Getting In Tune
If we could only learn the art of always keeping ourselves in harmony we could multiply our effectiveness immeasurably.
Mental discord is fatal to quality in work. The destructive emotions – worry, anxiety, hatred, jealousy, anger, greed, selfishness, are all deadly enemies of efficiency.
Harmony is the secret of all effectiveness, beauty, happiness; and harmonious simply keeping ourselves in tune with the Infinite. This means absolute health of all the mental and moral faculties. Poise, serenity, amiability, sweetness of temper tend to keep the whole mental and physical economy in harmony with the perpetual renewal processes constantly going on within us, which are destroyed by friction.
Chapter 11
The Great Within
True prayer repairs the broken wires of our Divine connection, reassures us, brings us into harmony with the Infinite. This is the secret of all mental healing.
We all have moments when we get glimpses of the great possibilities within ourselves. It may sometimes be an experience which takes away a loved one, which opens up a rift in our nature and gives us a glimpse of power we never before knew we possessed.
Chapter 12
A New Way Of Bringing up Children
Keep the child’s mind full of harmony, of truth, and there will be no room for discord, for error.
Now, what advantage is it to send a youth out into the world with a head full of knowledge but without the confidence or assurance to use it effectively, or the ability to grapple with life’s problems with that vigor and efficiency which alone can bring success?
The rime will come when no child will be allowed to grow up without being taught to believe in himself, to have great confidence in his ability. This will be a most important part of his education, for if he believes in himself enough, he will not be likely to allow a single deficient faculty or weakness to wreck his career.
Chapter 13
Training For Longevity
A man is like a fine clock, which, if properly cared for, will keep splendid time and run for a century, but which, if neglected or abused, will very soon get out of order, and wear out or give out long before it should.
The mental ideal determines what shall be built into the life, whether it shall be youthful or aging conditions. Every person has the inherent capacity for prolonging his life, increasing his potential longevity; but he must first understand the mental principle.
Perfect health, vigor, and robustness are impossible to one whose mind is a slave to the conviction that he is on the decline, that he is going down-hill physically, that his powers are gradually lessening through age.
Most people do not realize that their mental attitude is a positive energy which is constantly creating results. Every time we focus the mind, we are producing, creating something.
No one is old until the interest in life is gone out of him, until his spirit becomes aged, until his heart becomes cold and unresponsive; as long as he touches life at many points he can not brow old in spirit.
A man is old, no matter what his years, when he is out of touch with youth, with its ideals, its points of view, out of touch with the spirit of his times; when he has ceased to be progressive and up-to-date.
The minds of many people have become unbalanced because they did not break the habit of night picturing, visualizing their troubles and trails, which are always so much exaggerated and appear in such fearful vividness during the night.
Before falling into unconsciousness, we should fill the mind with bright, encouraging, inspiring thoughts. We should never go to sleep until we have restored our lost balance, gained perfect mental poise, until we have put into operation the forces which would tend to harmonize and bring peace and joy into our lives.
We age rapidly because we do not keep our mental instruments in tune. Discord, grating and jarring whittle life away very quickly. We suffer when we are discordant because we have violated the fundamental low of divine harmony. Poise, mental serenity, is a friend of youth and tends to refresh, renew, and rejuvenate the body.
Look as though you were young. Dress as youthful as is consistent with the dignity and good sense of your years. Do not stoop over, or shuffle your feet. Throw your shoulders back; walk erect, and youthful; do not drag your steps.
Do not let romance die out of your heart. It is a great youth preserver. Love, unselfishness, a spirit of kindness and helpfulness, keep the heart warm and young.
Whenever you think of yourself, always hold the image of yourself as you would like to be. Do not dwell upon your imperfections or weaknesses, because that will mar your image, but hold tenaciously to the ideal of yourself thing of yourself in your perfection, as the personality the Creator intended you to be.
Lots of play and innocent fun tend to erase the marks of age and to bring us back to youth. Fun is a twin of youth. To be normally healthy, we require a great deal of amusement and recreation and all of the innocent fun we can get, for these are great stimulators, life promoters.
Humor is a care-killer, a worry destroyer. It tends to quicken the circulation, to promote digestion. Cheerful people sleep better, are better company, and have more friends, and people who have many friends are less likely to be morose and depressed. Sociability is a promoter of good will, kindly feelings, and harmony; and all these things induce health and prolong life.
Growth is an enemy of old age. The man who is mentally expanding, who is constantly growing larger and becoming broader, fuller, complete, does not agree nearly as rapidly as the man who has ceased to grow.
Age begins when growth stops. When the mind ceases to expand, to reach out and up, when the ideals begin to grow dim, when aspiration halts, then old age steps in.
The man who feels the spirit of youth surging through his body all the time, who holds the bright, cheerful, youthful, hopeful thought, retains his youthful appearance.
Chapter 14
As A Man Thinketh
When you are suffering from fear or worry, you may be sure you have endowed something with this power over you, otherwise it could not have gained such a hold. The very fact that you fear it shows that you have established between it and yourself a relation which you could break if you only knew how to apply your mental chemistry. Whenever you are unhappy, distressed, “blue<” worried, it is due to some mental poison, which ought to be as easy to antidote as it is to destroy fire with water.
What you allow to live in your heart, harbor in your mind, dwell upon in your thoughts, are seeds which will develop in your life and produce things like themselves. Hate seed in the heart can not produce a love flower in the life.
Discord of every kind, whether it is expressed in suffering, in disease, in poverty, in failure, in happiness, simply means that one is out of harmony with his better self, that he does not harmonize with his divinity.
All thoughts which suggest weakness, failure, unhappiness, or poverty, are destructive, negative, tearing-down thoughts. They are our enemies. Brand them whenever they try to gain an entrance into your mind. Avoid them as you would thieves for they are thieves, “thieves of our comfort, thieves of harmony, of power, of happiness, of success.
The mind must be kept free from bitterness, jealousy, hatred, envy, and uncharitable thoughts; from from everything which trammels it, or there must be a penalty paid in impaired efficiency and inferior work as well as loss of peace of mind.
There must be good-will in the heart or we can not do good work with head or hand.
No once can carry secret hatreds and grudges, jealousies, and revengeful feelings, without seriously impairing his own reputation. Many people wonder why they are not popular, why they are disliked generally, why they stand for so little in their community, when it is really because of their bitter, revengeful, discordant radiations which keep personal magnetism.
On the other hand, those who send out kindly, loving, helpful, sympathetic thoughts, those who feel friendly toward everybody, and who carry no bitterness, hatred, or jealousy in their hearts, are attractive, helpful and sunny.
Man will reach the millennium when he has learned to hold the right attitude of mind towards his fellow men. The time will come when it will be found infinitely easier to do right than to do wrong, when people will eagerly follow the Golden Rule, because it will produce harmony and universal well-being.
Chapter 15