Chapter 9 Firing the heart-desire of your ideal

Wishes are but wishes; they lead only to wishing more wishes. Desires are heartbeats of soul; they demand and impel to action. A wish turns ever to itself, wishing that something will come to make itself true. A desire goes out from self; it daringly reaches out, demanding the thing desired, and divinely creates it in reality.

Put the following truths together: Desire is the heart of your ideal; in this heart are the fires of attainment; sometimes they die down and are dim; sometimes they burn brightly and glow with hope and set fire to action; unless they thus burn with the light of hope and the fire of action, your ideal will not come true. When the fires of desire are dimmed by disappointments or discouragement, or memories of the failures of the past, what are you going to do about it? Feed the fires with your feelings and emotions! Your thoughts will not do; they are but damp wood and wet sand. Desires are of the heart; they cannot be made to burn brightly by adding ideas and thoughts of the mind.

Is it a thing -a material thing -you have desired and for which desire burns low because of past failures to attain it, or is it a new desire that dares not burn brightly for fear of disappointment should it not be attained? Fire your desire so that it will come true. Fire it with YOUR feelings and emotions.

Are you a young woman and is it a dainty rose-colored gown you desire? Image the color of it and feel the joy of gowning yourself in that color. Feel the pleasure it would give you to look at yourself in that color. Think of its color again, -the color of roses. Imagine that you have perfumed the gown with just a touch of essence of roses. Feel the joy of smelling the sweet odor of roses. Feel the joy of smelling the perfume with which your dress is scented. Think of the feel of the material, -how soft and delicate. Feel the joy you feel in feeling it. Think of the lightness of the dress. Feel the joy you experience in handling light and dainty and fluffy things. Feel the joy you would feel in putting on that dress and in waiting for your sweetheart to call. Feel the joy you would feel as he admired it and complimented you upon it. Feel the joy you would feel dressed in that gown, when with a group of people. Is not your desire fired and burning with impulse to act? Will you not do something to get that dress; and, idealizing your doing, you will do it in the right way and get it in the right way.

Are you a young man desiring a new suit of clothes? Fire your desire with your feelings. Image the suit you wish -its color, cut, form, material, and fit to you. Feel how happy you would feel dressed in that suit calling on the girl you love. Feel how proud you would feel if you could wear it when going home to see mother. Feel how satisfied you would feel walking into the office dressed in that suit. Feel all your good feelings -felt under all other conditions -in relation to that suit. Is not your desire fired to the point where you will do something to get it and, idealizing your doing, you will do the right thing and get it in the right way?

Is it a position you desire? Feel the joy the income of that position would give you. Feel the pleasures you could obtain with that income. Feel the joy of the opportunities the income would give. Feel the true pride of advancement. Feel the joy of knowing you have attained the position and made good. Feel the joy of generously helping others when in that position. Feel what that position would mean to you among your fellows. Feel what it would mean to you among businessmen. Feel all these feelings -feeding your desires with your FEELINGS -instead of with wishes and thoughts -and you will do something to attain that which you desire.

Think, think, think of wishes and you will live a nervous wreck and die in the mental madhouse of unfulfilled mental desires. Feed the desires of your ideals with your own feelings and emotions -and the higher the feelings and emotions, the stronger the fire -and your desires will turn to action that cannot be prevented. And since your desires are hearts of ideals, that which you do will be right.