror. If I am indeed a child of the Creator (and I know that I -am), it is a positive insult to Him to go through the world as though I -were a beggar, a slave. I bear the image of the King of kings, and it is -my business to make all men see the likeness. It is my duty to prove my -divine heritage by radiating royal manhood." - -I know of no practice which will do more for one's growth and -life-enlargement than the habit of rising above one's moods and -discouragements through perpetual affirmation of one's divinity. If, for -example, you get up in the morning feeling negative, blue and -discouraged; if you don't feel like working at anything, just go off -alone and have a good heart to heart talk with yourself something like -this: "Now, look here, young man (or young woman), none of this: you are -going to do a grand day's work to-day; you are going to get right out of -this condition; you have had enough of it. If you are a real man (or -woman) you will rise above your mood and wring victory out of this day, -even though it looks so unpromising. - -"It does not matter what comes or what goes, what happens or what does -not happen, there is one thing I am sure of, and that is, I am going to -be positive, creative, to get the most possible out of to-day; I am not -going to allow anything to rob me of my happiness, or of my right to -_live this day through from beginning to end_, and not merely to exist. - -"I do not care what comes, I shall not allow any annoyance, any -happening, any circumstance which may cross my path to rob me of my -power and peace of mind. I will not be unhappy to-day, no matter what -occurs. I am going to enjoy it to its fullest capacity. This shall be a -complete day in my life. I shall not allow the enemies of my happiness -to mar it. No misfortune in the past, nothing which has happened to me -in days gone by, which has been disagreeable or tragic, no enemies of my -efficiency, shall be guests in my spirit's sacred enclosure to-day. Only -happy thoughts, joy thoughts, friend thoughts shall find entertainment -in my soul this day. No negative thoughts, none of my enemies shall gain -admittance to scrawl their hideous autographs on the walls of my mind. -There shall be '_no admittance_' to-day, except to the friends of my -best moods. I will tear down all black, sable pictures and hang in their -place pictures of joy and gladness, of things which will encourage, -cheer, and increase my power. Everything which ever handicapped my life, -which has made me uncomfortable and unhappy, shall be expelled from my -mental kingdom this day and every coming day." - -If you make a resolve like this every morning and live up to it during -the day, you cannot help being positive, productive, creative. - -The positive mind repels all thought enemies that would hinder progress. -Doubt, fear, despair, worry, these have no place in the creative brain. -They are products of the negative mind. The man who would bend -circumstances to his will can not afford to harbor them. - -Hold negative, despondent, discouraged thoughts and your surroundings -will be negative, unpropitious. Hold positive, confident, hopeful, -cheerful thoughts and a congenial environment will manifest itself. - -It is wonderful what right thinking can accomplish even in a naturally -weak, negative mind. The insistent and persistent holding of the -positive thought, the assurance thought, the self-confidence, the -self-faith thought; the determined effort to think and act for oneself, -to direct one's own forces will gradually change a negative -non-productive mentality into a positive, creative one. - -I have known very timid, sensitive people who scarcely dared to say -their souls were their own before others, to so cure their habit of -self-effacement and so strengthen their weak self-confidence by constant -audible affirmation of their own strength, that in a very few months -they had largely overcome this weakness. - -Fear is negative; courage is positive, affirmative. If we would make our -lives effective, we must root out all of the things which keep us in -discord, all negative elements, and give ourselves over to the power of -affirmation. - -Many a person has ruined his life effort by depreciating it and sending -out to those about him the negative vibration of his inferiority. We -radiate our faith, our confidence in ourselves or our doubts, and -distrust. Others catch the contagion of our opinion of ourselves. - -Whatever you do, don't set up in your own mind and in that of others a -picture of yourself as a weak, ineffective, negative personality. -People do not realize the harm they do by making uncomplimentary and -unfavorable remarks about themselves. It does not matter what it may be, -the assertion of anything unfavorable to us or unlike what we wish to be -is injurious. How often we hear men and women say: "I never can remember -anything. I am always forgetting umbrellas and packages. I never can -remember names or faces," and similar negative, depreciatory remarks. It -never occurs to them that by making such statements as these they are -strengthening their defects. They are not aware that by impressing these -unfortunate images of themselves upon their mental mirror they are -seriously injuring their self-confidence, their ultimate chance of being -what they would like to be or of getting what they desire. - -The character of civilization would be radically changed in a short time -if parents were to teach their children the wonderful, strengthening, -character-building power in the habit of affirmation. If boys and girls -were impressed with the truth that the constant affirming of the good, -the beautiful and the true, the insistent holding of the ideal of -themselves as they would like to be, is a real creative force that tends -to actualize what they long for many of the problems of the race would -be solved. - -As a matter of fact the worst enemy, as well as the best friend, any -human being ever has is inside of him. The very mental attitude of the -majority of people is utterly antagonistic to their advancement. - -A really brainy professional man whom I meet quite often is a striking -example of the baneful effects of the negative self-depreciatory -thought. He wanted to do something big in his line, but he has had only -mediocre success, and in consequence has so soured on life that he seems -to have lost the power to enjoy himself. The truth is, the early -contracted habit of self-castigation and unfavorable comparison with -others who were more fortunate at the start has stayed by him through -the years and practically disqualified his mind for real enjoyment or -for making the most of his talents. - -Another negative character of this type is a man in commercial life who -is forever recalling his lack of opportunities. He never tires of -referring to the fact that he was handicapped at his very birth by a -slovenly slipshod father, and that all through life he has been placed -at a great disadvantage compared with other men. He believes, and -constantly affirms that he is unlucky, that he has never been at the -right spot at the right time, that no matter how hard he works he feels -a mysterious something holding him back. - -Some malignant fate, or destiny, he complains, is always tripping him -up, thwarting his most strenuous efforts, overturning his best laid -plans. Through its machinations, although he has worked harder than -anybody else he knows, he and his family have remained in poverty, while -his associates have become prosperous. - -The cause of this man's failure is not far to seek. It is plain that he -started wrong and has been going wrong ever since. He has been talking -failure all his life, affirming hard times, poverty, ill luck, and -disappointment. He has been sowing thistles and all sorts of ill weeds -in his garden and yet he wonders why his harvests have been so stingy, -so blighted and over-shadowed by weeds. - -Affirmations, acts, motives, ambitions, mental attitudes are the seeds -sown in human gardens. Their character determines what our harvests -shall be. Our future reaping depends entirely on our past sowing. What -we are enjoying or suffering to-day is the result of yesterday's sowing. -We are reaping weeds, thistles, thorns, or beautiful flowers and -luscious fruit, according to the seeds we have sown. - -The only soil in which our good seed thoughts will flourish is that of -mental harmony. In this fruitful ground lies the secret of all -efficiency and happiness. To come into unity with the Author of our -being is to realize perfect mental harmony. And this is the first -requisite of an efficient life, a goal that can be reached only by the -road of constant, unfailing affirmation. - -When you long for something that it is perfectly legitimate for you to -have, sow your affirmation seed in perfect confidence that it will bloom -in reality. Say to yourself, "Our Father-Mother-God is no respecter of -persons. He is not partial in his treatment of His children. They all -have the same rights, the same privileges. He will give me through my -own effort what I need, what I ask for. The poorest, most ragged wretch -that crawls has just as many hours in his day as has the ermined king. I -can and I will do what I long to do. I will be what I desire to be." -Affirm this again and again to yourself. Do not wait for an opportunity, -make your opportunity. The power of affirmation will work miracles for -you. - -Most people seem to think that if they were only in an ideal -environment, without worry or anxiety regarding the living-getting -problem, if they were free from pain and in vigorous health, they would -then be perfectly happy. But, as a matter of fact, we are not half so -dependent for happiness upon environment, upon circumstances, as we -imagine we are. False ambition, envy and jealousy are responsible for -much of our uneasiness, our restlessness and discontent. Our minds are -so intent upon what other people have and are doing that we do not get a -tithe of the enjoyment and satisfaction out of our own work, out of our -own possessions, that they should afford us. We think so much about -what others have and spend so much time wondering why we cannot have -similar things that we do not see the beauty, loveliness and sweetness -in our own environment. We question and envy when we should affirm and -realize. We neglect the most potent means within our grasp--the -miracle-working power of affirmation. The supply will come in answer to -our demand. - -Every one of us has an inalienable right to be comfortable, prosperous, -free from anxiety,--in short to be happy. Man was not intended to be a -worrying machine. The fundamental principle of the human constitution is -based on harmony and, when we are in harmonious relations with the -universe, we attain the maximum of efficiency, of power, of usefulness -to the world. It is then we get the maximum of enjoyment and happiness -out of life. Is it not worth while to get into such relations? Is it not -foolish to remain in discord when by the simple process of affirmation, -linked with divine faith and effort, we can transform ourselves and our -environment? - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -THE TRIUMPH OF HEALTH IDEALS - - "What is the body after all but the spirit breaking through the - flesh, or health but beauty in the organism?" - - Every good emotion makes a health and life promoting change in the - body. Every thought is registered in the brain by a physical - change more or less permanent in the tissue cells. - - The coming man will find it as easy to counteract an unfriendly, - vicious thought by turning on the counter thought to neutralize - it, as to rob the hot water of its burning power by turning on the - cold water faucet. - - There is a divine something in man which never was sick and never - can be, that divine self, the image of the Creator, perfect, - unchangeable, indestructible, immortal, and which some time and - somewhere must drive out all trace of sin, disease and death in - mankind. - HUFELAND. - - -Even those who do not believe in Christian Science as a whole must be -impressed with the Scientists' wonderful religious optimism. Their -inspiring mental attitude, the hopeful way in which they face life, -always looking toward the light, toward health, toward prosperity, -toward success, and turning their backs upon the darkness, upon -everything which can mar their health, their efficiency, their -happiness, is creating a new world for thousands of discouraged souls. - -Christian Scientists insist that since God has created everything that -is, and since He is perfect, is all-in-all, He could not possibly create -anything unlike Himself, such as disease, or anything else which is not -good for His children. God is harmony, they reason, and He could not -create discord. He is truth and He could not create error. God is love -and He could not create the opposite of love,--hatred, jealousy, envy, -selfishness, any evil emotion or passion. Hence all disease, all -discord, all the enemies of the race, all Satanic influences in the -world must be accounted for in some other way than as decrees of His -will, for Perfection could not have produced these imperfections. Love -could not create anything antagonistic to itself. - -Scientists take a positive and vigorous stand against the admission to -their mind of any of the enemies of their health, their prosperity, -their happiness or their destiny. Not only is all thought of failure -and poverty banished, but they close the portals of their mind against -fear, worry and anxiety, against the ravages of jealousy, the poison of -hatred, envy, and selfishness. They try to keep their mental realm clear -of all black, forbidding pictures, of all sorts of distressing emotions -and unfriendly thoughts, while they open it wide to the things which -help, inspire and bring hope, the friend thoughts and emotions,--joy, -gladness, love, truth, and divine inspiration. - -They believe that all human beings were not only made to be healthy but -also to be happy, successful, prosperous. They regard poverty, no less -than illness, as a mental disease, to be treated in the same manner as -bodily disease; and this cheerful religious optimism which they try -steadily to maintain is not alone a healing force, but is also a great -disease-resisting power. - -Health, wholeness, is one of the most important and necessary factors -for the attainment of those things which every normal human being -desires,--peace, power, plenty, success and happiness. The Scientists' -religious optimism is a potent force for placing the mind in the most -favorable condition for the attainment of all these things. It removes -all hindrances to full, complete self-expression. - -It is just as necessary to hold the victorious attitude toward health as -it is to hold the victorious attitude toward our career and everything -which affects it. It is just as necessary to get rid of our doubts and -fears regarding our physical well-being, as it is to get rid of our -doubts and fears regarding our ability to succeed. - -If we would be strong and vigorous it is quite as important to visualize -health, to hold the health ideal, to keep the perfect health picture -constantly in the mind, as it is to keep the prosperity, the success -ideal in the mind when we are striving for an independence. - -The habit of always holding a high ideal of our health, of thinking of -ourselves as well, vigorous, physically and mentally perfect, will go -very far toward building up a strong disease-resisting barrier between -ourselves and all our health enemies. On the other hand, people who -never think of themselves as whole, healthy, active and robust, but who -constantly hold in mind a picture of themselves as weak, ailing, -without vim or stamina, with little or no disease-resisting power, are -liable at any time to become victims of disease. The building up of a -strong health thought barrier, a vigorous health conviction between -ourselves and disease is the best sort of health insurance. Fearing -disease, thinking ill health, visualizing physical suffering, is the -surest way of attracting those things. - -Physicians know that the awful incubus of doubt and worry in the minds -of patients, the fear that their disease may be fatal, is the greatest -obstacle to their recovery. We head toward our doubts, our fears, our -convictions regarding our health, just as we do toward our doubts, fears -and convictions regarding other things. If we are convinced that we are -not going to be strong, rugged, virile, if we fear that we are likely to -develop inherited weaknesses and disease tendencies, we are headed -toward these conditions, and will probably realize them. On the -contrary, if we hold the victorious attitude toward health, if we -visualize the health ideal, the health conviction, we head mentally -toward health, and what we head toward mentally is the pattern of that -which is continually being built into our life structure. - -A healthy body is healthy thought externalized. - -Man's normal condition is that of robust health, vigorous vitality, -tremendous power of endurance. The Creator evidently intended the human -machine to run harmoniously, without friction, without weakness or -disability of any kind. - -The created is a part of the Creator, an indestructible part of Him. -When we rise to a full consciousness of this we shall be victors over -disease instead of victims of it; we shall be conquerors instead of -slaves of conditions. - -Nearly a century ago a celebrated German physician said that there is -something in man which was never born, is never sick and never dies, and -that it is this something, this omnipotent force within which in reality -heals our diseases. No matter what we may call it, this something that -repairs and renews is one with the Force that creates us. We may name it -variously the God principle, the Christ within us, the divine principle, -the omnipotent force or anything else we please; the name does not -matter. All mean the same thing, that is, the creative, the -all-sustaining Force that holds the universe in harmony. - -There is something in you that is lord over your physical organs. There -is a power in you, back of the flesh, but not of it, which dominates the -flesh, and that is the real you. Your partner in that power is the -Intelligence that created you. You are indissolubly interlinked with -that Intelligence. You can no more be wiped out of existence than the -Creator who made you, because you are an immortal expression of Himself. -You are His masterpiece, and His work must partake of His qualities, of -His perfection, of His omnipotence, of His omniscience. - -The trouble with us is we do not rise to the power and dignity of our -divinity. We do not half believe we are divine. We have a sort of vague -theory that we are mere puppets, thrown off as separate units into -space, without any vital connection with the Power that gave us life. -This false theory is the cause of our sufferings. - -The reason why we are such shriveled, scrub oaks of human beings is -found in the dried-up, mean, stingy ideal of ourselves which we have -been taught to hold. We have been reared to think of ourselves as "poor -miserable worms of the dust," unworthy to come into the presence of our -Father-Mother-God, even though we are fashioned in His image. Instead of -carrying through life an ideal of our mental and physical perfection, we -carry an ideal of a defective, diseased, physically and mentally -imperfect, being. The mind being the molder of the body, the life-giving -processes within us build the sort of body that answers to the model in -the mind, the ideal which we hold of ourselves. What we really believe -ourselves to be, we tend to become. We keep our minds filled with all -sorts of discordant, sick pictures, and of course all of these mental -images reappear in the body, react upon the life. - -On the other hand, every time we affirm that we are one with the -creative Force of the universe, that nothing can separate us from our -oneness with the One, we tend to build our bodies into the ideal state -of perfect health,--mental, physical, and moral wholeness. If we could -hold continually the ideal of our wholeness, and visualize ourselves as -perfect beings "even as He is perfect," and constantly try to live up -to our ideal, any tendency to imperfection, to discord, to disease would -be eliminated. - -We are only just beginning to realize the tremendous import of the idea -that we really fashion our bodies to correspond with our thoughts, that -we are co-creators of ourselves with the Divine Power which is back of -the flesh, but not of it. - -A prominent surgeon in speaking of infantile paralysis says that the -physician's mental attitude toward it has a great deal to do with its -cure, and that he should hold firmly in mind the idea that the disease -is curable. - -Every physician should also be a metaphysician. He should be a profound -believer in the principle that the Power which created the patient can -re-create him, can repair damages, restore diseased or lost tissues. The -most advanced physicians do believe that at best they can but help -Nature in her healing processes. They realize that the same Power which -created the patient is present in the healing of every wound, every -broken bone and every hurt we suffer. The surgeon sets the bone, -dresses the wound, but the same Power that first created the flesh and -bone must do the healing. - -The mental healer vigorously denies the reality of disease in the sense -that truth is a reality. To him "all is Infinite Mind, and its infinite -manifestation," as Mrs. Eddy says, and therefore all must be good. Only -the good can be real as God made all that is. - -The persistent denial that anything could exist which the Creator did -not create, and that He could make anything unlike Himself, is one of -the fundamental principles of the Christian Science faith. To the healer -health is a vital, immortal principle, the everlasting fact, and -disease, although it seems painfully real to the sufferer, is but a -false belief. - -The healer holds in mind only what he desires to establish in his -patient's mind. He shuts out everything else. Health is what he wishes -to establish, and to do this he holds insistently and tenaciously the -health ideal. He refuses to see the sick, diseased man or woman, and -persists in visualizing the ideal one that God intended. To him the -defective, deficient, suffering being which disease and physical -discord have made is not the real man or woman. That being is only a -travesty of the ideal, perfect creature the Creator planned. - -He does not allow himself to think of, or to picture disease symptoms. -To visualize the physical appearance of disease would be to acknowledge -its reality, and this would be to defeat his healing. He could not, for -example, cure cancer or tuberculosis while mentally picturing the -horrible symptoms of these diseases. He wishes to keep all such things -out of his mind because of their baleful suggestiveness. Visualizing -them would merely etch their reality deeper and deeper in his -consciousness, and the suggestion would be conveyed into the patient's -consciousness. - -The mental healer's aim is to produce in the mind of the person he is -treating a consciousness of the scientific reality of health, and of the -unreality of disease. It does not matter how the disease symptoms may -contradict this principle, or how loudly pain may scream for -recognition, he persists in considering disease unreal and in holding -the scientific sense of health as the reality. He relies wholly upon -Divine Mind as the great healing potency, and steadily affirms his -patient's oneness with his Divine Source, and that disease cannot exist -in the Divine Presence. - -At the very outset he encourages his patient by affirming that, however -real his physical discord or disease may seem to him, it cannot affect -the God image in him, because that is perfect, as God Himself is -perfect, and that in reality there can be no disease. Truth and harmony, -he asserts, are the great facts of life. Error is not a reality, but -merely the absence of truth; discord is not a reality, but merely the -absence of harmony. He assures him that He is God's child, and that -God's image cannot be sick, distressed or diseased. "Of course," he -says, "this seems very real to you, painfully real, but it is not -reality in the sense that truth is a reality." This is discord, the -absence of harmony, and divine harmony will antidote all discord just as -truth will neutralize error, and as love will neutralize all hatred, -jealousy or revenge, or as confidence, self-assurance will neutralize -fear, doubt, or self-depreciation. - -The healer holds continually the healing suggestions, and concentrates -on arousing in his patient expectancy of relief by bracing his hope, -confidence, assurance and faith in Divine Mind that restores, renews and -heals. He tries to stimulate and to put into active operation the -healing potencies latent in him, to awaken in his mind the lost divine -image, and to impress upon him the idea that this divine image cannot -possibly be dominated or in any way affected by disease. - -I have seen a chemist pour a few drops of liquid from different -crucibles into a jar of muddy water and in a few minutes the mud would -disappear and the water be as pure as crystal. This is in effect what -the mental healer does in treating a patient. No matter what the disease -is his great remedy lies in mental chemistry, in neutralizing, -destroying the error with its natural antidote. - -The healer's constant affirmation that there can be no sickness, no -disease in God's image in man, is a powerful suggestion which tends to -weaken the grip of error in his patient's body. The very shutting out of -all fear, of the terror of disease and death, is a great step towards a -cure, because these things are depressing to all the bodily functions. -Everything that discourages, that makes the patient despondent, is a -great devitalizer, and constantly lowers his disease-resisting power. - -The arousing of the belief that the healer is a sort of motorman who -puts up the patient's dropped trolley pole, thus making connection with -the wire carrying infinite power; or that he is a wireless operator who -is connecting him with his Divine Source, the source of health and -happiness, and that he is actually receiving the flow of divine force, -of peace, of immortal life, is of itself a tremendous healing agency. - -When he has succeeded in establishing in the mind of his patient the -vigorous conviction that health is the everlasting principle, the great -fundamental inviolable fact, the healer has gone far toward establishing -a scientific consciousness of health, and has laid a most important -health foundation. - -After a little practice a sick person can do wonderful things for -himself through the vitalizing force of auto-suggestion. He can be his -own physician. He can recover health and keep it by applying to himself -the same principles that the healer applies to his patient. In this way -he can keep himself in conscious union with the Divine Source of all -supply, of all good, all health. - -There are sufficient latent potencies in every human being, if he would -only arouse and make them operative, to keep him in health and harmony. -We can all be our own healers if we will. - -The stream must be as pure as its fountain head unless contaminated -later, and there is where we humans come in. We contaminate the health -stream with our thought poisons. Our doubts, our fears, our unbeliefs, -our brutal passions, our selfishness, our greed, our hatreds, our -jealousies, our revenge, our ingratitude for life, for the blessings we -enjoy,--all of these things tend to pollute the stream which we receive -pure as it flows from the crystal fountain, the divine source of the All -Good. - -But the practice of divine chemistry will enable us to clear up our -muddy life streams. We have in ourselves the remedies which will -neutralize the vicious poisons we have allowed to flow into and befoul -our life stream. We can by the right use of our powers purify it as the -chemist purified the jar of muddy water. By right thinking we can -neutralize the poison sewage of our bodies, just as chemists can take -the foul sewage water which flows out from a city and by the help of -chemicals neutralize all the filth, making it absolutely pure again. By -applying their antidotes we can neutralize the poisons of disease, the -results of wrong thinking and living, which sap and embitter our lives, -which make us suffer from all sorts of ills and leave us unable to -accomplish one-tenth of what we might if we had that splendid physical -and mental vigor which is normal to humanity. - -We must offer the same uncompromising opposition to the reality of all -kinds of disease, mental and physical, that the mental healer does. We -must see ourselves as he sees his patient, in the wholeness, the -completeness, the Creator intended. It is the ideal man or woman we must -visualize, never the one weakened, deformed by horrible diseases or -their symptoms. By recognizing only the real man or woman, unaffected by -wrong thinking, we cut off the vicious effects of the mental enemies -which are fighting to perpetuate disease or other unfortunate -conditions. - -The constant holding of the health ideal, of the truth thought, the -health and prosperity thought, the optimistic thought, the kindly, -cheerful, helpful thought and the shutting out of all their opposites, -not only help to restore health, but also increase tremendously the -disease-resisting power. Right thought is a health, efficiency, and -happiness tonic. - -The vital thing in establishing health is to adopt the victorious -attitude toward it as toward every other good thing we desire. If we -wish to have abounding health (and who does not?) we must cultivate -implicit faith in health as our birthright, in the truth that, being the -children of Perfection, we must partake of the qualities of perfection, -and hence be free from the imperfection of disease or sickness. - -Without faith in our wholeness we are not, and cannot be, whole. Without -faith in the healing power of Divine chemistry no healing is possible -either by patient or healer. The patient may not always have a conscious -faith, but the healer has, and a similar faith is aroused in the patient -later, as he begins to feel the divine healing power operating and -working like a leaven in his nature. - -There is no one thing that is emphasized so much in the Bible, and -especially in Christ's teachings as faith. Every benefit, every healing -depends for its efficacy on the sufferer's faith. In all of His healing -this one condition of faith was imperative--"_According to thy faith be -it unto thee._" - -When the disciples told their Master that they could not heal certain -cases He rebuked them, and told them that they failed because of their -lack of faith. "_According to thy faith be it unto thee_," he reiterated -constantly. He recognized the great healing power of faith, and -impressed upon His followers the truth, that without it no healing was -possible. - -Every physician knows that his patient's faith in his power to cure him, -in the efficacy of the remedies he applies, are curative agencies. Faith -in medicinal remedies is what makes them effective. It is faith that -furnishes the potency of thousands of so-called remedies, which have no -intrinsic value whatever. - -We all know how the visualizing of disease and the fear of it affect the -mind in undermining the health ideal. Confidence in our health is -really its sustaining and buttressing power, for the moment we destroy -this we lessen our resisting power and invite disease. - -The image perpetually held in the conscious mind becomes indelibly -etched in the subconscious mind and the body conforms to the thought. To -attain perfect health we must hold the image of physical perfection, we -must constantly keep in mind this ideal state. We must build ourselves -thought pictures of a superb body in all its strength and wholeness; we -must relentlessly strangle every image of weakness or disease, every -sick suggestion that would blur the picture of perfect wholeness and -harmony into which we wish to grow. - -What a revolution we would make in our lives if we could only learn to -live this health ideal instead of its opposite, the disease ideal! - -Every child should be reared to _think_ health instead of disease; -should be made to realize that _health is the everlasting fact_, that -disease is not a necessary evil, and was not intended for us, that it -was not intended we should suffer. If the young mind were saturated from -infancy with health ideas and ideals it would build up a strong -disease-resisting power that would make it immune to all health -enemies. If every child were trained to believe that he was a god in the -making, that he had within him the embryo of divinity which ought to -develop into a God-like being, we should not have so many mental and -physical Lilliputians. - -One of our great health troubles lies in the fact that we have been -accustomed from childhood to lay too much emphasis on matter, on the -support of the body. As a matter of fact, the mind is everything. But -mind is not confined to the head alone. We are all mind. We think all -over. We live all over. Our sensations are the intelligent expression of -all the cells of the body. - -The body is a great coöperative institution composed of billions of -cells. Some of these cells have a higher functioning quality than -others, but they all have their appointed places. Every cell is an -important member of the body corporation and has a voice in the -government of the whole. When we are wounded or diseased, for instance, -billions of these tiny cell repairers, healers, renewers, health -builders, rush instantly to the wounded part to repair and restore the -injured tissues. - -We are all conscious that there is continually going on within us these -repairing, renewing, reinvigorating, as well as healing, processes. We -feel that there is a marvelous and beneficent intelligence ever working -miracles within us, a power which heals our wounds and cures our hurts. - -Whence comes the intelligence which governs and directs the work of -these little builders and repairers? It comes from the Within of us, for -our objective mind is comparatively passive in the process. But the -great Intelligence back of the flesh, which keeps the heart beating, the -lungs breathing, and all of the various bodily functions in activity, -never ceases working, and never leaves us for an instant. It permeates -every atom of the body, illuminating each separate cell with a -reflection of its own light. - -Scientists are making marvelous discoveries regarding the location of -the seat of intelligence,--mind. Until recently it was supposed to be -confined solely to the brain. But now we know the mind, the brain, or -the thinking part of us, extends the entire length of the spinal cord, -that there is gray brain matter everywhere in the sympathetic nervous -system. In fact recent experiments indicate selective power in the cells -all through the body. - -Regular gray matter has been found in the finger tips of deaf, dumb and -blind people, thus showing that wherever there is a need there is -intelligence. We know what marvels blind and deaf mutes perform by their -sense of touch, in distinguishing colors, even fine variations of shades -in delicate fabrics, in correctly sensing denominations of paper money -and coins, and accurately describing statues and other forms from merely -running their fingers over them. This shows that intelligence is -everywhere in the body. - -Some of our foremost scientists now believe that the cells composing -each organ form a sort of coöperative community intelligence which -presides over that particular organ. They hold that the bodily organs -have what may be termed minds of their own, and are vitally connected -with the so-called spinal column brain and the solar plexus brain, as -well as with the brain proper. This theory is borne out in fact. We know -how quickly the stomach sympathizes with the mental attitude, how it -responds to our thoughts, our emotions; also how quickly the heart, the -kidneys respond to our mental states--fear, worry, joy, anxiety, love, -hate, jealousy, whatever emotion dominates us. - -If there were not a very intimate connection between the brain and the -stomach (and the same principle applies to the heart, the kidneys and -other organs) the digestion would not be affected so seriously by our -changing moods and emotions. Inasmuch as it is so affected, is it not -reasonable to assume that the stomach cells are influenced by the -thought which you project into them? Is it not reasonable to assume that -by sending into these cells black, gloomy, discouraging pictures of -indigestion and dyspepsia you injuriously affect them? If these cells -have intelligence, and if they respond instantly to our different mental -states, as we know they do, isn't it natural that they should be -correspondingly affected by our opinion of them, by our lack of -confidence in them, our suspicion of their ability to digest our food -properly, by our constant complaining of our stomach and our miserable -digestive apparatus? - -Give a dog a bad name and you might as well kill him, is an old saying. -In the same way, impress, force home on your stomach, your heart, your -liver, or any other bodily organ the conviction that it is inefficient, -weak, good for nothing, and in addition swallow a mouthful of mental -dyspepsia with every mouthful of food, and, sooner or later, it will -accept your verdict and be just what you claim it is. - -In other words, instead of handicapping them by wrong thought, we must -give our bodily organs a fair chance to do their legitimate work. If we -expect them to act perfectly, as the Creator intended they should, we -must treat them as we would treat our children. We must by right -thinking help them to be normal instead of making them abnormal by -doubting, being suspicious of them. We must visualize them as our -co-workers, our partners, our friends, not as our enemies, our -tormentors. - -Just think of the horrible pictures of their various organs people get -from medical books, which describe minutely symptoms of diseases which -they imagine they have! Many people never visualize a normal picture of -themselves. They never think of themselves as the perfect beings God -intended them to be. What they hold constantly in mind is a picture of -an abnormal, diseased, weak, defective creature. They picture their -stomach, their liver, their kidneys, their heart in a diseased, -imperfect condition. Instead of regarding them as friends, as members of -the same family, they look on them as malicious enemies who cause them -constant suffering. "Oh," they cry out, "I've got such a miserable -stomach! I can't eat anything. Everything I eat hurts me." "My -treacherous old heart, how it pumps. I can't walk or do any of the -things I like because of it." "My liver is all upset. I seem to be out -of kilter everywhere. My kidneys are affected, my back troubles me, and -really I might as well be dead!" - -Such horrible visualizing and belittling of the hard-working bodily -organs would ruin the health of the best trained athlete. If you would -be a friend to yourself, you must be a friend of your organs, which are -so intimately and sympathetically connected with your brain-mind--the -central station of your body. You must believe in their perfection, in -their normal functioning. You must picture them trying to help you to -carry out your great life purpose instead of working at cross purposes -with you. You must have confidence in them, think of them as your -friends instead of enemies handicapping your success and ruining your -chances in life. Replace the pictures of diseased organs with their -opposites, pictures of their wholeness, their completeness, their -soundness, and you will find yourself coming into health and power. - -Assume the victorious attitude, and think of yourself as an absolutely -perfect being, divine, immortal, possessing superb health, a magnificent -physique, a vigorous constitution, a sublime mind. - -Every morning when you rise, before you go to bed at night, and whenever -you think of it during the day, stoutly affirm the fact of your -perfection physically, mentally and morally. Constantly assert mentally, -and, when alone, orally, "I am health because I am of God. God is my -life, He is the great creative Power that sustains and upholds me every -instant. This Power is perpetually re-creating me, and trying to keep me -up to the ideal, the original plan of my being when I was created. I -shall coöperate with it to-day, and every day. I shall aim to be -perfect, even as my Father." - -There is a great restorative power in the mere resolve to be well, -strong and vigorous, in affirming and tenaciously holding the perfect -ideal of ourselves which the Creator had in His plan of us. There is a -re-creative force in the realization that any departure from this ideal -means departure from God, from perfect health, from the reality of the -perfect physical, mental and moral being planned by Him. - -You will be surprised to see how this mental attitude, this visualized -physical ideal, will be reproduced in the body. - -The mind is the body builder, the great health sculptor, and we cannot -surpass our mental model. If there is a weakness or flaw in the thought -model, there will be corresponding deficiencies in the health statue. As -long as we think ill health, doubt our ability to be strong and -vigorous, as long as we hold the conviction of the presence of inherited -weaknesses and disease tendencies, look upon ourselves as victims -instead of conquerors of ill health, in short, as long as the mental -model is defective perfect health is impossible. - -Joyous, abounding health can be established just as anything else can be -established, by right thinking and right living, by thinking health -instead of disease, thinking strength instead of weakness, harmony -instead of discord, thinking true thoughts instead of error thoughts, -love thoughts instead of hatred thoughts, health thoughts, upbuilding -thoughts instead of destructive tearing down thoughts. - -A great many regular physicians now, and all soon will, show patients -how they can make use of the great healing, medicinal power of thought, -the miracle of right thinking, which unites them with the Force back of -the flesh. They will show each patient what attitudes of mind, what -affirmations and what auto-suggestions will tend to keep him in harmony; -they will teach him the healing use of suggestion. The physician of the -future will use largely for his remedies, ideas, mental attitudes, and -suggestions. - -The time will come when parents and teachers will realize the tremendous -force, the character-building power in the affirmation of health, -wholeness, completeness, harmony. They will teach children to exert this -power that will drive out discord and dispel disease. They will impress -upon the young that affirmation of perfect ideals, holding in mind the -model of a perfect man, a perfect woman, not the one marred, crippled, -shorn of strength and beauty by violation of mental law, or by vicious -living, will protect them from all assaults from without and from -within. - -If that mind was always in us which was in Christ, the mind that gives -health, peace and happiness, that perpetuates harmony, truth and beauty, -we should never know discord of any kind. Perfect health would be the -rule and not the exception, because we should never transgress the laws -of our being. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -YOU ARE HEADED TOWARD YOUR IDEAL - - Faith and the ideal still remain the most powerful levers of - progress and of happiness. JEAN FINOT. - - If we are content to unfold the life within according to the - pattern given us, we shall reach the highest end of which we are - capable. - - We tend to grow into the likeness of the things we long for most, - think about most. - - The gods we worship write their names on our faces. - EMERSON. - - -In Hawthorne's story, "The Great Stone Face," we have an impressive -illustration of the power of an ideal. One's memory holds a vivid -picture of its hero, whose mind had dwelt from childhood on the local -tradition that a man-child should be born whose face would resemble that -of the mountain profile above the little hamlet of his nativity; and -that this child would eventually become the leader and savior of the -people. So whole-heartedly did he believe the legend, so earnestly did -he long for its fulfillment, and so constantly did his eyes dwell on -the prophetic profile, that unconsciously his own features changed -until, outwardly as well as inwardly, he completely embodied the ideal -which his mind had absorbed. - -On every hand we see illustrations of the transforming power of the -ideal. It is outpictured in the faces we see in the street, in trains -and shops, in theaters and churches, wherever people congregate. - -How quickly we can select from a crowd of strangers the successful -business man. His initiative, leadership, executive ability, speak out -of his face and manner. The same is true of men in other vocations,--of -the scholar, the clergyman, the lawyer, the teacher, the doctor, the -farmer, the day laborer. Go into any institution, factory, store, or -other place of business and you can quickly detect the nature of the -ideals outpictured in the faces, in the expression, in the manner of the -people you see there. Visit Sing Sing and you will see the power of the -ideal which has worked like a leaven in its inmates. The criminal -suggestion, the criminal thought, the criminal ideal is reflected in -the faces of those who visualized crime, planned and thought out its -details long before they committed the criminal act. - -Whatever we hold in our minds, dwell upon, contemplate, whatever is -dominant in our motives, will stand out in our flesh so that the world -can read it. Many absolutely authentic cases of stigmata are recorded in -the lives of medieval saints, on whose bodies appeared an exact -reproduction of all the wounds of the crucified Christ. Some of these -cases were in convents and monasteries, and were the result of long and -intense concentration of the mind of the subject upon the physical -sufferings of Christ. Frequently the phenomena occurred after the -austerities of Lent, during which the monks and nuns had focused more -intensely and steadily upon the tortures of the Savior's passion and -death. - -If the contemplation of those tortures, the constant mental picturing of -the sufferings of the God-man, the soul's great sympathy with its ideal -could change the very tissues of the body, could reproduce on it the -actual physical marks of the cruel spear in the side, of the nails in -the hands and feet and of the thorns in the head, think of the -wonderful possibilities in the reversal of these thoughts and this -picturing. Think of what the contemplation of the wonderful work -accomplished by the Savior on earth, of the constant mental picturing of -His glorious life, of His tenderness, and love for humanity, of His -power and dignity, of His continual outpouring of Himself in service; -think of what the constant holding of such an ideal, such a model, and -the perpetual effort to realize it would do for the race! - -We tend to become like what we admire, sympathize with and persistently -hold in mind. The hero of "The Great Stone Face" became the counterpart -of his ideal. The history of Christianity is a continuous record of the -power of the ideal to raise men and women to their highest power. St. -Paul, one of the most conspicuous of these examples, is so possessed, so -enthused by the inspiration of his great model, that he cries, "I live, -not I, but Christ in me." - -"The contemplation of perfection is always uplifting." Nothing so -strengthens the mind, enlarges manhood, or womanhood, widens the -thought, as the constant effort to measure up to high ideals. The -struggle to better our best, to make our highest moments permanent, the -continual reaching of the mind to the things above and beyond, the -steady pursuit of the ideal, which constantly advances as we pursue, is -what has led the race up from savagery to twentieth century -civilization. - -A great artist was one day found by a friend in tears in his studio. -When asked the cause of his distress, he replied, "I have produced a -work with which I am satisfied, and I shall never produce another." It -is said he never did. The inspiration that had urged him on was his -ideal. That kept him always striving to improve on what he had -previously done. Without it there was nothing to strive for. - -Without an ideal there is no growth; and where there is no growth there -is retrogression. Without a vision the people perish. Nothing in the -universe is static. None of us stands still. We are all traveling in -some direction, either forward or backward. Everything depends on the -ideal. - -What we admire and aspire to enters into the very texture of our being, -becomes a part of us. If we had the power to analyze any individual, we -could tell what books he had read, could detect the type of his friends -and associates, and could name his heroes; that is, we could tell what -ideals had actuated him. - -Parents and teachers should urge upon the young the importance of hero -worship, of choosing the highest human ideals. Our lives are molded -chiefly after the pattern of the ideals of our youth, and there is no -danger of too much hero worship, if only the heroes are worthy. - -History is full of examples of the powerful influence of ideals upon our -great men. It is said that Alexander the Great always carried a copy of -Homer's "Iliad" in his pocket, and that he never tired of reading about -Achilles, the great hero, whom he was ambitious to resemble. Many a -young man in this country who has been inspired, encouraged and -stimulated by Lincoln's career, has not only lived a grander life and -made a truer success because he modeled his life after that of his hero, -but he has developed many qualities in common with Lincoln which -otherwise might have lain forever dormant. Many a young officer in our -army is more efficient because of his imitation of Grant and Lee, the -ideals which haunted his dreams and which have ever urged him up and on. - -It is of the utmost importance to choose our ideal early in life, a high -and beautiful ideal, that shall be our pole star, the highest, brightest -light we know. A recent writer says: "My advice to all those just -starting to travel life's turnpike is: - - "'Don't start until you have your ideal. - Then don't stop until you get it.'" - -Of course we all have ideals of some kind when we are young; but how -many of us keep them even till middle age? What young man has entered -into active life without an ideal before him of what he is going to do, -and how the world is going to be bettered by him? What young girl but -who, leaving school, life smiling before her, dreams of the ideal love -she will find, the ideal happy home she will make, and the beautiful -work she will do in life with the ideal man of her girlish dreams by her -side? But do the youth and the maiden hold these ideals throughout the -years, with the strength of conviction that overcomes all difficulties, -or do they abandon them with the first discouragement and settle down -into a commonplace existence with interest in nothing above the -material? - -To youth, naturally, come glorious ideals, not only of what one's own -life is to be, but of what life in general should be,--the ideal man, -the ideal woman, the ideal social system,--and with all these is a vague -desire or intention to help toward their fulfillment. But too often the -result of disappointment in the effort to better conditions is, first, -to give up the hope of realizing the ideal, and then to abandon the -ideal itself. Here is where the great danger of retrogression comes in. -Unless the ideal be held with a tenacity that no failure or -disappointment can relax, it is apt to fade away after the first ardor -of youth is past. - -One of the greatest aids to the preservation of the youthful ideal in -all its freshness and beauty is to recall frequently, daily, the moral -heroes who first gave one a glimpse of one's possibilities and aroused -one's ambition. Read the special books, or particular chapters which -fired you to emulate some noble character. Renew yourself mentally by -visualizing the life and work of men and women who have wrought nobly -for humanity. Think of the Washingtons, the Franklins, the Lincolns, the -Emersons, the Ruskins, the Florence Nightingales, the Jane Addams, the -Susan B. Anthonys, the Frances Willards, and you will be strengthened to -resist the debasing influence of the fierce competition for wealth and -preferment, even for mere subsistence, which in so many instances pushes -out of sight the aspirations and ideals of youth. Keep constantly in -mind the grand characters whose achievements aroused you to noble -thoughts and endeavor in the springtime of life and your standards will -never drop. Character always develops according to the pattern within -us. No artist could paint the face of Christ with the model of Judas -before his mental vision. No great character can ever be built with low, -groveling ideals in the mind. - -The constant struggle to measure up to a high ideal is the only force in -heaven or on earth that can make a life great, beautiful and fruitful. -If we would ever accomplish anything of worth, if we would ever -establish our oneness with the Creator, and accomplish the work He sent -us here to do, we must live up to our ideal. - -With eyes fixed on this ideal, we must work with heart and hand and -brain; with a faith that never grows dim, with a resolution that never -wavers, with a patience that is akin to genius, we must persevere unto -the end; for, as we advance, our ideal as steadily moves upward. - -"The situation that has not its duty, its ideal," says Carlyle, "was -never yet occupied by man. Yes, here, in this poor, miserable, hampered, -despicable Actual, wherein thou even now standest, here or nowhere is -thy ideal; work it out therefrom, and, working, believe, live, be free. -Fool! the ideal is in thyself." - -Never were truer words spoken. Wrapped up in every human being there are -divine energies which, if given proper direction, will develop the ideal -from stage to stage. Who sees a sculptor at work upon a block of marble -sees what appears to be only a mechanical performance. But, out of sight -in the sculptor's brain, there is a quiet presence we do not perceive; -and every movement of the hand is impelled by that shining thought -within the brain. That presence is the ideal. Without it he would be a -mason; through it he becomes an artist. - -"The ideal is the real." By it we shape our lives as the sculptor shapes -the image from the rough marble. External means alone will not -accomplish this. You must lay hold of eternal principles, of the -everlasting verities, or you never can approach your ideal. Your first -advance toward it lies in what you are doing now, in what you are -thinking. Not on some far-off height, in some distant scene, or fabled -land, where longing without endeavor is magically satisfied, will we -carve out the ideal that haunts our souls, but "here and now in this -poor, mean Actual, here or nowhere is our ideal!" - -In the humble valley, on the boundless prairie, on the farm, on sea or -on land, in workshop, store, or office, wherever there is honest work -for the hand and brain of man to do,--within the circumscribed limits of -our daily duties, is the field wherein the outworking of our ideal must -be wrought. - -"Your circumstances may be uncongenial," says James Allen, "but they -shall not long remain so if you but perceive an Ideal and strive to -reach it. You cannot travel _within_ and stand still _without_. Here is -a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor; confined long hours in an -unhealthy workshop; unschooled, and lacking all the arts of refinement. -But he dreams of better things; he thinks of intelligence, of -refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an -ideal condition of life; the vision of a wider liberty and a larger -scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he -utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to the -development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has -his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become -so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as a -garment is cast aside, and, with the growth of opportunities which fit -the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it forever. Years -later we see this youth as a full-grown man. We find him a master of -certain forces of the mind which he wields with world-wide influence -and almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic -responsibilities; he speaks, and lo! lives are changed; men and women -hang upon his words and remold their characters, and, sun-like, he -becomes the fixed and luminous center round which innumerable destinies -revolve. He has realized the Vision of his youth. He has become one with -his Ideal." - -The great curse of the average person is commonness,--the lack of -aspiring ideals. There are thousands of farmers who never get above -cattle and wheat, of doctors who never become superior to prescriptions -and diseases, of lawyers who never wholly subordinate their briefs. The -ideals of the masses rarely rise out of mediocrity. Most of us live in -the basement of our lives, while the upper stories are all unused. -Millions of human beings never get out of the kitchen of their -existence. We need aspiration and great thought-models to lift us. - -God has whispered into the ear of all existence, "Look up." There is -potential celestial gravitation in every mortal. There is a spiritual -hunger in humanity which, if fed and nourished, will lead to the -upbuilding and developing of great souls. There is a latent divinity in -every son of Adam, which must be aroused before there can be any great -progress in individual uplift. - -In a factory where mariners' compasses are made before the needles are -magnetized, they will lie in any position, but when once touched by the -mighty magnet, once electrified by that mysterious power, they ever -afterwards point only in one direction. Many a young life lies listless, -purposeless, until touched by the Divine magnet, after which, if it -nourishes its aspirations, it always points to the north star of its -hope and its ideal. - -Every faintest aspiration that springs up in our heart is a heavenly -seed within us which will grow and develop into rich beauty if only it -be fed, encouraged. The better things do not grow either in material or -mental soil without care and nourishment. Only weeds, briers, and -noxious plants thrive easily. - -The aspiration that is not translated into active effort will die, just -as any power or function that is not used will atrophy or disappear. The -ostrich, naturalists say, once had wonderful wings, but not caring to -use them, preferring to walk on the earth rather than mount in the air, -it practically lost its wings, their strength passing into its legs. The -giraffe probably once had only an ordinary neck, like other animals, but -being long used to reach up to gather its food from the branches of -trees, it lifted its body in the upward direction until it is now the -tallest of all animals, its elongated neck enabling it to gather the -leaves from lofty trees. - -Something like this takes place continually in human lives. We rise or -fall by our ideals, by our pursuit or our disregard of them. The -majority of us make bungling work of our living. We spend much precious -time and effort catering to the desires of our animal natures and live -chiefly along the lines of life's lower aims and opportunities when we -might be soaring. - -Everywhere we see men making a splendid _living_, but a very poor -_life_; succeeding in their vocations but failing as men, swerving from -their own highest ideals for the sake of making a little more money. On -every hand we see people sacrificing the higher to the lower, dwarfing -the best thing in them for a superficial material advantage, selling the -birthright of the soul's ideal for a mess of pottage. - -Is there any reason or intelligence in a man's continuing to turn his -ability, his energies, all there is in him, into dollars after he has -many times more of these than he can ever use for living and betterment? -Is the gift of life so cheap, so meaningless, of so little importance, -that we can afford to spend time on things that do not endure,--upon -unnecessary material things which so soon pass away,--to the neglect of -those that endure? We know that life is our great opportunity to acquit -ourselves like men. Yet it is too often into these transient things that -we pour the full force of our energies, while we only sigh and "wish" -that we could achieve our ideals. We sacrifice much to gain wealth, but -practically nothing to realize the outreach of our souls. - -Yet the ideal is indeed the "pearl of great price," in the balance with -which "all that a man hath" besides is as nothing. The red letter men of -the world have always been men of high ideals, to which they were ever -loyal: men who have said "this one thing I do," and have put the whole -strength of their lives into their effort to realize their ideal. - -If from the start you listen to and obey that something within which -urges you to find the road that leads up higher; if you listen to and -obey the voice which bids you look up and not down, which ever calls you -on and up, no matter what its outward seeming, your life can not be a -failure. The really successful men and women are those who by the -nobility of their example contribute to the uplift, the happiness, the -enlargement of life, to the wisdom of the world,--not those who have -merely piled up selfish dollars. A rich personality enriches everybody -who comes in contact with it. Everybody who touches a noble life feels -ennobled thereby. - -There is machinery so delicate that it can measure the least expenditure -of physical force. If similar machinery could be devised for measuring -character many a millionaire would be chagrined at the record of his own -just measurement, while many an humble worker would be amazed at the -high mark his earnest unceasing efforts to reach his ideal had -achieved. - -I believe the time will come when not money, but growth, not lands and -houses, but mental and moral expansion in larger and nobler living, will -be even the popular measure of true riches, real success. The measure of -a successful man will be that of his soul; he will be rated in a new -sort of Bradstreet, a spiritual Bradstreet, as a large heart, a -magnanimous mind, a cultured intellect, instead of as a great check -book. - -Phillips Brooks said: "The ideal life of full completion haunts us all. -We feel the thing we ought to be beating beneath the thing we are. God -hides some ideal in every human soul. At some time in his life, each -feels a trembling, fearful longing to do some great good thing. Life -finds its noblest spring of excellence in its hidden impulse to do one's -best." - -Every one who substitutes the finer for the cheaper goal, each one who -to-day and every day holds to his high ideal despite the stress and -turmoil of modern daily living, in such measure hastens the day when -such an ideal will be the inspiration of the masses and the power that -moves the world. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -HOW TO MAKE THE BRAIN WORK FOR US DURING SLEEP - - -Would you not think yourself fortunate to have a secretary of great -ability and worth absolutely subject, day and night, to your will, and -so susceptible to instructions that even your slightest mental -suggestion would be faithfully carried out? If you had such a secretary, -and knew that in spite of his great ability he would be able to do what -you suggested only in proportion to your belief in his power to do so, -would you not be careful to entertain no doubts of his ability to carry -out your wishes or suggestions? - -Now, just substitute for this personal secretary your subconscious self, -that part of you which is below the threshold of your consciousness, and -try to realize that this self is actually the sort of secretary I have -endeavored to describe, capable of carrying out all your desires, of -executing all your purposes, of realizing your ambitions, to the exact -extent of your belief in its powers, and you will get some idea of what -it can accomplish for you. - -This secretary is closer to you than your breath, nearer than your heart -beat, a faithful servant, walking by your side all through life, to -execute your faintest wish, to carry out your desires, to help you to -achieve your aims. Every bit of help, of encouragement, of support you -give to this other self will add to the magnificence, the splendor of -your destiny. On the other hand, all negative, vicious thoughts, all -selfishness, greed and envy, all doubts and fears, all the discouraging, -destructive thoughts you entertain, will impair and weaken your -secretary or servant in exact proportion to their intensity and -persistency. In fact it rests with yourself whether your secretary shall -be your greatest help, a heavenly friend and assistant, or your greatest -hindrance, your worst enemy. - -It doesn't matter what we call them,--subconscious and conscious self, -or subjective and objective mind, we are all conscious that these are -two forces constantly at work in us. One commands and the other obeys. -We know that one of these, the subjective mind, does not originate its -acts, but gets its instructions from the objective mind, which contains -the will power. Experience shows us that the subjective or subconscious -mind, which I have called a "personal secretary," is a servant which -obeys our will, carries out our wishes, and registers in the brain a -faithful record not only of every thought, word and act of ours, but of -everything we see, and everything we hear others say. - -Coleridge tells of a remarkable instance of the truth of this. A young -German servant girl was taken ill with a fever, and in her delirium she -recited correctly long passages from famous authors in Latin, Greek and -Hebrew. Scholars were called in to hear this uneducated girl speaking -fluently tongues of which she had no knowledge in her conscious moments, -and to tell if they could what it meant. They were much puzzled and -could make nothing of it; but later the miracle was explained. Years -before, it seems, the girl had lived in a minister's family, and was -accustomed to hear her master recite the classics aloud. She had -listened attentively, and her subconscious mind had faithfully recorded -every word in her brain, and reproduced what it had heard when the -objective mind was quiescent. - -Numerous instances might be cited to show that our subconscious mind is -the record storehouse of all that has ever happened to us. Every -thought, every experience, whatever passes before the eye, or that we -see or hear or feel is registered accurately in our brain by our -subconscious mind. - -Now, if this other self, personal secretary, subconscious mind, or -whatever we choose to call it, has such enormous power, why can it not -be trained to work for us when we are asleep as well as when we are -awake? Have you ever thought of the possibilities of spiritual and -mental development during sleep? Has it ever occurred to you that while -the processes of repair and upbuilding are proceeding normally in the -body, the mind also may be expanding, the soul as well as the body may -be growing? - -"When corporal and voluntary things are quiescent, the Lord operates," -said Swedenborg. The great Swedish philosopher was a firm believer in -the activity of the other self during sleep. He claimed that his -"spiritual vision" was opened in the unconscious hours of the night. - -The Bible teems with illustrations of the activity of the subconscious -mind or self during sleep. Warnings are given, work is commanded to be -done, visions are seen, plans are outlined, angels are conversed with, -courses of conduct advised; and every suggestion made to the soul in the -dream state is literally carried out in the waking hours. - -Theosophists believe that during sleep the soul or spirit acts -independently of the body; that it actually leaves the body and goes out -into the night to perform tasks appointed it by the Creator. - -As a matter of fact, few people realize what an immense amount of work -is carried on automatically in the body under the direction of the -subconscious mind. If the entire brain and nervous system were to go to -sleep at night all of the bodily functions would stop. The heart would -cease to beat, the stomach, the liver, the kidneys and the other glands -would no longer act, the various digestive processes would cease to -operate, all the physical organs would cease working, and we should -stop breathing. - -One of the deepest mysteries of Nature's processes is that of putting a -part of the brain and nervous system, and most of the mental faculties -which were in use during the day, under the sweet ether of sleep while -she repairs and rejuvenates every cell and every tissue, but at the same -time keeping in the most active condition a great many of the bodily -processes and even certain of the mental and creative faculties. These -are awake and alert all the time while the sleeper is in a state of -unconsciousness. - -Most of us probably have had the experience of dropping to sleep at -night discouraged because we could not solve some vexing problem to our -satisfaction. It may have been one in mathematics during our school -days, or, later on, a weightier one in business or professional life, -and behold, in the morning, without any conscious effort on our part, -the problem was solved; all its intricacies were unraveled, and what had -so puzzled us the night before was perfectly clear when we woke up in -the morning. Our conscious, objective self did not enter the mysterious -laboratory where the miracle was wrought. We do not know how it was -wrought. We only know that it was done somehow, without our knowledge, -while we slept. - -Some of our greatest inventions and discoveries have been worked out by -the subconscious mind during sleep. Many an inventor who went to sleep -with a puzzled brain, discouraged and disheartened because he could not -make the connecting link between his theory and its practical -application, awoke in the morning with his problem solved. - -Mathematicians and astronomers have had marvelous results worked out -while they slept, answers to questions which had puzzled them beyond -measure during their waking hours. Writers, poets, painters, musicians, -all have received inspiration for their work while the body slumbered. - -Many people attempt to explain these things on a purely physical basis. -They attribute the apparent phenomenon to the mere fact that the brain -has been refreshed and renewed during the night, and that, consequently, -we can think better and more clearly in the morning. That is true, so -far as it goes, but there is something more, something beyond this. We -know that ideas are suggested and problems actually worked out along -lines which did not occur to the waking mind. Most of us have had -experiences of some kind or another which show that there is some great -principle, some intelligent power back of the flesh, but not of it, -which is continually active in our lives, helping us to solve our -problems. - -One of the most interesting instances of this kind is given in the -biography of the great scientist, Professor Louis Agassiz, by his widow: - -"He [Professor Agassiz]," the writer says, "had been for two weeks -striving to decipher the somewhat obscure impression of a fossil fish on -the stone slab in which it was preserved. Weary and perplexed, he put -his work aside at last, and tried to dismiss it from his mind. Shortly -after, he waked one night persuaded that while asleep he had seen his -fish with all the missing features perfectly restored. But when he tried -to hold and make fast the image it escaped him. Nevertheless, he went -early to the Jardin des Plantes, thinking that on looking anew at the -impression he should see something which would put him on the track of -his vision. In vain--the blurred record was as blank as ever. The next -night he saw the fish again, but with no more satisfactory result. When -he awoke it disappeared from his memory as before. Hoping that the same -experience might be repeated, on the third night he placed a pencil and -paper beside his bed before going to sleep. - -"Accordingly, towards morning the fish re-appeared in his dream, -confusedly at first, but at last with such distinctness that he had no -longer any doubt as to its zoölogical characters. Still half dreaming, -in perfect darkness, he traced these characters on the sheet of paper at -the bedside. In the morning he was surprised to see in his nocturnal -sketch features which he thought it impossible the fossil itself should -reveal. He hastened to the Jardin des Plantes, and, with his drawing as -a guide, succeeded in chiseling away the surface of the stone under -which portions of the fish proved to be hidden. When wholly exposed it -corresponded with his dream and his drawing, and he succeeded in -classifying it with ease." - -We are all familiar with examples of the marvelous feats performed by -somnambulists. They will get up and dress while fast asleep, lock and -unlock doors, go out and walk and ride in the most dangerous places, -where they would not attempt to go when awake. Many have been known to -walk with sure feet along the extreme edges of roofs of houses, on the -banks of rivers, or close to the edge of precipices, where one false -step would precipitate them to death. They will speak, write, act, and -move as if entirely conscious of what they are doing. A somnambulist -will answer questions put to him while asleep and carry on a -conversation rationally. - -In this respect the state of the sleep walker is similar to that of a -person in a hypnotic trance. He can be acted on from without and remain -wholly unconscious. Surgical operations have been performed upon a -hypnotized person without the use of anesthetics; and there is no doubt -that this also would be possible during profound sleep. The subjective -mind is much more susceptible to suggestion when the objective mind is -unconscious. There is no resistance on account of prejudice or external -influences. - -That we are on the eve of marvelous possibilities of treating disease -during sleep there is not the slightest doubt. The same is true of habit -forming, mind changing, of mind improving, of strengthening deficient -faculties, of eradicating peculiarities and idiosyncrasies, of -neutralizing injurious hereditary tendencies, of increasing ability. The -possibilities of changing the disposition and of mind building during -sleep are only beginning to be realized. - -The power of the subjective mind over the body is well illustrated by -the fact that thoughts aroused in a hypnotized person can very -materially shift the circulation of the blood. They can send it at will -to any part of the body. The hypnotist can make his subject blush or -turn pale, express in his face fierce anger or appealing love. He can at -will produce anesthesia in any part of the body so that a needle or -knife may be inserted in the flesh without causing the slightest pain. -He can so impress the hypnotized person's mind with the belief that the -water he drinks is whiskey that he will actually exhibit all the -appearance of drunkenness. He can make him believe that the spoonful of -water he takes is full of poison so that he will immediately develop -the symptoms of poisoning. - -The subjective mind is not only capable of carrying out orders but, as -has already been shown, every impression made on it is indelible. How -often we say, when we cannot recall a well-known name, or the details of -some important event or experience, "Well, I cannot think of that now, -but it will come to me; I shall think of it later." And how often have -the forgotten details flashed into our mind when the occasion had passed -and we were thinking of something else. Again and again have we puzzled -our brains at night trying to think of some particular thing which had -gone out of our memory, only to find it waiting for us in the morning. - -We are beginning to realize that all of our experiences during the day, -all of our thoughts, emotions and mental attitudes, the multitude of -little things which seem to make but a fleeting impression, are not in -reality lost. Every day leaves its phonographic records on the brain, -and these records are never erased or destroyed. They simply drop into -the subconscious mind and are ever on call. They may not come at once -in response to our summons, but they are still there and are often, many -years after they have dropped into the subconscious mind, reproduced -with all their original vividness. - -I heard recently of a prominent banker who lost a very important key, -the only one to the bank treasures. He claimed that it had not been lost -in the ordinary way, but stolen. Suspicion at once attached to the -employees. A prominent detective was placed in the bank, and, after -watching and questioning every one on the staff, he became convinced -that none but the banker himself knew anything about the key. - -Every detective is necessarily something of a mind reader, and this one, -believing firmly in his own theory, suggested a simple plan for -recovering the key. He told the banker to quit suspecting the employees -and worrying about burglars getting the bank's treasures, to relax his -overwrought mind and go to sleep with the belief that he himself had put -the key away somewhere, and that it would be found in the morning. "If -you do this," he said, "I believe the mystery will be solved." - -The banker, to the best of his ability, did as the detective suggested, -and on getting up the following morning he was instinctively led to a -certain secret place, and, behold, there was the key. He was not -conscious that he had put it there, but after finding it he had a faint -recollection of previously going to this place. - -The banker's objective or conscious mind was probably busy with -something else when he put the key away. Only his subconscious self had -any knowledge of what he was doing. Then when he missed the key his -fears, his worry, his anxiety, his suspicions and generally wrought-up -mentality made it impossible for his subjective mind to reveal the -secret to him. But after his mind had become poised and he was again in -tune with his subjective intelligence the information was passed along. - -Dr. Hack Tuke, a distinguished English authority on the subject. "The -memory, freed from distraction as it sometimes is," he says, "is so -vivid as to enable the sleeper to recall events which had happened years -before and which had been entirely forgotten." - -Now, if, as we have seen, the subconscious mind can perform real work, -real service for us, why should we not use it especially during sleep? -Why should we not avail ourselves of this enormous creative force to -strengthen all our powers and possibilities, to piece out, virtually to -lengthen our time, our lives? Think what it would mean to us in a life -time if we could keep these sleepless creative functions always in -superb condition so that they would go on during the night working out -our problems, unraveling our difficulties, carrying forward our plans, -while we are asleep! We have sufficient proof already to show that they -do actual constructive work, but the testimony of Dr. Tuke on this point -is of interest. "That the exercise of thought--and this on a high -level--is consistent with sleep can hardly be doubted," he writes. -"Arguments are employed in debate which are not always illogical. We -dreamed one night, subsequent to a lively conversation with a friend on -spiritualism, that we instituted a number of test experiments in -reference to it. The nature of these tests was retained vividly in the -memory after waking. They were by no means wanting in ingenuity, and -proved that the mental operations were in good form." - -It is now established beyond a doubt that certain parts of the brain -continue active during the night when the rest of it is under the -anesthetic of sleep. But we have hardly begun to realize what a -tremendous ally this sleepless creative part of the brain can be made in -our mental development. It is well known that most of the growth of the -child, of its skeleton, muscles, nerves and all the twelve different -kinds of tissues in its body takes place during sleep, that there is -comparatively little during the activities of the day. It is not so well -understood that our minds also grow during the night; that they develop -along the lines of the ideals, thoughts and emotions with which we feed -them before retiring. "All the analogies go to prove that the mind is -always awake," says M. Jouffroy. "The mind during sleep is not in a -special mood or state, but it goes on and develops itself absolutely as -in the waking hours." - -As a matter of fact we never awake just the same being as when we went -to sleep. We are either better or worse. We changed while we slept. -While our senses are wrapped in slumber, the subjective mind is busily -at work. It is either building up or tearing down. It is my firm belief -that by an intelligent, systematic direction of this sleepless faculty -of the brain we can actually make it create for us along the line of our -desires. As it is, most people by not putting the mind in proper -condition before going to sleep not only do not intelligently use this -marvelous creative agency but they destroy all possibility of beneficial -results from its action. It is as necessary to prepare the mind for -sleep as it is to prepare the body. The following chapter offers some -suggestions on this point. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -PREPARING THE MIND FOR SLEEP - - Sleep, gentle sleep, how have I frighted thee? - SHAKESPEARE. - - -Not long ago I heard a young lady say that it was simply impossible for -any woman to look charming or to be agreeable right after getting up in -the morning. The Rev. Dr. Bushnell declared that "a man must be next to -a devil who wakes angry." The way we feel when we awake in the morning -depends on how we were feeling or thinking when we went to sleep. - -If we retire holding a grudge against a neighbor, with a resolve to "get -square" with somebody who has injured us; if we have hatred or jealousy -in our heart; if we are envious of another's success, and if we go to -sleep nursing these feelings, we awake in a depressed, exhausted state, -feeling bitter, pessimistic, irritable, unhappy, about as nearly like a -devil as it is possible for a human being to feel. The destroyer was at -work all night, running amuck among the delicate brain and nerve cells, -furiously tearing down what beneficent Nature had taken such pains to -upbuild. But, when we take pleasant, kindly, loving thoughts to bed with -us we awake refreshed, in a happy, contented frame of mind. Our -sleepless faculties spent the hours in upbuilding, performing friendly -offices for us during the night. - -Few people ever think of preparing the mind for sleep, yet it is even -more necessary than it is to prepare the body. Most of us take great -pains to put the latter in order; we undress, take a warm bath, massage -the face with some sort of refreshening salve, cold cream, or oil; we -make sure that our sleeping room is properly ventilated and that our bed -is clean and comfortable, but to the matter of preparing our minds we -don't give a thought. - -Instead of making our subconscious mental processes build for us in the -night, we allow them to tear down much of what we have built during the -day. Many of us grow old, haggard and wrinkled in the night, when just -the reverse ought to be the case, for Nature herself has ordained that -night should be the building, the renewing, time of life. - -If we were only to prepare the mind for sleep with the same intelligence -and care that we prepare the body; if we were to give it a cleansing -mental bath, wiping from memory's slate all black, discordant pictures, -all the worries and fears which vexed and perplexed us during the day -instead of having the nightmare panorama passing and repassing before us -during the night, robbing us of needed rest and neutralizing our -upbuilding, recuperative forces, what a difference it would make in our -achievement, in our lives! - -I know men whose lives have been revolutionized by adopting the practice -of putting themselves in a harmonious condition, getting in tune with -the Infinite before going to sleep. Formerly they were in the habit of -retiring in a bad mood, tired, discouraged over anticipated evils, -worrying about all sorts of things. They would discuss their misfortunes -at night with their wives and then fall to thinking over the unfortunate -conditions in their affairs, their mistakes, and the possible evil -consequences that might result from them. Naturally, their minds were -in an upset condition when they fell asleep, and, as might have been -expected, the melancholy, black, ugly pictures of the misfortunes they -feared, vividly exaggerated in the stillness of the night, became etched -deeper and deeper on their brains and did their baleful work, making -real rest and reinvigoration absolutely impossible. When they reformed -their habits, changed their thought, and retired in a peaceful frame of -mind with the intention of going to sleep, instead of tossing about -thinking of their troubles, their business straightway began to improve. -They were stronger, fresher, more vigorous, more resourceful, better -able to cope with difficulties, to make plans and to carry them out than -when they were depleting their physical and mental resources by robbing -themselves of their best friend, Nature's restorative,--sleep. - -Many people tell me they cannot stop thinking after they go to bed. -Their brains are so active, doing their next day's work, that they -cannot stop the mental processes for hours. - -Of course you cannot stop all thinking the first night you begin to form -the new habit, when you have practiced the old night-thinking habit for -years; when perhaps as far back as you can remember you have gone to bed -every night worrying, worrying, thinking, thinking, planning, planning -ahead for days, for weeks, for months, planning ahead perhaps for the -coming year. But if you persist, and make it a cast iron rule to allow -no anxieties or fears, no business troubles or discords of any kind to -enter your bed chamber, you will succeed in accomplishing your object. - -Think of your chamber as the one place sacred to rest, where the things -that trouble and harass and vex during the daytime shall find no -entrance. Put this legend over the door, or in some conspicuous place -where you can see it. "This is my holy of holies, the place of supreme -peace and power in my life from which all discord must be shut out." -When you undress and lie down, say to yourself, "I have done my best -during the day. Now I am going to drop thinking, drop worrying and -planning, and get good, refreshing sleep to prepare me for to-morrow's -work." - -Clear your mind not only of all anxious, worrying business thoughts, but -also of all ill will or hatred toward another. Resolve that you will -not harbor an unpleasant, bitter or unkind thought of any human being, -that you will wipe off the slate of your memory everything you have ever -had against any one; that you will forget whatever is unpleasant in the -past and start with a clean slate. Just imagine that the words -"Harmony," "Peace," "Love," "Good Will to every living creature," are -emblazoned in letters of light all over the walls of your room. Repeat -them over and over until that other self, that personal secretary just -below the threshold of your consciousness, becomes saturated with the -ideas they convey, and after a while you will drop into slumber with a -serene, poised mind, a mind filled with happy, joyous, creative -thoughts. - -Of course, until the new habit is fixed, thoughts will intrude -themselves in spite of you, but you needn't harbor them. You needn't -allow yourself, under any circumstances, to go on thinking about -business or any discordant thing after you retire any more than you -would allow a madman to slash you with a knife without making any -attempt to defend yourself. You can, if you only persist in the new and -better way, fall asleep every night like a tired child, and awake in -the morning just as refreshed and happy. Your subconscious self will, -after a while, carry out your behests without any conscious effort on -your part. This sleepless subconscious self is, in fact, one of the most -effective agents man has to help him accomplish whatever he desires. -Insomnia, for instance, which is the curse of so many Americans, may be -entirely overcome by its aid. - -If you are a victim of insomnia, and go to bed every night with the -thought firmly fixed in your consciousness that you are not going to -sleep, you are, to a great extent, the victim of your belief. The -conviction in your subconscious mind that there is something the matter -with your sleeping ability is largely responsible for the continuance of -your trouble. - -We know by experience that we can convince ourselves of almost anything -by affirming it long enough and often enough. The constant repetition, -after a while, establishes the belief in our minds that the thing is -true. We can establish the sleep habit just as easily as any other -habit. - -It is perfectly possible by means of affirmation, the constant -repetition in heart to heart talks with yourself to regain your power to -sleep normally. Your subconscious self, that side of your nature which -presides over the involuntary or automatic functions during sleep, as -well as while you are awake, as, for instance, walking, and other things -which do not require volition of the mind or especial will power, can be -made to obey your commands, or rather suggestions, to overcome insomnia. -Say to this inner self: "You know there is no reason why you should not -sleep. There is no defect in your physical or mental make-up which keeps -you awake. You ought to sleep soundly so many hours every night. There -is no reason why you should not, and you are going to do so to-night." - -Repeat similar affirmations during the day. Say to yourself, "This -sleeplessness is only a bad habit. If you were ill physically or -mentally, if you had any serious defect in your nervous system which -would give any excuse for insomnia, it would be a different thing, but -you haven't anything of the sort. You are simply the slave of a -senseless obsession and you are going to break it up. You are going to -begin right away. You are going to sleep better to-night, to-morrow -night, and the next night. You are going to get through with this bogie -you have built up in your imagination which has no existence in reality. -Nothing keeps you awake but your conviction, your fear, that you are not -going to sleep." - -Prepare your mind for sleep in the way already suggested by emptying it -of all worry and fear, all envy and uncharitableness, everything that -disturbs, irritates, or excites. Crowd these out with thoughts of joy, -of good cheer, of things which will help and inspire. Compose yourself -with the belief that you will go to sleep easily and naturally; relax -every muscle and say to yourself in a quiet drowsy voice, "I am so -sleepy, so sleepy, so sleepy." The subconscious self will listen and in -a short time will automatically put your suggestion into practice. - -It is needless to say that if insomnia is a result of bad or irregular -habits, the victim must first of all change his habits before he can -expect any relief. - -Man is a bundle of habits. We perform most of our life functions with -greater or less regularity, so that they become practically automatic. -Regularity, system, order are imperative for our health, our success and -our happiness. This is especially true in regard to sleep. We must keep -regular hours, be systematic in our habits, or our sleep is likely to -suffer. - -If you play as hard as you work, refresh and rejuvenate yourself by -pleasant recreation and a jolly good time when your work is done, and -then at a regular hour every night prepare your mind for sleep, just as -you would prepare your body, give it a mental bath and clothe it in -beautiful thoughts, you will in a short time establish the habit of -sound, peaceful, refreshing sleep. - -Whatever else you do, or do not, form the habit of making a call on the -Great Within of yourself before retiring. Leave there the message of -up-lift, of self-betterment and self-enlargement, that which you yearn -for and long to realize but do not know just how to attain. Registering -this call, this demand for something higher and nobler, in your -subconsciousness, putting it right up to yourself, will work like a -leaven during the night; and, after a while, all the building forces -within you will unite in furthering your aim; in helping you to realize -your vision, whatever it may be. - -The period of sleep may be made a wonderful period of growth, for the -mind as well as for the body. It is a time when you can attract your -desires; it is a propitious time to nurse your vision. - -Instead of making an enemy of your subconscious self by giving it -destructive thoughts to work with, explosives that will destroy much of -what you have accomplished during the day, make it your friend by giving -it strong, creative, helpful thoughts with which to go on creating, -building for you during the night. - -There are marvelous possibilities for health and character, success and -happiness building, during sleep. Every thought dropped into the -subconscious mind before we go to sleep is a seed that will germinate in -the night while we are unconscious and ultimately bring forth a harvest -of its kind. By impressing upon it our desires, picturing as vividly as -possible our ideals, what we wish to become, and what we long to -accomplish, we will be surprised to see how quickly that wonderful -force in the subjective self will begin to shape the pattern, to copy -the model which it is given. In this way we can correct habits which are -wounding our self-respect, humiliating us, marring our usefulness and -efficiency, perhaps sapping our lives. We can get rid of faults and -imperfections; we can strengthen our weak faculties and overcome vicious -tendencies which the will power may not be strong enough to correct in -the daytime. - -If, as now seems clear, the subconscious mind can build or destroy, can -make us happy or miserable according to the pattern we give it before -going to sleep, if it can solve the problems of the inventor, of the -discoverer, of the troubled business man, why do we not use it more? Why -do we not avail ourselves of this tremendous mysterious force for life -building, character building, success building, happiness building, -instead of for life destroying? - -One reason is that we are only just beginning to discover that we can -control this secondary self or intelligence, which regulates all the -functions of the body without the immediate orders of the objective -self. We are getting a glimpse of what it is capable of doing by -experiments upon hypnotized subjects, when the objective mind, the mind -which gets most of its material through the five senses is shut off and -the other, the subjective mind, is in control. We are finding that it is -comparatively easy while a person is in a hypnotic state to make -wonderful changes in disposition, and to correct vicious habits, mental -and moral defects, through suggestion. - -There is no doubt that so far as the subjective mind is concerned we are -in a similar condition when asleep as when in a hypnotic trance, and -experiments have shown that marvelous results are possible, especially -in the case of children, by talking to them, during their sleep, -advising them, counseling them, suggesting things that are for their -good. - -Parents should teach their children how to prepare their minds for sleep -so that the subconscious self would create, produce something beautiful -instead of the black, discordant images of fear which so often terrorize -little ones before they fall asleep and when they wake up in the dark -hours of the night. How often have we noticed the troubled, fear-full -expression on the face of a sleeping child, who was sent to bed with -anger thoughts, with fear thoughts in its mind after a severe scolding -or perhaps a whipping. - -A child should never be scolded or frightened, or teased, especially -just before bedtime. It should be encouraged to fall asleep in its -sweetest, happiest mood, in the spirit of love. Then its sleeping face -will reflect the love spirit and the child will awaken in the same -spirit, as though it had been talking with angels while it slept. - -Children are peculiarly susceptible to the influence of our thoughts, -our suggestions to them during sleep. Their character can be molded to a -great extent, their ability developed, their faults eradicated, and -their weak points strengthened during sleep. In some ways the -suggestions made to them in that state have more effect than those made -to them when awake, because while the objective mind often scatters and -fails to reproduce what is presented to it, the subjective mind -gradually absorbs and reflects every suggestion. Many mothers have found -this true, especially in correcting bad habits which seemed almost -impossible to reach while the children were awake. - -If you want to make your child beautiful in character, in disposition, -in person, think beautiful thoughts into its mind as it falls asleep; -speak to it of beautiful things while it sleeps. I believe the time will -come when much of the child's training will be effected during sleep. -Its æsthetic faculties, the love of music, of art, of all things noble -and beautiful, special talents, and latent possibilities of all kinds -will be developed through suggestion. - -In the marvelous interior creative forces lies the great secret of life, -and blessed is he who findeth it. Doubly blessed is he who findeth it at -the start of life. - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -HOW TO STAY YOUNG - - We do not count a man's years until he has nothing else to - count. - R. W. EMERSON. - - The ability to hold mentally the picture of youth in all its - glory, vivacity and splendor has a powerful influence in - restraining the old age processes. - - Old age begins in the heart. When the heart grows cold the skin - grows old, and the appearances of age impress themselves on the - body. The mind becomes blighted, the ideals blurred, and the - juices of life congealed. - - -Many people look forward to old age as a time when, as a recent writer -puts it, you have "a feeling that no one wants you, that all those you -have borne and brought up have long passed out onto roads where you -cannot follow, that even the thought-life of the world streams by so -fast that you lie up in a backwater, feebly, blindly groping for the -full of the water, and always pushed gently, hopelessly back." - -There is such a thing as an old age of this kind, but not for those who -face life in the right way. Such a pathetic, such a tragic ending is -not for those who love and are loved, because they keep their hearts -open to the joys and sorrows of life; who maintain a sympathetic -interest in their fellow-beings and in the progress and uplift of the -world; who keep their faculties sharpened by use, and whose minds are -constantly reaching out, broadening and growing, in the love and service -of humanity. A dismal, useless old age is only for those who have not -learned how to live. - -Growth in knowledge and wisdom should be the only indication of our -added years. Professor Metchnikoff, the greatest authority on age, -believes that it is possible to prolong life, with its maximum of vigor -and freshness, until the end of its normal cycle, when the individual -will gratefully welcome what will be a perfectly happy release. At this -point he claims that the instinct of death will supplant the instinct of -life, when the bodily mechanism approaches the natural end of normal -exhaustion. He believes that men should live and maintain their -usefulness for at least one hundred and twenty years. - -The author of "Philosophy of Longevity" tells us that man can live to -be two hundred years old. Jean Finot says: "Speaking physiologically, -the human body possesses peerless solidity. Not one of the machines -invented by man could resist for a single year the incessant taxes which -we impose upon ours. Yet it continues to perform its functions -notwithstanding." - -What we have a horror of is the premature death of the faculties, the -cutting off of power, opportunity, the decay of the body many years -before the close of the life on earth. We shudder at the giving up of a -large part of life that has potency of work, of action and of happiness. -This horror of senility increases, because life continually grows more -interesting. There never was a time when it seemed so precious, so full -of possibilities, when there was so much to live for, as in this -glorious present. There never was a time when it seemed so hard to be -forced out of the life race. We are on the eve of a new and marvelous -era, and the whole race is on the tiptoe of expectancy. Never before was -the thought of old age as represented by decay and enforced inactivity -so repugnant to man. - -But why should any one look forward to such a period? It is just this -looking forward, the anticipating and dreading the coming of old age, -that makes us old, senile, useless. - -The creative forces inside of us build on our suggestions, on our -thought models, and if we constantly thrust into our consciousness old -age thoughts and pictures of decrepitude, of declining faculties, these -thoughts and pictures will be reproduced in the body. - -A few years ago a young man "died of old age" in a New York hospital. -After an autopsy the surgeons said that while the man was in reality -only twenty-three years old he was internally eighty! If you have -arrived at an age which you accept as a starting point for physical -deterioration, your body will sympathize with your conviction. Your -walk, your gait, your expression, your general appearance, and even your -acts will all fall into line with your mental attitude. - -A short time ago I was talking with a remarkable man of sixty about -growing old. The thought of the inevitableness of the aging processes -appalled him. No matter, he declared, what efforts he might make to -avert or postpone the decrepitude of age there would come a period of -diminishing returns, and though he might fight against it he would ever -after be on the decline of life, going irrevocably toward the sunset, -ever nearer and nearer to the time when he should be useless. "The -conviction that every moment, every hour, every day takes me so much -nearer to that hole in the ground from which no power in Heaven or earth -can help us to escape is ever present in my mind," he said. "This -progressive, ever-active retrogression is monstrous. This inevitably -decrepit old age staring me in the face is robbing me of happiness, -paralyzing my efforts and discouraging my ambition." - -"But why do you dwell on those things that terrify you?" I asked. -"Why do you harbor such old age thoughts? Why are you visualizing -decrepitude, the dulling and weakening of your mental faculties? If you -have such a horror of the decrepitude, the loss of memory, the failing -eyesight, the hesitating step, and the general deterioration which you -believe accompany old age, why don't you get away from these terrifying -thoughts, put them out of your mind instead of dwelling on them? Don't -you know that what you concentrate on, what you fear, the pictures that -so terrify you, are creating the very conditions which you would give -anything to escape? If you really wish to stay the old age processes you -must change your thoughts. Erase everything that has to do with age from -your mind. Visualize youthful conditions. Say to yourself, "God is my -life. I cannot grow old in spirit, and that is the only old age to fear. -As long as my spirit is youthful; as long as the boy in me lives, I -cannot age." - -The great trouble with those who are getting along in years is that they -put themselves outside of the things that would keep them young. Most -people after fifty begin to shun children and youth generally. They feel -that it is not "becoming to their years" to act as they did when -younger, and day by day they gradually fall more and more into old age -ways and habits. - -We build into our lives the picture patterns which we hold in our minds. -This is a mental law. When you have reached the time at which most -people show traces of their age you imagine that you must do the same. -You begin to think you have probably done your best work, and that your -powers must henceforth decline. You imagine your faculties are -deteriorating, that they are not quite so sharp as they once were; that -you cannot endure quite so much, and that you ought to begin to let up a -little; to take less exercise, to do less work, to take life a little -easier. - -The moment you allow yourself to think your powers are beginning to -decline they will do so, and your appearance and bodily conditions will -follow your convictions. If you hold the thought that your ambition is -sagging, that your faculties are deteriorating, you will be convinced -that younger men have the advantage of you, and, voluntarily, at first, -you will begin to take a back seat, figuratively speaking, behind the -younger men. Once you do this you are doomed to be pushed farther and -farther to the rear. You will be taken at your own valuation. Having -made a confession of age, acknowledged in thought and act that, in so -far as work and productive returns are concerned, you are no longer the -equal of young men, they will naturally be preferred before you. - -If people who have aged prematurely could only analyze the influences -which have robbed them of their birthright of youth they would find that -most of them were a false conviction that they must grow old at about -such a time, needless worry,--all worry is needless,--silly anxiety, -which often comes from vanity, jealousy and the indulgence of such -passions as excessive temper, revenge, and all sorts of unhealthy -thinking. If they could only eliminate these influences from their -lives, they would take a great leap back toward youthfulness. If it were -possible to erase all of the scars and wrinkles, all the effects of our -aging thoughts, aging emotions, moods and passions, many of us would be -so transformed, so rejuvenated that our friends would scarcely know us. -The aging thoughts and moods and passions make old men and women of most -of us in middle life. - -The laws of renewal, of rejuvenation are always operating in us, and -will be effective if we do not neutralize them by wrong thinking. The -chemical changes caused in the blood and other secretions by worry, -fear, the operation of the explosive passions, or by any depressing -mental disturbance, will put the aging processes in action. - -Whatever we establish as a fixed conviction in our lives we transmit to -our children, and this conviction gathers cumulative force all the way -down the centuries. Every child in Christian countries is born with the -race belief that three score years or three score years and ten is a -sort of measure of the limit to human life. This has crystallized into a -race belief, and we begin to prepare for the end much in advance of the -period fixed. As long as we hold this belief we cannot bar out of our -minds the consequent suggestion that when we pass the half century limit -our powers begin to decline. The very idea that we have reached our -limit of growth, that any hope of further progress must be abandoned, -tends to etch the old age picture and conviction deeper and deeper in -our minds, and of course the creative processes can only reproduce the -pattern given them. - -Some men cross the zenith line, from which they believe they must -henceforth go down-hill, a quarter of a century or more earlier than -others, because we cross this line of demarcation mentally first, cross -it when we are convinced that we have passed the maximum of our -producing power and have reached the period of diminishing returns. - -Many people have what they are pleased to call a premonition that they -will not live beyond a certain age, and that becomes a focus toward -which the whole life points. They begin to prepare for the end. Their -conviction that they are to die at a certain time largely determines the -limitation of their years. - -Not long since, at a banquet, I met a very intelligent, widely read man -who told me that he felt perfectly sure he could not possibly live to be -an old man. He cited as a reason for his belief the analogy which runs -through all nature, showing that plants, animals and all forms of life -which mature early also die early, and because he was practically an -adult at fifteen he was convinced that he must die comparatively young. -He said he was like a poplar tree in comparison with an oak; the one -matured early and died early; the other matured late and was very -long-lived. - -So thoroughly is this man under the dominion of his belief that he must -die early that he is making no fight for longevity. He does not take -ordinary care of his health, or necessary precautions in time of danger. -"What is the use," he says, "of trying to fight against Nature's laws? I -might as well live while I live, and enjoy all I can, and try to make up -for an early death." - -Multitudes of people start out in youth handicapped by a belief that -they have some hereditary taint, a predisposition to some disease that -will probably shorten their lives. They go through life with this -restricting, limiting thought so deeply embedded in the very marrow of -their being that they never even try to develop themselves to their -utmost capacity. - -Our achievement depends very largely upon the expectancy plan, the life -pattern we make for ourselves. If we make our plan to fit only one-half -or one-third of the time we ought to live, naturally we will accomplish -only a fraction of what we are really capable of doing. I have a friend -who from boyhood has been convinced that he would not live much, if any, -beyond forty years, because both his parents had died before that age. -Consequently he never planned for a long life of steady growth and -increasing power, and the result is he has not brought anything like all -of his latent possibilities into activity, or accomplished a fourth of -what he is really capable. - -It is infinitely better to believe that we are going to live much longer -than there is any probability we shall than to cut off precious years by -setting a fixed date for our death simply because one or both of our -parents happened to die about such an age, or because we fear we have -inherited some disease, such as cancer, which is likely to develop -fatally at about a certain time. - -Just think of the pernicious influence upon a child's mind of the -constant suggestion that it will probably die very young because its -parents or some of its relatives did; that even if it is fortunate -enough to survive the diseases and accidents of youth and early -maturity, it is not possible to extend its limits of life much, if any, -beyond a certain point! Yet we burn this and similar suggestions into -the minds of our children until they become a part of their lives. We -celebrate birthdays and mark off each recurring anniversary as a -red-letter day and fix in our minds the thought that we are a year -older. All through our mature life the picture of death is kept in view, -the idea that we must expect it and prepare for it at about such a time. -The truth is the death suggestion has wrought more havoc and marred more -lives than almost anything else in human history. It is responsible for -most of the fear, which is the greatest curse of the race. - -A noted physician says that if children, instead of hearing so much -about death, were trained more in the principles of immortality, they -would retain their youth very much longer, and would extend their lives -to a much greater length than is now general. - -I believe the time will come when the custom of celebrating birthdays, -of emphasizing the fact that we are a year older, that we are getting so -much nearer the end, will be done away with. Children will not then be -reminded so forcibly once in three hundred and sixty-five days that each -birthday is a milestone in age. We shall know that the spirit is not -affected by years, that its very essence is youth and immortality. In -our inmost souls we shall realize that there is a life principle within -us that knows neither age nor death. We shall find that old age is -largely a question of mental attitude, and that we shall become what we -are convinced we must become. - -As a matter of fact the average length of life is steadily increasing, -because science is teaching men how to live so as to conserve health and -youth. Formerly men and women grew old very much earlier than they do -now, and they died much younger. We do not think so much about dying as -they used to in the early days of this country, when to prepare for the -future life seemed to be the chief occupation of our Puritan ancestors. -They had very little use for this world and did not try to enjoy life -here very much. They were always talking and praying and singing about -"the life over there," while making the life here gloomy and forbidding. -They forgot that the religion Christ taught was one of joy. - -There is no greater foe to the aging processes than joy, hope, good -cheer, gladness. These are the incarnation of the youthful spirit. If -you would keep young, cultivate this spirit; think youthful thoughts; -live much with youth; enter into their lives, into their sports, their -plays, their ambitions. Play the youthful part, not half heartedly, but -with enthusiasm and zest. You cannot use any ability until you think, -until you believe, you can. Your reserve power will stand in the -background until your self-faith calls it into action. If you want to -stay young you must act as if you felt young. - -If you do not wish to grow old, quit thinking and acting as if you were -aging. Instead of walking with drooped shoulders and with a slow, -dragging gait, straighten up and put elasticity into your steps. Do not -walk like an old man whose energies are waning, whose youthful fires are -spent. Step with the springiness of a young man full of life, spirit and -vigor. The body is not old until the mind gives its consent. Stop -thinking of yourself as an old man or an old woman. Cease manifesting -symptoms of decrepitude. Remember that the impression you make upon -others will react on yourself. If other people get the idea that you are -going down hill physically and mentally, you will have all the more to -overcome in your effort to change their convictions. - -When we are ambitious to obtain a certain thing, and our hearts are set -on it, we strive for it, we contact with it mentally and through our -thoughts we become vitally related to it. We establish a connection with -the coveted object. In other words, we do everything in our power to -obtain it; and the mental effort is a real force which tends to match -our dream with its realization. - -An up-to-date modern woman is a good example of what I mean. She does -not act like an old lady, and does not put on an old lady's garb after -she has passed the half-century milestone. We do not see the old lady's -cap, the old lady's gown of the past any more. Women getting along in -years nowadays dress more youthfully and appear younger than their -grandmothers did at the same age. They do everything to make themselves -appear young. Men are much more likely than women to grow careless in -regard to personal appearance as they grow older. They wear their hair -longer, they let their beard grow, they stoop their shoulders, drag -their feet when they walk, and begin to neglect their dress. They are -not as careful in any respect to retain their youthful appearance as -women, who resort to all sorts of expedients to ward off signs of age -and to retain their attractiveness. - -The habit of growing old must be combated as we combat any other vicious -habit, by reversing the processes by which it is formed. Instead of -surrendering and giving up to old age convictions and fears, stoutly -deny them and affirm the opposite. When the suggestion comes to you that -your powers are waning, that you cannot do what you once did, prove its -falsity by exercising the faculties which you think are weakening. -Giving up is only to surrender to age. - -We tend to find what we look for in this world, and if, as we advance in -years, we are always looking for signs of old age we will find them. If -you are constantly on the alert for symptoms of failing faculties, you -will discover plenty of them; and the great danger of this is that we -are apt to take our unfortunate moods for permanent symptoms. That is, -some day perhaps you cannot think as clearly, you cannot concentrate -your mind as well, you do not remember as readily as you did the day -before, and you immediately jump to the conclusion that a man of your -age must begin to fail, cannot expect as much of himself as when he was -younger. In other words, a person whose mind is concentrated upon his -aging processes is inclined to draw a wrong conclusion from his -temporary moods and feelings, mistaking them for permanent conditions. - -The majority of people who are showing the signs of premature aging are -suffering from chronic thought poison, that is, the chronic old age -poison. From the cradle they have heard old age talk, the reiteration of -the old age belief that when a person reached about such an age he would -then naturally begin to let up, to prepare for the end. And so instead -of fighting off age by holding the eternal youth thought and the vigor -thought they have held the thoughts of weakness and declining powers. -When they happen to forget something, they say their memory is beginning -to go back on them, their sight will soon begin to fail, and they go on -anticipating signs of decline and decrepitude until the old age -visualization is built into the very structure of their bodies. - -Instead of forming the habit of looking for signs of age form the habit -of looking for signs of youth. Form the habit of thinking of your body -as robust and supple and your brain as strong and active. Never allow -yourself to think that you are on the decline, that your faculties are -on the wane, that they are not as sharp as they used to be and that you -cannot think as well, because your cells are becoming old and hard. He -ages who thinks he ages. He keeps young who believes he is young. - -We get a good hint of the power of mental influence in the marvelous way -in which many of our actresses and grand-opera singers retain their -youthfulness, because they feel that it is imperative that they should -do so. Had Sara Bernhardt, Adelina Patti, Lily Lehmann, Madame -Schumann-Heink, Lillian Russell, and scores of other actresses and -singers pursued any other vocation they would undoubtedly have been at -least ten, perhaps twenty years older in appearance than they are. - -There are too many exceptions to the race belief that man's powers begin -to wane at fifty, sixty or seventy to allow oneself to be influenced by -it. We really ought to do our best work after fifty. If the brain is -kept active, fresh and young, and the brain cells are not ruined by a -vicious life, worry, fear, selfishness, or by disease induced by wrong -living or thinking, the mind will constantly increase in vigor and -power. Men and women whose faculties are sharp and whose minds are keen -and vigorous at ninety, and even at a hundred, prove this. I know a -number of men in their seventies and eighties who are as sturdy and -vigorous physically and mentally to-day as they were twenty years ago. -Only recently I was talking with a business man who broke down at forty -from over strain but who is now, in his eightieth year, more buoyant and -elastic in mind and body than many men at fifty. This man does not -believe in growing old because he knows that ten years ago he did not -have a bit of the cell material in his body that he has to-day. "Why -should I stamp these new body cells with four score years," he says, -"when not a single one of them may be a quarter of that age?" - -Many of us do not realize the biological fact that Nature herself -bestows upon us the power of perpetual renewal. There is not a cell in -our bodies that can possibly become very old, because all of them are -frequently renewed. Physiologists tell us that the tissue cells of some -muscles are renewed every few months. Some authorities estimate that -eighty or ninety per cent. of all the cells in the body of a person of -ordinary activity are entirely renewed within a couple of years. - -One's mental attitude, however, is the most important of all. There is -no possible way of keeping young while convinced that one must -inevitably manifest the characteristics of old age. The old age thoughts -stamp themselves upon the new body cells, so that they very soon look -forty, fifty, sixty, or seventy years old. We should hold tenaciously -the conviction that none of the cells of the body can be old because -they are constantly being renewed, a large part of them every few -months. It is impossible for the processes producing senility to get -control of the system, or to make very serious changes in the body, -unless the mind first gives its consent. Age is not so much a matter of -years as of the limpidity, the suppleness of the protoplasm of the cells -of the body, and there is nothing which will age the protoplasm like -aging thoughts and serenity enemies, such as worry, anxiety, fear, -anger, hatred, revenge, or any discordant emotion. If you keep your -protoplasm young by holding youthful ideals, there is no reason why you -should not live well into the teens of your second century. - -Constantly affirm, "I am young because I am perpetually being renewed; -my life comes new every instant from the Infinite Source of life. I am -new every morning and fresh every evening, because I live, move, and -have my being in Him who is the source of all life." Not only affirm -this mentally, but also audibly. Make this picture of perpetual -rejuvenation and re-creation so vivid that you will feel the thrill of -youthful renewal through your entire system. - -Some people try to cure the physical ravages made by wrong living and -wrong thinking by patching their bodies from the outside. The "beauty -parlors" in our great cities are besieged by women who are desperately -trying to maintain their youthful appearance, not realizing that the -elixir of youth is in one's own mind, not in bottles or boxes. Is there -anything quite so ghastly as to see an old lady (really old because her -heart is no longer young), with a painted or enameled face, dressed like -a young girl? Such a woman deceives no one but herself. Other people can -see the old, dry skin beneath the rouge. They can see the wrinkles which -she tries to disguise. She cannot cover up her age with such frivolous -pretenses. The painting of cheeks and wearing of girlish frocks do not -make a person young. It is largely a question of the age of the mind. If -the mind has become hardened, dry, uninteresting, if there is no charm -in the personality one is old, no matter what his or her years count. - -Idle, selfish women of wealth who live an animal life, who are -constantly doing things which hasten the appearance of old age, -overeating, over-drinking, over-sleeping, idling life away, having -nothing to do but gratify every luxurious whim, are the best customers -of beauty doctors, who try to erase the earmarks of old age by -"treating" the skin and the hair. Doctoring the effects instead of -trying to remove the cause of old age never has been, and never can be, -really successful. You cannot repair the ravages of age on the outside. -You must remove the cause, which is in the mind, in the heart. When the -affections are marbleized, when one ceases to be sympathetic and helpful -and interested in life, the ravages of old age will appear in spite of -all the beauty doctors in the world. - -I know indolent wives of rich men, who cannot understand why they age so -rapidly in appearance when living such easy, care-free, worry-free -lives. They are puzzled to know why it is when they do not have to work, -when they have no cares, when their wants are all supplied without any -effort of theirs, they do not retain their youthful appearance many -years longer than they do. The fact is those women stagnate, and nothing -ages one faster than mental and physical stagnation. Work, useful -employment of some sort, is the price of all real growth, of all real -human expansion. He, or she, who indulges in continuous idleness pays -the price in constant deterioration, physical, mental and moral. A ship -lying idle in the wharf will rot and go to destruction much more rapidly -than a ship at sea in constant use. Every force in nature seems to -combine in corroding, destroying the unused thing, the idle person. - -Work, love, kindness, sympathy, helpfulness, unselfish interest--these -are the eternal youth essences. These never age, and if you make friends -with them they will act like a leaven in your life, enriching your -nature, sweetening and ennobling your character, and prolonging your -youth even to the century mark. - -We are learning that the fabled fountain of youth lies in ourselves; is -in our own mentality. Perpetual rejuvenation and renewal are possible -through right thinking. We look as old as we think and feel, because -thought and feeling maintain or change our appearance in exact -accordance with their persistence or their variations. It is impossible -to appear youthful and remain young unless we feel young. Youthful -thinking should be a life habit. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -OUR ONENESS WITH INFINITE LIFE - - He lives best and most who gives God his greatest opportunity in - him. If we only knew how to live and move and have our being in - Him, to be conscious of this every instant, we should then know - what true living means. We should be satisfied, for we should then - awake in His likeness. - - "Deep within every heart that has not dulled the sense of its - inner vision is the belief that we are one with some great - unknown, unseen power; and that we are somehow inseparably - connected with the Infinite Consciousness." - - It is a mental law that thoughts and convictions can only attract - their kind. A hatred thought is a hatred magnet and the longer we - harbor it, the more steadily we contemplate it, focus our minds - upon it, the larger and more powerful the hatred magnet becomes. - - -In the early days of the great European war a Jewish soldier, in the -first line of a Russian battalion, engaged in a man to man fight with an -Austrian in the opposing battalion. In their desperate encounter the -Russian Jew drove his bayonet through the breast of his opponent. As the -latter, an Austrian Jew, fell mortally wounded, with his dying breath -he gasped the Hebrew prayer, which begins, "Hear, O Israel." The -Russian, realizing that he had killed a brother Jew, overcome with -horror, fell fainting on the battlefield. When he regained consciousness -he was a raving lunatic. - -When will men realize that we are all brothers; that we are all members -of the same great human family, children of the same great -Father-Mother-God. When will we see that though oceans and continents -divide us, though we may speak different tongues, may differ in race, -color and creed, yet we are so closely related in thought and motive -that our deepest, most vital interests are identical. - -Time and again despite all outward differences has that invisible bond -of union which binds mankind into one great family manifested itself -even on the battlefield. There men who have sabered or shot at and -wounded each other have become fast friends and learned to feel their -brotherhood. Many and many a time has it happened that soldiers who had -been bitter enemies in battle and had tried in every way to kill each -other, have found while convalescing side by side that they were really -one in sympathy and feeling, brothers at heart and did not know it. If -these men had known and seen into one another's soul before the battle -as they had afterwards in the hospital they never could have been -induced to fire at or to try to injure one another. - -In spite of our failures, our blunders, our crimes, the nations are -coming closer and closer together. Scientific discoveries, marvelous -inventions, the extended use of steam and electricity, the conquest of -the air, all these are fast welding the interests of mankind and -bringing into close and intimate relation the most distant countries of -the globe. The Occident and the Orient are no longer at the ends of the -earth. They are beginning to know and to respect each other, and to -learn each from the other. They are beginning to realize in its largest -sense the truth of Kipling's utterance: - - "But there is neither East nor West, Border, nor Breed, nor Birth, - When two strong men stand face to face, tho' they come from the ends - of the earth." - -Scientists are piling up proof after proof of the unity, not only of -mankind, but of everything in the universe, of the oneness of all life. -They are demonstrating that there is but one substance, one eternal -force or essence in the universe, and that all we see is but a varying -expression of it. Everything about us is merely a modification, a change -of form of this universal substance, just as electricity is a -manifestation of force in various forms--in its unchained power in -rending giant trees and destroying huge buildings, and as harnessed by -man in moving trains, in lighting our homes, in furnishing heat for -cooking and in many other domestic and industrial devices. - -The lesson of lessons for us to learn from this is our inseparable union -with the Creator of life, that everlasting, eternal unity of spirit, -that oneness with the Father which Christ came to teach. - -"I and the Father are one." "I am the vine, ye are the branches." We are -as closely united one to the other, and all to the Father as are the -branches to the parent stem. When we are conscious of our union, of our -co-partnership with the Infinite, we feel an added power, just as the -branch feels the force of the life currents flowing into it from the -vine. Severed from the parent stem the same branch would not feel so -confident. It would soon find that of itself it could do nothing; and in -a short time it would wither and die. - -The moment we pluck a flower from its stem it begins to wilt and fade -because it is separated from the source of its life. Cut off from the -great chemical laboratory of Nature, from the creative, miracle-working -energy of the sun, the soil, and the atmosphere, it dies within a few -hours. - -The moment we are cut off from our Divine Source we begin to wither, -shrivel and die. As long as we remain separate nothing can stop this -fatal blighting process. When we are not fed from our Source we are like -the branch severed from the parent vine, like the flower plucked from -its mother stem. - -My experience has shown that people who, from different causes, feel cut -off from connection with the Divine Source of things suffer intensely -from fear. They are filled with a vague, but overmastering terror which -presses upon them with greater force because it is unseen, unknown. They -dimly feel that like meteors in the sky which have passed beyond the -controlling gravity governing the other heavenly bodies, they are -separate, unrelated human atoms without assurance that they are under a -protective, guiding, sustaining power. - -Victims of extreme nervous diseases are often overwhelmed with a sense -of utter isolation, of being cut off from every sustaining force, and -they are terror stricken, just as a child who has lost its way, and -knows not where to turn. Temporarily, and in a lesser degree, people who -are terrified in a thunder storm and rush to a cellar, anywhere to hide -themselves from threatened danger, suffer from this feeling of -separation, of aloneness. - -All who are affected in this way would be greatly benefited by dwelling -on such Biblical passages as, "In Him we live and move and have our -being," "The Father in me and I in the Father." These are strictly -scientific truths. We could not live or move or have any being apart -from the Power that made us, that sustains and supports us, and the -consciousness of this gives a steadying, buttressing sense of security -and safety that nothing else can. - -Our individual strength comes from our conscious oneness with -Omnipotence, just as our national or corporate strength is derived from -union with one another. Each human being is like a drop of water in the -ocean. He is not independent. He cannot work alone. Consciously or -unconsciously he is a part of the masses all around him. He is touched -by other water drops on every side, and his existence, his success is -largely dependent upon his union with the others. Even if a drop of the -ocean could separate itself from the mass and should try to live its own -life in its own way it would soon cease to exist as a drop. A man cannot -accomplish much alone. His success depends on his union with other men. -His dignity and strength are reënforced by the organization or -association of which he is a unit, as a cable is reënforced by the sum -of the strength of its separate wires. - -"Nature," says Humboldt, "is Unity in diversity of manifestation, one -stupendous whole, animated by the breath of life." When we come into -conscious realization of the truth that we are a part, the most -important part, of the stupendous whole created by God, and that we are -working in coöperation with Him, we will come into possession of a power -and dignity which will make our lives sublime. - -The greatest minds of all ages have drawn their strength from the -invisible Source, from their vital connection with the Power which -creates, and works through every one of us. They have also believed in -the great mission of the race; believed in a divine plan running through -the universe which works for righteousness, and shapes the destiny of -the race. This faith in the Godward movement of the great human current -has characterized even those who did not openly profess any religious -faith. Their belief in the divinity of humanity has been a strong factor -in their character, and the root source of their power. - -This same faith, this unquestioned confidence in the divine cosmic -Intelligence, has given more comfort, has brought more peace of mind, -and happiness to vast multitudes of human beings than any other thing. -Indeed it is the only thing that can bring us true peace, enduring -happiness. - -There is something beside brain force needed to make a man a real -constructive power in the world, and that is his divine connection, his -being in the current which runs Godward. - -Without this essential, notwithstanding all that the mind and the body -can do for us, we feel a void in our being, a great lack, a longing, a -yearning for something, we know not what. Without this, even though we -have the most complete physical and mental equipment, we are like a new -electric car, ready for service, thoroughly equipped in every detail, -except the trolley pole, which makes the connection with the electric -current. Completion, satisfaction, divine energy can only come from -attuning ourselves to something beyond the physical and the mental -plane. We must put up our trolley pole and tap the infinite Source of -Power or else we are, so far as true progress is concerned, in the -position of the car that is not connected with the motor force that -alone gives it power to move forward. We must tap the divine current -running Godward through contemplation, through prayer, through noble -deeds, unselfish service, honest endeavor to live up to our best. We can -not make connection with Divine Power through any selfish cause, any -greedy deed. - -It is a strange thing that human beings will take the chances of cutting -themselves off from this mighty current which runs truthward, -justiceward, and Godward, and try to make a substitute of their own puny -strength. - -Yet every time we consciously do wrong, every time we depart from the -truth, every time we commit a dishonest, unworthy act, do a mean, -contemptible thing, we separate ourselves from this current and lessen -the omnipotent grip upon us. We break our connection and become a prey -to all sorts of fears and doubts. - -Some one has truly said that "when a man has committed an evil act he -has attached himself to sorrow." Because of the unity of all life, he -has established relationship between himself and the whole human current -of vicious influences; he has made connection with all the forces in the -universe that conspire to drag him down, to draw him still further away -from the Creator and Inspirer of all good. - -The converse is equally true. Let a man do a good deed, commit himself -to a noble work, and all the creative, uplifting forces will rush to his -aid. He will be reënforced by the added power of all others working in -the same spirit, on the same plane. - -All good things vibrate in unison; they belong to the same family. So -all bad things vibrate in unison, and belong to one family. Attract one -of them and you attract all the others because they are on the same -plane. - -A discouraged, despondent mood, for example, makes connection with the -whole discouraged and despondent family, the whole failure army, and -when we make this connection our entire being is adjusted to the gloomy, -discouraged vibration. If we harbor the poverty thought, the fear of -coming to want we unite ourselves with all the poverty vibrations in the -universe, and whatever has an affinity with poverty rushes toward us -through the current we have established. - -On the self same principle, let one think cheerful, optimistic thoughts, -let him make connections with the current of opulence, of the generous, -overflowing abundance supply of the Creator and he allies himself with -all the helpful, productive, creative forces in existence. - -At one time it was thought that we could get no knowledge or -impressions excepting through the five senses, but we know now that -there are many other avenues by which we communicate with one another. -There is a mental, a spiritual communication which is more intimate, -more real than any we can make by physical contact or expression. We can -sit beside those who are in sympathy with us for hours without touching -them, without a word being spoken, without a look, and yet enjoy the -sweetest and most delightful converse. We are conscious that our minds -are intercommunicating in a deeper, more subtle, satisfying manner than -is possible by means of physical contact or through the senses. - -In fact, there are many occasions in life so sacred that we feel mere -words would profane, distress, disturb rather than help or comfort. We -are aware that they are too coarse to convey the finest sentiments, that -they are too bungling, too awkward to carry the expressions of sympathy, -of love back and forth from soul to soul that are in tune with each -other. - -The message of love teaches that the "love of life is a single heart -beating through God, and you and me." "One life runs through all -creation's veins." - -The mind sees beauties which the physical eye never beholds. The mental -ear hears harmonies, melodies which the auditory nerve is too gross to -perceive. The soul through its closer union with God receives -perceptions which even the mind cannot comprehend. - -By means of this divine connection through the Great Within of ourselves -we can accumulate power that will revolutionize our lives. Right here in -our own being we can loose streams of energy infinitely more potent than -any physical power. - -We know that the great cosmic ether everywhere about us is filled with -divine vibrations, charged with spiritual force, and omniscient -intelligence which are always waiting to flood our minds when we make -the right connections and are ready to receive them. - -This cosmic ether or universal substance is the source of all supply, as -well as of that divine power, which most people shut out of their lives -because they do not know how to unite themselves with it. They -resolutely shut their minds to the divine inflow by refusing to believe -in anything that is not demonstrable through the senses. - -Most of us are very skeptical of the reality of the unseen. We are -doubting Thomases, who can be convinced only by the material, by that -which we can see or feel. - -If children could only be trained in a different atmosphere; if they -could be made at the start to reach out mentally into the unseen -realities and utilize them for their own purposes, just as we mold and -fashion material things, there would be comparatively few failures in -life. - -It was intended that man should live in perpetual contact with the Power -that created him, that would keep him in tune with all that is healthful -and good and pure and true, but, unfortunately, we are constantly losing -our connection and thus making ourselves impotent, weak, when we might -be potent, strong, creative. To live in wireless communication with the -divine current that runs through all creation is to be in touch with -Divinity indeed, is to be divinely successful. - -No power outside of ourselves can cut us off from communication with -this current. Even the worst criminals, those who have been cut off from -human society may still be one with their Source if they choose. The -Creator has not cut them off, has not discarded them. They have broken -the connection themselves. The Creator would not blast with a -thunderbolt, would not crush with his wrath the most profane wretch that -ever lived, even though he should curse Him for creating him. The great -love of the Father would still sustain him, keep him alive, feed him, -permit the same beautiful sun to shine upon him as upon the greatest -saint. All the blessings of nature would still be there for his -enjoyment, would be given as freely to him as to the most devoted -worshiper. - -If we could only grasp this superb truth, our oneness with the great -creative principle of the universe it would transform the race. It would -banish fear. It would bring peace and harmony into our lives. It would -give us a sense of security and satisfaction and happiness such as we -never before knew. Until we realize our unity with God and one another -we can never grow to our full stature; we can never utilize the manifold -powers at our command. - -Nor shall we ever reach that glorified manhood which matches the -Creator's pattern of the possible man until it is ingrained into every -child's nature that he was not only created by his Father-Mother-God, -but that he is forever after vitally connected with Him, that He is -nearer to him than his own hands and feet, closer than his own -heartbeat. This oneness of the child with his Maker is the principle -which must ultimately mold the race into perfect beings. - - -THE END - - - * * * * * - - - - -THE MARDEN INSPIRATIONAL BOOKS - - - Be Good to Yourself - Every Man a King - Exceptional Employee - Getting On - He Can Who Thinks He Can - How to Get What You Want - Joys of Living - Keeping Fit - Love's Way - Making Life a Masterpiece - Miracle of Right Thought - Optimistic Life - Peace, Power, and Plenty - Progressive Business Man - Pushing to the Front - Rising in the World - Secret of Achievement - Self-Investment - Selling Things - Training for Efficiency - Victorious Attitude - Woman and the Home - Young Man Entering Business - -SUCCESS BOOKLETS - - An Iron Will Ambition Cheerfulness - Good Manners Do it to a Finish Character - Economy Opportunity Thrift - Power of Personality - -SPECIAL BOOKS AND BOOKLETS - - Hints for Young Writers I Had a Friend - Success Nuggets Why Grow Old? - Not the Salary but the Opportunity - -_Send for Publishers' Special Circular of these Great Books_ - - - - -Letters to Dr. Marden concerning - -Pushing to the Front - - - =What President McKinley Said= - - "It cannot but be an inspiration to every boy or girl who reads it, - and who is possessed of an honorable and high ambition. Nothing - that I have seen of late is more worthy to be placed in the hands - of the American youth." - WILLIAM MCKINLEY. - - =An English View= - - "I have read 'Pushing to the Front' with much interest. It would be - a great stimulus to any young man entering life." SIR JOHN LUBBOCK. - - =A Powerful Factor= - - "This book has been a powerful factor in making a great change in my - life. I feel that I have been born into a new world." - ROBERT S. LIVINGSTON, _Deweyville, Tex._ - - =The Helpfulest Book= - - "'Pushing to the Front' is more of a marvel to me every day. I read - it almost daily. It is the helpfulest book in the English language." - MYRON T. PRITCHARD, _Boston, Mass._ - - =A Practical Gift= - - "It has been widely read by our organization of some fifteen hundred - men. I have personally made presents of more than one hundred - copies." - E. A. EVANS, _President Chicago Portrait Co._ - - =Its Weight in Gold= - - "If every young man could read it carefully at the beginning of his - career it would be worth more to him than its weight in gold." - R. T. ALLEN, _Billings, Mon._ - -THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY - - - - -PRESS REVIEWS OF - -The Optimistic Life - - - =Holds the Attention= - - "The title of this book attracts the attention, and the contents - rivet it." - _The Watchman._ - - =Rich in Thought and Suggestion= - - "A book rich in noble thought. Few are those who will not wince - under the good-natured thrusts that Dr. Marden gives their foibles - and weaknesses, but few also are they who may not find much helpful - suggestion here." - _San Francisco Chronicle._ - - =Strengthens Spirit and Body= - - "Dr. Marden has done an immense amount of good by this practical - advice and encouraging insistence upon the essentials of happiness. - The spirit of the toiler needs strengthening quite as much as his - body." - _Christian Advocate._ - - =Its Wholesome Brain Fare= - - "This volume contains quantities of plain, wholesome brain fare for - the misanthrope and the cynic." - _Des Moines Register._ - - =Both Uplifting and Necessary= - - "'Do not look on life through smoked glasses' is Dr. Marden's motto. - He believes so enthusiastically in cheerfulness, energy, and - kindness that he can almost persuade one to believe there is no - necessity for old age, sorrow, or discouragement. Still there is no - doubt but his message is not only uplifting but necessary." - _Indianapolis News._ - -THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY - - - - -OPINIONS OF THE - -Progressive Business Man - - - =Sound, Practical Suggestions= - - "Contains a lot of sound, practical suggestions worth considering - by those responsible for the conduct of business enterprises." - _New York Times._ - - =Good Business Advice= - - "One of the best books of business advice ever published." - _Albany Argus._ - - =Worthy of High Commendation= - - "A book that contains such valuable information--and there is no - doubt about this being the quality of its contents--ought to be - widely read and highly prized. It is worthy of high commendation." - _Religious Telescope._ - - =An Inspiration and a Guide= - - "A work that should be in the hands of every business man who - desires to promote the welfare of his business. It will prove both - an inspiration and a guide." - _Christian Work and Evangelist._ - - =Valuable Information= - - "The information in this book is so valuable that it ought to have - the widest possible reading. We unhesitatingly commend it to every - business man." - _Trojan Messenger._ - - =Sane and Helpful= - - "Like all the Marden books, it contains a sane and helpful - philosophy of right conduct." - _Des Moines Capital._ - -THOMAS Y. CROWELL COMPANY - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's The Victorious Attitude, by Orison Swett Marden - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VICTORIOUS ATTITUDE *** - -***** This file should be named 41901-8.txt or 41901-8.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/9/0/41901/ - -Produced by D Alexander and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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