Path to Prosperity - No: 5

Lesson Five - The Crime Of The "Blues"

A troubled brain can not think clearly, vigorously, logically. Worry clogs the brain and paralyzes the thought.

Faith is the great antidote for worry. We fear because we can not see the way. Faith sees the way.

The man who can smile when everything seems to go against him shows that he is made of winning material, for no ordinary man can do this.

There is no place in civilization for the morose, gloomy, or despondent man. Nobody wants to live with him. Everybody is dejected and depressed in his presence, and tries to get away from him. There is nothing more contagious than mental depression and the "blues."

A man who is at the mercy of his disposition can never be a leader, a power among men.

You are not capable of correct judgment, of using good sense, where there is fear or doubt or despondence in your mind. Sound judgment comes from a perfectly working brain, unclouded, untroubled faculties. Never act upon that which is suggested when you are in a state of fear and anxiety. When fear is in the mind, the mental forces are scattered and we are not capable of vigorous concentration. Calmness, poise, balance, mental serenity are absolutely essential to the most effective thinking.

The art of arts is to learn how to clear the mind of its enemies, - enemies of our comfort, happiness, and success. It is a great thing to learn to focus the mind upon the beautiful instead of the ugly, the true instead of the false, upon harmony instead of discord, life instead of death, health instead of disease, and is not always easy, but it is possible to everybody. It requires only a little skillful thinking, the forming of the right thought habits.

The best way to keep out darkness is to keep the life filled with light; to keep out discord, keep it filled with harmony; to shut out error, keep the mind filled with truth, to shut out ugliness, contemplate beauty and loveliness; to get rid of all that is sour and unwholesome, contemplate all that is sweet and wholesome. Opposite thoughts can not occupy the mind at the same time.

The world has little use for the man who has not sand enough in him to brace up and be a man when he meets with failure.