1 ABOUT YOURSELF AND THE LAW

Your fortune or lack of fortune is not the result of chance but of your observance of certain fixed laws. You may not be aware of acting in accordance with sharply defined and active principles, but you do and always have so acted.

You make your own misery; you make your own unhappiness; you make your own poverty, all by the attitude of your mind, which is the result of the reflex action of your past thoughts. But you say: I was born that way. I was always impatient, worrying, anxious. I cannot change it. Yes, probably you were, but you can change it, unless you determine you cannot and do not try. If you do, that settles it. No power whatever, from God or man, can do anything for you when you assume that attitude.

Your character, the will that impels you to be indignant at one thing and pleased at another, has been formed, as it now is, by parentage and the thought aura which surrounded you. It constructed a motor, the subconsciousness, on which one electric current of life acts while an equally strong current of different construction has no effect. The current incapable of being useful or harmful to you would be received by another and the one affecting you would make no impression on him. This is due to the different construction in your mentalities. The one may have been calm, and this will produce wisdom; the other, hair brained, and this produces foolishness; and the one or the other predominating in you brought you to the present condition through the attractive power of your mentality.

A man is the product of his ancestors' thoughts and conditions.

His present condition is the result of past thoughts.

His future condition will be the result of present thoughts.

Your mind is that all-permeating life which holds the atoms composing the body together, sends the warm, sparkling life blood surging through the veins, renews the tissues, and, if withdrawn, would leave the body, inclusive of brain, a cold, senseless mass. Mind is not entirely in the body, but acts on and through the body both consciously and subconsciously, and determines the status of the individual. By mind we do not here refer to the brain, which is as truly a portion of the body as are the nerves, muscles and sinews.

Conscious mind is the intelligent recognition of self. This will be read by your conscious mind. Conscious mind is positive in its relation to subconscious mind and controls your thoughts through desires, and literally builds into your subconscious mind that of which you think. If you are deficient in courage, or any other quality of mind, by dwelling on thoughts of courage, or the other deficient qualities, through repeating the word which to you is a symbol of the thought, you attract to the subconsciousness the element desired, and by so doing build up your personality, thereby insuring success in both spiritual and material matters, in health and wealth.

Passions develop gradually through generations. A bundle of uncontrolled emotions, your present self, may have had its birth generations ago and been handed down from your ancestors through your parents to you. These may have been foreign to your real self but grafted on to your nature through the aura of thought with which you were surrounded.

This inoculation of success or failure, of health or disease, is not due to the spoken words or actions so much as to the quality of thought coming from a parent's mind. If the parents are quiet and conservative in disposition, the child is very apt to be likewise; if restless, impatient, anxious, hurrying (which means cowardly), the children will be affected by it.

They unconsciously receive the thought and it becomes a part of them. If the parents have a large degree of courage in themselves, every thought is tinged with it and the child, though cowardly in its nature, grows into a vigorous, courageous man or woman. Courage is a positive element and, if developed, overcomes fear, a negative property, in every instance. The little child has his own personality and is subject to grafting just to the extent that the individuality of the parents exceeds his own. If receptive, he readily grasps the qualities of success or failure that are in the parents. If positive in his own individuality, he would not be inoculated with the parents' characteristics to as great a degree. This explains why some children are so different from others in the same family.

This subconscious mind is a magnet of attractive and repellent qualities. It receives thought, a literal element, and sends it out again reinforced in volume and intensity in proportion to the operating power of the will. It is attractive in its relation to the Supreme at all times and receives power from the Force of Nature. It is the operating force which gains health, fame and wealth. It is the mind which enables a sleeping person to do certain things, such as climbing to the top of high buildings by the water pipe, swimming rapid rivers, and other actions impossible while awake.

Subconscious mind has no volition of its own and only acts on suggestions from your conscious mind or the Source of Wisdom. If you say, "I cannot," the subconscious mind receives the suggestion, assimilates it, and it then becomes a part of you. This connects you with other despondent minds through the quality of your thought, and you feed each other with failures.

One object of autosuggestion is to impress upon your subconscious mind the thought that you can and will, and success follows. This mind also reacts on your conscious mind. If you have been an "I cannot" chap for years, every time you think a vigorous "I can" thought your other self says, "No, you cannot," and depresses you, making your efforts spasmodic and unfruitful. You must first get that mind trained to feel that you can, and it will sustain you if you feel discouraged. This takes time, the length depending on your receptiveness and flexibility. There can be no failure.

Every cheerful, happy thought reaches the subconscious mind, it is digested as thoroughly as the condition of the mind will allow, and the remainder is rejected, just as the stomach digests food. Some stomachs are in such a condition that they can only receive liquids; others assimilate solid foods, while a healthy stomach requires a variety of strong foods. So with minds. Some are so burdened by worry (fear) that thoughts of strength make but light impressions; others can receive a greater portion, while the healthy mind accepts it as a matter of fact. During suggestion the growing mind receives the next, similar thought and more thoroughly assimilates it until at last all such thought is received and retained. Then your progress is rapid, your successes are assured, and returns come in hard cold cash. From that time on you are working out accomplished facts and you may tell your friends if you desire, although gush is detrimental and to be avoided.

So your mind is today your ancestors' power of love, justice, confidence, truth, determination, aspiration, and those other qualities which make up personality, increased or diminished by the kind of thoughts you have used during your life, and they are not names of an indefinable something but the literal realities which compose individuality.

If parental suggestions and your surroundings made you believe as you do now believe, would not a change in surroundings and different suggestions change your belief? Why not then make the suggestions yourself? And a change in the improved mind will bring improved surroundings.

These elements are not only received from people but from the Divine Life which surrounds us and permeates us and of which we are composed. They flow from one brave man to another, constantly strengthening them, and both are connected with the great body of these elements from which they receive a constant inflow.

This, we know, may be hard for our readers to understand and harder to believe. Some cannot believe it. They are groping in the dark and do not believe there is anything to see. The two elements of mind, love and intellect, constitute the whole mind of man. Will, affection, emotion, in fact all sensations, are the divisions of love; while understanding, thought, language and instinct are of the intellect.

In the successful man affection and emotion, and, to a certain extent, sensation, must be under the control of the will, and this in turn must be guided by understanding, from which is evolved harmonious thought, which in turn draws the material success that is desired. Therefore, to be successful you must bring all fear and its resulting emotions under the control of the will or destroy them entirely, and to that end we will devote our attention.

When the mind is in a condition of harmony, i.e., the emotions under the control of the will, the will guided by the intellect, the aim high, it produces a condition of peace and allows the inflow of wisdom, infinite wisdom which produces progression; it will carry one from ill health and poverty to health and sufficient income for all needs. This is a law, this progression or success, and you are being deprived of your just rights if you do not have every needful thing. It is but natural for you to have money, friends and happiness; and any other state of existence is inharmonious and unnatural.

You have the right to enjoy life, follow the occupation you choose, do as you please, so long as you please to injure no one, either in thought or action. This is your natural condition and nothing but the action of your own mind can deprive you of it. It is a law; live in the law and your development is assured.

It is literally true that conditions confront one precisely as they are expected. Expect poverty and failure and you will get them. People think of you just as you think of yourself.

If some position is big for you, i.e., you fear you cannot hold it because of the great responsibility, that is the measure you have put on yourself and others measure you by that standard and would not let you handle important work for them even if you are educated and polished.

We do not mean that if you think you are smart others will think likewise. If you consider yourself smart it is because you have not wisdom enough to realize how little the wisest men know or can hope to know, and others measure you by what you are, i.e., by what you think, and not by what you think you are, or by what you think you think.

Your attitude of mind in both particulars is usually a very good guide to your mental state. If you expect failure, probably you are deficient in courage, self-appreciation and that optimistic, happy, loving expectation so essential to success. Some have such a wonderful power and determination that they are successful in spite of all difficulties; but the better and easier way is to build up your mind so that it may expect ease, peace, happiness, health, wealth, and thereby attract them to you; for most of us will fall by the wayside if we depend upon our force alone. And anyway the road is rough and stormy, and the degree of attainment, even for those who succeed, is much lower than it would have been had that force not been depleted in fighting obstacles created by that same mind.

If you think you are worth little or nothing to yourself and the world, others think that of you; while the fact is you have some talent, some usefulness, some little niche to fill peculiar to yourself, and no one else can fill it for you, and, unless you occupy it, there will be no occupant. You are just as much needed in your place as any other man is needed in his. Have respect for yourself as one of the forces used in and by the Supreme to the great end that to us doth not appear as yet.

Have you ever noticed that when you are angry or discouraged or sullen, others instinctively avoid you? That you see every other sullen man or woman with whom you come in contact; while a good natured, jolly person is apt, very apt, to escape your notice altogether. That is due to the attractive force of mind. People in similar conditions naturally gravitate to each other.

If you would make the right kind of friends to assist you in a business way, - no successful business can be conducted without them, learn to think strong, self-reliant thoughts and they will come to you.

If you want to know just what you are, notice how strangers act with whom you come in contact. Do they smile or frown when they meet you? Are they glad to see you or anxious to get away? Do they scarcely notice you or seem to recognize your strength? If the first, you are a cheery, happy disposition. If the second, the reverse, and need more good will and sunshine in your soul. If the third, you need strength, power and force. If the last, you are equally as strong or stronger than they, and your degree of strength can be determined by their force of personality.

This Law of Attraction may be limited as follows:

Mind attracts people and things in affinity with its condition.

Gloom brings despondency. Hate brings ill health.

Fear of poverty and lassitude bring destitution.

Hope brings happiness and elasticity. Courage, determination and energy bring success.

Dwelling on any quality of mind adds that quality to you, whether it be helpful or injurious.

The induction of any positive quality, such as courage, decision or aspiration, destroys the opposite negative quality, such as fear, indecision or gloom.

This is not a theory, but a principle well understood by Joseph, Moses and the Christ of Jewish history. Parts of that history, called the Bible, contain a true explanation of the power of mind.

These qualities will strengthen your mind to such an extent that you will attract to you all good things. There are no mistakes in the operation of natural laws. Every man, woman or child gets exactly what he deserves, what he draws to himself. Your present position in life is the result of your past thoughts, and your future position will be the result of your present thoughts. Possibly you may say, "I don't believe a man can get wealth through his thought power." What brings wealth? Did you say opportunity? Do not believe it. I tell you the man makes the opportunity. Thousands are losing their wealth daily. Other thousands are accumulating wealth.

It's all in the man.

Do you know a calm, courageous, forceful, determined, self-reliant, aspiring man? If so, what is his financial condition? He is beyond need, must be. Do you know a weak, whining, melancholy, morbid, nervous, fretful, vacillating man, who probably spends his time pushing one thing today, another tomorrow, not holding to one idea long enough to drive it to a successful conclusion? What is his condition? Physically, morally, mentally and financially a wreck. Why is he so useless to himself and the world? Because his mind does not have the qualities of wisdom, persistency, determination, aspiration and courage. If he had he would not be a failure.

But you say, "I do not believe these qualities can be developed. I do not believe a coward can grow into a courageous man, or a failure into a success." Why not try it and find out? It certainly is worth a trial. Your progress may be slow at first, but remember and realize if you can - you will in time that you are actually speaking to the source of all wisdom, which is prayer - not saying prayers. Also remember that a lifetime and more has made you what you are and immediate transformation is impossible.

Your mind at this moment is connected with other similar minds, and each reacts on the other. If yours is strong, forceful and courageous, it mingles with that class of mentality, sleeping or waking, constantly invigorating and renewing every one with whom you are in touch, while they send similar strength to you, and all draw through the attractive force of mind the same qualities from the source of power. If weak, get into touch with strong minds by building up your own; then they will send strength to you, and you will cease to starve on the weak elements now received from minds of your present caliber.

That principle is demonstrated by the fact that a stranger in any city gravitates toward people like himself. He finds his level. Can you conceive of a strong, vigorous, successful man going among strangers and mingling with despondent, unsuccessful people; or one of the latter class finding congenial friends among the first mentioned who would value his friendship and company? Wherever a person is, he or she associates with similar people, and this must be an association of mind before there is any material friendship.

Choose your company is a useless admonition. The person chosen might object to the choice. Improve the character of your thoughts and you will naturally gravitate towards a better class of friends. Their association will put you in touch with opportunities that never would have been yours under the old conditions. But you say, "How am I to change the character of my thoughts?" Just keep the thought of courage, peace, strength, power, justice, good will, decision, force, confidence, determination, etc., before you; live in it, dwell on it, demand it, pray for it, and these qualities will come to you, slowly at first, but every atom gained gives you increased strength to draw more until at last the added strength attracts a cleaner, stronger class of thoughts and they bring you in touch with successful men.

So with money and continued prosperity. The attractive force of your mentality will bring you the opportunity. You need not seek it. It will seek you, and your mind will be in condition to recognize the value, will have the decision to force you to act and the courage to carry you through. Using your thought powers to seek an avenue to lead you to wealth is an error, and a useless expenditure of energy. No great success was ever planned but came naturally from following an idea, working on it quietly, steadily and courageously, and usually with little fear of future success or failure. Choose the occupation you like. If it were something that you consider beyond you, and it probably will be, develop yours into a successful mind by the methods to be given you, when it will be commonplace and natural.

One of the first requisites is a condition of calmness or peace. Many people are today in a chaotic condition; they cannot hold their thoughts to one subject for ten seconds, cannot prevent their darting around with lightning-like rapidity. If a successful thought comes they cannot grasp it firmly enough or hold it long enough to act on it. This condition of mind weakens both mental power and physical strength, renders sleep fitful and subject to fantastic imagining, and prevents the inflow of strength and destroys all prospect of health and success.

You are what you think; not what you think you are.