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Individual Mastery
How
to make the most of yourself
Of health, and wealth, and wisdom,
You may have a liberal share,
If you will be but guided
By the words these pages bear.
Dedicated
To those who want a hope that chears,
And banishes their doubts and fears
Of being able to succeed
In getting everything they need.
How
to think
You are conscious that you are a
personality, with powers to think,
feel, and act. Remember: ´´ As a man thinketh in
his heart,
so is he.`` To learn to think properly is a very important matter, for
your acts will be like your thoughts. Your life will be of the same
character as your thoughts, and your external apperance at ease and in
motion will be determined by your thoughts.
In
this respect man differs from the lower animals. From his earliest
infancy he thinks, as is seen in the child on the mothers knee, wich
very early shows it’s dicriminations. These dicriminations
are
due to thought, for it cannot discriminate without thinking. As the
child begins to observe, it’s curiosity is aroused, its
thoughts
begin to flow, and are expressed in the many questions asked by the
babe before it ca speak plainly. It is a pity that this spirit of
questioning does not stay with the man all through life, for then he
would be wiser and better developed. The weakness of the modern man is
tha he will not think, or allow time for thought. With the rush of
business, the reading of the daily papers, and his efforts to secure
some little amusement, he believes there is no time for thought, no
time for fix the mind upon any special subject for even an hour.
This
desire to avoid the responsibility, work, and weariness of
thinking on business, politics, and religion, has caused him to try to
unload upon the efficiency agent, the political boss, and the priest or
minister, the work of thinking for him. And yet men waste days and
years in idle games and useless employment out of wich no profit come
The
priceless moments of each day
The
foolishly let pass away,
To
come again no more;
While
they might in each golden hour,
By
thought develop mental power,
Acquiring
useful lore.
Men have become brilliant
writers, learned scientists, gifted
musicians, and great inventors by using their so-called spare moments
to advantage. Each chose a thought and concentrated upon it and turned
the hours that might have been wasted into coins for futur use.
Concentration on some thought for even a short time each day will work
miracles in your life. But without concentration you cannot hope to
accomplish much in this world.
If you
would be a success at anything, get an idea, concentrate upon
it, make it a part of your being, and it will produce; it will bring
forth.
Concentration
made Thomas A. Edison a marvelous inventor, J.J Hill a
powerful railroad owner, Theodore Roosevelt an expert statesman, John
Wanamaker a merchant prince, and U.S. Grant a mighty general.
A
distinguished genious and inventor of our country was asked by a
clergyman if his great successes in working out his inventions were not
due largely to inspiration. He replied that about ten per cent. Was due
to inspiration, and the balance to concentration and perspiration.
Concentration brings forth perspiration, and without this combination
there can be no great success in any enterprise whatever.
Thinking without pupose is like
drifting at sea. Your landing is uncertain, and your safety doubtful.
If you
would gain success with any idea, you must concentrate upon it,
for all the successful men of all ages have been men of concentration.
They were men of one idea wich so filled their minds that it excluded
every other. But this mode of thinking, you can create health, wealth,
and happiness. Think of health until it will be impossible for a
disease thought to enter. Think of prosperity until every cloud of
adversity disapears. Think of happiness until a continuous smile lights
up your face even when you are asleep. The power that created you ever
waits to heal all your diseases, relieve all your pains, banish all
your fears, kill all your worries, and give you perfect health,
abundant prosperity, and happiness beyond mesure.
If
poor, weak, sickly thoughts would try to crowd into your mind, get
rid of them by concentrating upon some high- class ideal, full of life,
beaty, and vigor. Ideals mould our thoughts, build our characters, and
shape our bodies. The more we concentrate upon our ideal, the more like
it we will become. This is an absolute truth. Oncentrate upon an ideal
that is rough, coarse, and vulgar, as the savage, and you will be like
your ideal. Concentrate upon that wich is weak, sickly, and delicate,
and you will not be vigourous and strong. Concentrate upon an ideal of
health, harmony, and beaty, and you will become more healthy,
harmonious, and beautiful with every added year. Everyone has some
image wich his higher consciousness holds before him, inviting him to
copy. Be sure this image in your case is one that will lift you into
greater freedom, more harmonious living, and a happier mental and
physical condition.
Some say: ´´
I cannot help my thoughts.`` But this is a
mistake, for you can control your thinking as well as your acting. You
can dictate to your brain as you would to a child, and compel its
obedience with greater alacrity than you can that of any child. Start
every morning and give your brain orders for the day, as you would your
servant or amanuensis, and see that it obeys you. In a short time you
will be surprised at its promptness and the power this will give you in
any field of operation.
The
state holds you responsible for your acts. Your thoughts are the
authors of your acts, hence the responsibility of thinking and
controling your thoughts.
Master
your mind. You can, if you will. Then you will master most of
the troubles of your life, and bring to every day’s
operations a
success, satisfaction, and joy you never before experienced.
Perception
Now, if we train the mind to
think, we must train the eye to perceive,
for with the eye we take the objets we are to think about.
An
attentive perception properly directed may be considered as one of
the most important elements in acquiring knowledge, and there is no
attribute of greater value in training the mind than a live perception
turned into useful channels.
A wide
awake perceptive faculty is necessary if we would succeed in
winning anything in this world. There can be no real progress without
it.
Man is
born with this faculty, as every mother and father has dicovered
by the worrying interrogations of the small boy, who often gets on the
nerves with his unanswerable queries.
It is
unfortunate that this faculty is allowed to go to sleep in middle
life and old age. How few people ever gather the information they
should from their observations. They pass through the historical and
most distinguished parts of this world as they would through a dark
tunnel, never bringing anything out on the other side. I went through
one of the most famous museums in the world with a friend whose only
remark was that the stuffed monkeys were very natural. I have stood
gazing in admiration at a wonderful painting and heard people say:
´´ It was a waste of money putting such a rich
frame on
chromo.`` People visit great exhibitions, spend days in the various
halls, and leave without any mental pictures of the wonderful sights
wich could be stored up in the memory for futur use. There are persons
who can pass through a magnificent garden where the flowers in all
their beauty and variety of color are sending forth their sweet
fragrance on the summer breezes, and never see the real beauty of the
handiwork of the Great Painter.
The
boy who would succeed in school, shop, store, or office must have a
live perception. The man who would win in business or profession must
be wide awake to observe. The soldier who would distinguish himself on
land or sea must be alive to his environment. A live perception is
necessary to the artist, the writer, the traveler, the student, and the
teacher.
Books
are all right in their place, but they never can and never will
fill the place of perception, for the knowledge wich a man receives
through his observations will be more thorough and lasting than that
obtained from books alone. Some of the most intelligent and
broad-minded men I ever met did not attend any school and had read very
few books. They had received their knowledge through their perceptive
faculties, and could describe the important places in the different
countries with an accuracy that would surprise even an expert historian.
If a
mand depends upon books only for hisknowledge of countries,
individuals, cities, animals, birds, natural scenery, and many other
subjects and objects, he will have very imperfect ideas and conceptions
of each and all of them.
Book
knowledge supplemented and corroborated by perception is the most
interesting, perfect, and permanent.
If you
would train yourself to have and intelligent perception, take an
individual for a subject. Descibe the face upon paper; pay particular
attention to details, such as the forehead, nose, eyes, cheeks, chin,
mouth, and other points wich interest you, and go over the description
again and again. In this way you will know more about this individual
in a few days than you would in twenty years living beside him.
Memory
We have learned that through the
faculty of perception we have acquired
very much information, but we must learn to keep the mental pictures we
have observed or formed from our perceptions. It is not enough to view
a beatiful scene and have it vanish from our mind, thus leaving use
nothing for future use. We must remember it, put it away on
the
shelf of our minds, so that we may reach for it at any time in the
future when we need it.
The
faculty of perception is the useful to us only through the memory.
Perception and memory go hand in hand. The perceiving acquiring, and
storing of knowledge would be useless labor if we did not posses the
power to bring out and display our found of knowledge when we desired.
We must have perceived anything very clearly to remember it, and the
clearer the perception is, the better will be the impression on the
mind and the more readily will the scene be recalled.
We
should train the mind to paint pictures of scenery or objects we
wish to remember. The best builders are those who have the building
constructed in their minds before they start the foundation. If we
would remember a fact, we should assciate it with some old one we
already have in store, and this act will serve to concentrate attention
and thus secure it in the chambers of the mind.
One of the best methods with
wich to train the memory is comparison, if
the subjects we wish to remeber have any likeness to an old fact with
wich we are familiar.
If we
wish to remember a name, associate it with some other name that
is well known to us, and we will be able to recall it very readily.
Often we can recall a name by going over the alphabet, and when we
reach the letter that stands as the initial for this name, we
immidiately remember it. Or if the fact we wish to remember belongs to
a certain class, we easily remeber it as an individual of that class.
But in
order to have any fact retained by the memory, it must be
carefully thought over and put away in a recess of the mind and taken
down often so as to become familiar with it.
There
is no modern plan for improving the memory with a few lessons so
as to produce wonderful results, and all claims made in this respect
are of no value whatever. Only by care, patience, and continual
practice can a good memory be developed.
You
might as well expect a good singer to be produced by a few lessons.
It takes time to train the voice, and then it takes time to keep the
voice in condition. So with the memory. It is only by training and
constant practice that the memory can be made to retain facts that can
be reproduced at will. Repeatedly handling a fact will make the mind so
familiar with it that at will it can be reproduced. As a student can be
so familiar with his books that he can go to his library even in the
dark and take down the book he desires, so may a man with facts he has
stored in his mind take down any one he desires at any time.
As we naturally accomplish much
more when our tasks are to our liking,
we should endeavor to pursue some line of study that is very
interesting and thus would be more easily remembered. But in order to
retain our knowledge, we must fix our attention upon it, for without
attention the impressions upon the brain cells will not be very sharp
and thus will not be lasting.
Reading
and study are useless if we do not fix our attention upon the
subject matter. It is a common saying that when a student passes up
from one year’s course to another in college, he forgets what
he
has already gone over; and as a stupid, careless traveler may go around
the world and bring back nothing but a hazy ´´ It
is
wonderful,`` so the young man or woman may go through college and bring
out nothing but a conglomerate that is useless.
Much
of the so-called education of to-day unfits the mind for real work
of service in life, because the student not only does not get mind
training, but gets no fund of knowledge wich can be used in the years
to come. His mind is like a sieve; every thought and fact passes
through it. This is the reason that a great nuber of college graduates
are paractically useless in the business world. Drifting from place to
place, they are unable to earn enough for clothing and food, and thus
bring reproach upon higher education. Every large city has a list of
useless college men who have not been able to fit into any recess in
the great building of the brotherhood of man. They are like the broken
bricks and splinted timbers at a building, wich have been thrown aside
as waste material. Heaps of human waste material are cast away every
year by the business world and progresive societies as useless.
Better read one book or study
one subject and master it so that it can
be utilized in the future, than go through half a dozen college courses
and be unfit for the tasks of life.
Imagination
Another faculty that should be
cultivated is the imagination. Some
people think the imagination should not receive much attention because
it sometimes runs wild into delusions, They scoff at the man who builds
castles in the air wich never can be put upon stone foundations on the
earth. But it is a proved fact that a man cannot be great who has not a
cultivated imagination.
No
painter, architect, designer, builder, or business man can be a
success who has not a good imagination that enables him to see the
picture, design, or plan in his mind before it is placed on paper or
appears as reality.
It is
impossible for a man to be a good mecanic without the operation
of the imagination wich sees the intricate machine completed and
running before he lifts a tool or turns a lathe.
He
must make a mental picture of his work before he does it. If not, he
will fail.
The
architect erects his building in his imagination before he puts his
plan on paper or has a tool lifted for construction. The successful
story writer beholds the subject which he is about to describe, live,
and act before he takes a pen or writes a line. The landscape gardener
sees his whole layout before a shovel of earth is moved or a flower is
planted. If you would cultivate your imagination, draw a picture in
your mind, put it upon paper, describe it minutely, wether forest,
river, plain, or any object or scene. Write it over and over again, and
you will be surprised what a mental painter you will become.
The great engineer saw the
Panama Canal in his imagination before a
rock was moved or a spade was used. The archtect saw the sky-scraper
lift its lofty head into the clouds before he made a plan or drew a
specification. All the great leaders of civilization were men of strong
imagination, and their faith in the castles they built in their minds
constructed cities and real palaces on sea and on land. They built the
mighty ships, bridged the rivers, tunnelled the mountains, spoke around
the earth, and fathered all the great enterprises of our civilization.
The
most useful in this world are those who can look into the futur and
see the things are to be wich shall emancipate the man, elevate the
woman, and lift humanity into light, happiness, and contentment.
The
extremely conservative man would repress all imagination and call
its picture impractible. Thus he has disparaged the advance
propositions of all the great engineers and inventors of the past
century.
Were
it not for the imagination, we would not have the telephone,
electric light, wireless telegraphy, and the hundreds of other modern
conviniences that have made living a pleasure and comfort in civilized
lands. Through the operation of the imagination, many a poor man has
lifted himself out of the dingy shop to head a gigantic enterprise with
millions of capital.
Think of the great men of the
past fifty years in this beautiful land
of ours that have risen from insignificant positions and locations amid
the jeers and scoffs of pessimistic companions, to surprise the world
with their startling inventions wich have been blessings to mankind.
All
the great inventions are the results of the seed pictures in the
mind. The imagination is the father of all architechture and art, great
public works, and great nations. How much of our own beautiful country
is the result of the vivid dreams of Lincoln, Washington, and other
leading statesmen, whose minds saw this mighty nation rising on this
continent, attrating the world, standing above the nations of
the
earth financially, industriously, morally, and leading all mankind to
that wich is great, lovely, and good!
The
most delightful and cheering faculty we have is the imagination. It
lifts us out of the common drudgery of life and puts us in an Eden of
beaty, where the air is laden with the fragrance of the flowers, and
where fruit may be picked from a tree of life wich give us new
feelings, fresh desires, and bright hopes for the great future. How
precious is this faculty that elevates us above the trials, troubles,
and perplexing environments of to-day into the bright, cheerful,
healthy enrichments of to-morrow!
Cultivate
your imagination; encourage it; try ti makes its pictures
living ones, lasting ones; for as your futur be. You will never rise
above them. Your hopes and anticipations will never be beyond them, and
your life will never be more beautiful than teh mental pictures you
make of it. Thus you should aspire hight, anticipate great things, and
then aim for them. For it is the mental, creative power that will
ultimately lift man to his highest level and greatest achievement.
Our
mental operations create our conditions, and as the artist paints a
picture of life, love, and beaty, wich raises the beholder into the
spirit of the magnificent scene, so may you by your
mental attitude
raise yourself into conditions of health, love, joy, peace, and
prosperity never before enjoyed.
Health
Cultivate your imagination with
reference to your health. There is a
malady called ´´ IMAGINITUS `` wich means that
people who
are not ill imagine they are. If you think you are ill you will
certainly feel ill. People have been made very sick by being told their
appearance showed symptoms of a dangerous disease. Thoughts and
pictures affect the mind, and what depresses the mind disturbs the
digestive organs, the nervous system, and the circulation. Avoid
pictures of poverty, distress, and despair, if possible, and paint with
your mind pictures of health, life, love, and beaty.
Imaginitus
is the cause of most of the troubles and illness of mankind.
Its influence has kept great numbers in misery on earth and sends
thousands every year to premature graves.
The
imaginitus victim always sees dire happenings in the future, and
fears for his health, happiness, and prosperity. He seems to delight in
painting blue ruin pictures and looking into your face with a visage of
calamity. He loves to talk of sickness and death, and can see more
signs and symptoms of diseases than the medical profession has yet
discovered. He delights to pull down the shades in his room, to walk on
the dark side of the street, and to tell of the dreadful things that
have happened in the past, and may happen in the futur. He pictures the
monster fate clouding his brightest prospects, blasting all his hopes,
and snuffing out the sunshine of life itself. He thinks dark thoughts,
and thus his mental pictures must be dark and affect his hole being.
If you would have good digestion
and strong nerves, let your
imagination run in cheerful channels, increasing your faith, filling
you with hope, and relieving you of everything that would disturb your
comfort and peace.
You
were made to be healthy, properous, and happy, and if you believe
this, you will not fail to come into the possession of the good things
of this beatifull world. ´´For according to your
faith, be
it unto you.`` If you are a believer, you can lift yourself, if you
will, above the material conditions that you are in. In this respect I
am not advocating any special healing cult or cults, though I do not
condemn them in some of their teachings, for they have had a powerful
influence in the care and treatment of nervous diseases.
Numerous
cases in this country are witnesses to-day to the wonderful influence
of mind over matter.
Doctors
may laugh and sceptics may scoff at the many reported cures by
mental or faith healing, and say they are not genuine; but in this they
are mistaken, for faith healing is as old as man’s troubles.
That
people can lift themselves by faith above their nervous ailments, into
health and happiness, is no longer doubted by the broad-minded,
intelligent men and women of to-day, even in the medical profession.
Terrible
distressing maladies wich the united wisdom and experience of
competent physicians of the most advanced schools of medicine could not
cure have been relieved by the mental or faith healer, who lifted the
patient above the material and physical into the enjoyment of health
and happiness through the operation of the mind. And this is not new,
for long before we heard of the science healing cuts of to-day, there
were doctors who discovered the futility of using medicines to relieve
certaine nervous cases, and who gave those patients drugless
treatment with suggestions which proved successful in relieving their
troubles and bringing them back to the enjoyment of health and
happiness. The growth of mental healing has been so rapid in the
begining of this, the twentieth century, that the medical profession
has begun to look upon it with considerable favor and give it a place
in therapeutics,
Numerous cases are known in many
parts of the world wich have been
raised out of conditions of suffering and despair into new life,
health, and constant joy by the exercise of the mind. By thoughts
divine, we may ascend.
Unto the promised land,
Our birthright to possess,
And in a healthy body stand
All free from pain and stress.
Mind and body are a team that
always pull together, and if your mind is
full of sunny thoughts, producing cheer, your body will not be very ill.
The
influence of the mind on digestion, blood circulation, and sleep is
well known. An unexpected disaster, or trouble, distressing new, or
unfavorable expression by some friend or physician about your
appearance will rob you of rest, unfit the organs of your
body
for their work, and destroy every useful effort wich you would like to
put forth. This being the case, you should banish fear from your mind
and the calamity peddler from your society, even though he comes with
pretended sympathy and free help for your thought-made troubles.
You
should especially avoid the advertised cure-all remedies and their
free trials, and the food faddist with his fasts and menus of easily
digested foods. They have been most successful promoters of fear,
doubt, insomnia, and indigestion.
Nourishing
food you must have and must eat daily if you would live, but
avoid the fadists with their conflicting menus, wich keep thousands of
nervous persons in quandaries all the time, not knowing what to eat and
what to avoid eating.
Banish
all fear-mongers from your mind and allow your intelligence to
do some work for you in selecting good, nourishing edibles wich you
will enjoy. Take mederate exercise in the beatiful sunshine. Choose
cheerful company only, and fill your mind with happy, healthy thoughts,
Then
life will be a pleasure here,
When
you are freed from doubt and fear.
Indigestion with its attendant
troubles is said to be the most common
aggravating enemy of man, and yet he may be freed from it easily, and
live free from it. Only the worried, thoughtless, lazy, careless
individual will be troubled with this disturber of man’s
conforts.
If you
are troubled at any time with indigestion, you will not have far
to look for the cause of it, and if you will use the intelligence your
Creator gave, you will discover that you do not have to go to a drug
store or a doctor for a remedy.
The will
Next
we will consider the will in its relation to our character. We all
know what it is to will, but how and when to use the will as a power in
our lives is the important fact.
The
will may be defined in many ways, and by many terms, but they will
all result in the same conclusion, that the will is the mental dynamo
that drives the man. It is seen very prominently in every successful
man and woman. It is written in the face of every great captain of
industry. It flashes from the eye of every great soldier and statesman.
It is the chief distinction between men as we see them in the business
world. The successful man has willed to succeed, while the failure has
refused to exercise his will at the opportune time, when a positive
decision was necessary.
Our
success or non-success will be according to how we have willed. The
Great Teacher said: “Be it unto thee even as thou
wilt,”
and this is as true to-day as it was two thousand years ago.
Your
mesure of knowledge, health, and happiness will be according to
what you have willed. Many a man of fine intellectual power, cultivated
perception, and brilliant thoughts, lacks decision and the power to
say: “ Yes, I will, this moment.”
Lack
of will power is sure to bring failure to our daily plans and execises,
and will reduce the efficiency of our efforts.
A
small boy was told by his teacher to use his will in getting up his
lessons. He replied that he did not have any will, as his mother had
said she had broken it when he was a year old. It is a great mistake to
try to break any person’s will, even that of a child. It
should
be guided into useful channels, for without it man is useless.
A
decisive will is a very important mental phenomenon that should be
cultivated. The habit of postponing everything when the mind sees the
wisdom of acting is ruinous to mental character, health and prosperity.
All other mental faculties lie behind the will and await its action.
Man
who fears to say “ I will” accomplishes nothing of
importance in the world and lives a drone-like existence. The
determination wich enables a man to say “ I’ll do
it”
is what sets one man above another in business, politics, and religion.
Many a man of very ordinary ability makes a great leader because of the
power of his will to act without delay. Will makes a man a giant among
men, lifting him above his fellows, and changing the whole course of
his life. Will ever leads and controls in every society, cooperation,
and business, in every city, state, and nation, and turns the
impossible into the easy task; for nothing seems to be impossible to
the man who believes and wills.
Whether
the man be a general, a statesman, or a captain of industry,
the will must assert itself that the man may lead and govern.
Difficulties may be great, obstacles may be many, and barriers may be
high, but the man with a persistent will is sure to win. Persistent
willing is the distinguishing characteristic of all successful men.
Look at the warriors of American history, or the business giants of our
country who have risen from seclusion to the most prominent places in
this land by their positive persistent wills! And this does not mean
they went blindly ahead, but rather exercised common sense in the use
of their wills. They were satisfied they were right and courageously
pressed forward to victory.
Every
neighborhood has examples of such men, whose acts leave imprints
on the tablets of time, which can be read by the people of their day,
and will be by the generations yet unborn. Will power always makes
leaders. If you would be a leader, you must show determination and
assert your personality, for only by these means can you command the
respect of those around you. Get the habit of learning upon
others and depending upon their thought and action, and you will never
have a personality, but will always be simply an attachment to society,
and you may not be a very ornamental attachment either.
If you
would develop your mental powers and be a real personality,
avoid doing always as others do. You are an individual and should
always assert yourself in every kind of society or business in wich you
are interested.
The
human hog whose dominant will would ride over the rights of others
is generally despised, but not more than the inspired creature who
never shows he has a mind of his own or a will to carry out anything.
Be an individual supreme in yourself. This is not easy at first, but
constant attention will develop you. Do correct things that are
difficult to perform, and you will grow stronger with every
act.
Nothing tends to develop the person who has patience and determined
will, as opposition, and as the man who rows up-stream makes his muscle
stronger by so doing, so the man who performs unpleasant tasks
increases his mental muscle, making him strong and ready for the
battles of life. A man never grows mentally, morally, or physically,
without labor or testing exercise; so you cannot have your faculties
grow and increase in power by always doing the enjoyable, easy things.
Some
people would remove all the obstacles from the pathway of man, so
that the good things of this world, health and prosperity, would come
to him without any strenuous effort on his part. By this plan many a
rich father, who rose from poverty, ruined his son, and many a
well-meaning mother spoiled her boy or girl. Make the young man and
woman hot-house plants, and they will be unhealthy weaklings in
business fields, amid the trying storms of competition, or under the
scorching sun of moral or social criticism.\any person can give time
and attention to an agreeable, enjoyable matter, but it takes will
power to face a subject wich may develop strong opposition.
Feelings
We
hear people almost every day give the excuse for not doing their
duty, saying: “I do not feel like it.” This excuse
has
killed great opportunities for many who might have been giant successes
in business and professions. It has blocked the way, impeded the
progress, and blasted the prospects of millions of persons, now
worthless, who should have been healthy, prosperous, and happy.
Many a
woman neglects to care for her health and appearance because she
does not feel like it. It takes time, patience, and will power to be
able to make an attractive appearance, and yet every woman, rich or
poor, may make herself attractive if she will. A clean, cheerful,
healthy, happy face is always attractive, and you may possess it if you
will. Pay the price of effort and time and you will have your reward.
Health
also demands that you give it time and attention, or it may
leave you, for, like a loving companion, it is very jealous of your
attentions to others things if you neglect its demands. Health will not
stay with you unless you treat it right. If you give all your time to
business cares and neglect to take an active interest in health or
allow it a place in your thoughts, it will refuse to be your companion
longer and leave you to mourn in loneliness and despair. You may enjoy
good health if you will think
of it, act for
it, and live for it.
Others
have feelings of pride that will not allow them to perform
certain kinds of honorable work by wich they might earn a
good
living. Some people would rather starve than employ their time
profitably in some business where they would have to soil their hands,
or solicit orders for a useful line of goods.
A
lawyer who could not make a living in his profession came to me for
advice as to what he had better do. I suggested to him a position as
salesman for a household article for wich he had secured the patent for
a client. “O,” he said, “ my dignity
would not allow
my to engage in such employment.” False pride is the curse of
many professional men. It blinds the minds, dwarfs the talents, fetters
the wills, and destroys the energies of those who otherwise might be
very influential and useful.
All
legitimate work is honourable, and the man who is starving or in
want, when he could get honourable employment at reasonable wages wich
he refuses because he dislikes the work, deserves little sympathy and
no gratuities. The business world always has a place for the man who is
ready to take hold of the first opportunity to work that is offered,
and is ready to promote the man who does his work in a highly
effiecient manner. Lack of efficiency is the real cause of many people
being out of employment, or being kept in menial positions. They are
wilfully incompetent. Wilful incompetency is seen in every vocation,
from the kitchen maid to the society leader, and from the street
sweeper to the bishop. In fact it is only a small minority who do their
work in an efficient manner. Incompleteness is the prominent
characteristic seen everywhere, in the kitchen, the shop, the store,
the court room, and the church. No trade or profession escapes it, and
this is the reason for the constant demand for efficient men and woman.
The stairway door is always open for the competent man or woman to
ascend, and the invitation to come up higher is written upon every step.
It is
a great mistake to allow your feelings to overcome you. The man
or woman who always acts on feelings will make numerous mistakes, cause
many troubles, and be unfaithful in the important duties of life.
Feelings without a strong mental check-rein are like the balky or
untamed steed wich throws the rider on the rocks. Large numbers of men
and women are thrown every day by acting according to their feelings,
regardless of profit, good sense, or judgment. They neglect duty,
disregard warnings, default in engagements, all of wich are
unprofitable and very injurious to mental character.
The
feelings of jealousy and envy are two of the worst enemies of the
human family. They are seen in every tribe, race, and nation. These
twin sisters of destruction are the most common, unreasonable,
blinding, damaging pests of our race, because they quickly change an
angel of love into a friend, a sane, intelligent being into a lunatic,
and an earthly paradise into a hell. They destroy health, wealth, and
wisdom without any reason whatever.
There
are those who envy others because of their wealth, their
clothing, their advantages, their associations, and their appearance.
But what does their envy yield them.. Nothing but misery of the most
aggravating character. And yet I have seen people wrought up with this
mischief-maker until their health was injured, their happiness
destroyed, and their business ruined.
Since
it will not bring you any profit, why should you envy any one
what he possesses.. If his wealth was obtained by honest means and is
being used in useful channels, you should admire him.
If his
possessions have been accumulated by the dishonest methods of an
ancestor who heaped up riches for his untried, undeveloped son to spend
in gratifying his animal appetites and desires, you should pity this
poor drone of society, who has been made useless and worthless in this
world by a foolish father who raised him for amusement and enjoyment
alone until death should end his career.
As
there is nothing to be gained and much to be lost by envy and
jealousy, you should drive these two spirits of darkness from your
mental chambers, and never permit them to be entertained or harboured
there for a moment.
Angry
passions are also responsible for much of the suffering and
unhappiness of man. They cause dyspepsia, apoplexy, insomnia, and
scores of other troubles wich harass the lives and prematurely end the
careers of many. But individual mastery is the power wich keeps the
mind at equilibrium, and is the most efficient qualification that any
mind can possess. It is independent of conditions and environments and
holds us in the face of fire and storm. It cows the
blustering
mob and frustrates the design of the most blatant demagogue in the
discussion of any public question.
It
brings satisfaction, peace, and power to its possessor, and wins the
admiration of the most hostile foe.
The
Biblical statement is that “ He that ruleth his own spirit is
greater than he that taketh a city.” This is absolutely true.
Feelings
are useful and a valuable asset when controlled by common
sense, judgement, and the will, and without them a man or a woman would
be a human iceberg, but they must always be the servant and never the
master of the man.
Every
faculty wich the Great Creator endowed man with was intended to
be used for his happiness. Thus the emotions, when properly controlled,
should elevate and cheer man and bring him into harmony with the divine.
Many
people complain of the lack of control of their feelings and
believe it is not always possible to master them. This is a shameful
admission for any man or woman to make. The laws of our land hold every
sane man responsible for his acts, but what he does without the consent
of his will is not his own act, but that of the power wich compelled
him. But no power can force us or control us without the consent of our
wills if we are free.
No one
can make us unhappy unless we are willing to allow him to do so,
and if we are linked to the Divine, Wich is our priviledge and our
duty, no condition or influence whatever can force us to be unhappy.
“If God,” the source of all happiness, “
be for us,
who can be against us”
When
we come into this harmony with the Divine and are conscious of
this great principle within us, wich is supreme over all material
things, we rise to the highest point of our efficiency, where nothing
can daunt us or make us afraid, and where the darkness clouds become
transparent and the loudest thunders music to our souls.
When
we are master of ourselves, as we should be, we will never allow a
thought to dwell in our minds that will disturb our peace. As we would
protect our homes from the robber, who would steal our valuables, so
should we protect our minds from destructive thoughts that would rob us
of health, happiness, and peace.
Never
allow doubts and fears to enter your mind, as they are certain to
unfit you for the duties of life and wreck the brightest hopes of the
most optimistic.
Bear
in mind that whatever we allow our attention to dwell upon is sure
to influence our mental and physical condition either toward that wich
is loving, cheering, and elevating, or toward that wich is depressing,
destructive, and degrading.
If we
permit the sad, dark pictures of life to occupy our minds and
monopolize our time and attention, they will soon affect our rest and
digestion, reduce our efficiency, and destroy our comfort and
usefulness.
Anticipation and self-confidence
Every
conscious man and animal has the desire for life and comfort, but
man differs from the lower animals in that he is able to anticipate,
and this anticipation of the furor may be so directed as to lft him to
the glories of a paradise or sink him to the dungeons of a hades.
That
wich should be a blessing to man and make his daily life one of
ecxtasy, he often uses to manufacture troubles for himself. Man only by
anticipation has the power to make his life miserable or happy. The
pictures of the future wich he paints for himself will make him what he
is to be. They will bring him health, wealth, and wisdom, or sickness,
poverty, and distress. They will fill him with faith, hope, and joy, or
darkness, doubt, and despair.
Anticipation,
oh, what an uplift it may be! We may derive a world of
pleasure from anticipating what we are to become in the future.
Anticipate health if you are sick; anticipate prosperity if you are in
adversity; anticipate friedship if you are an outcast; then labor
toward the objects of your anticipations.
The
moment a man loses confidence in himself he is a failure, for doubt
and fears never bring forth success. They are the enemies of progress
and prosperity. No sane man with a desire to succeed will ever
depreciate his abilities or his efforts, for the world will never put a
higher estimate upon him than he does upon himself. Your companions
will accept you at the value you have stamped upon yourself. Mentally
acknowledge to yourself that you are no good and the world will read
your estimate in your countenance and believe the record true. But
resolve that you are a man with a purpose and with absolute faith in
yourself, and you immediately rise in the estimation of your own mind
an d in that of those you will meet, and success will crown your every
effort. The results of your work in any undertaking will be according
to your faith in your own talents. Never admit to yourself or to any
other person that your efforts might be a failure. Never acknowledge to
yourself or to any other person that you are broke financially,
morally, or physically. Do not believe such suggestions
No
matter how poor you may be, if you are determined to rise and will
refuse to allow conditions to control you, no power on earth can keep
you down. By constantly declaring that you fear no opposition and are
the master of your mind and your abilities, you will conquer every foe,
climb over every barrier, rise in the judgement of yourself and your
fellow men, and win the objects of your desires and ambitions.
The
world loves to boost a hero, especially if the hero has fought his
way up against heavy odds. Examples of this may be seen in every county
in America. You stand and applaud a victor as he rides through the
streets in his magnificent equipage, and you envy him the laurels he
has won, while you have the same elements of success in you wich he
has, if you would only use them.
When
you undertake to do things wich others have not the nerve to
attempt, or the will to perform, you have inspired
yourself, and this
inspiration will fill you with an energy that will lift you above your
fellows, and carry you beyond the bounds of your most sanguine
expectations. An absolute faith in self overcomes every enemy, removes
every barrier, and destroys every fort in the way of the progressive
man.
*******************************************************************
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