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IT WAS AFTER A LONG COLD winter when the tiny buds were just
beginning to cast a green tint on the barren trees that an important
truth dawned upon me.
Human beings are inclined to be selfish, fearing to part with any of
their possessions, fearing they may not be able to replace them.
Nature, on the other hand, is constantly on the giving side. The
trees do not fear giving up their leaves in the fall, because they
might not return in the spring.
Have you ever heard of a living creature of any kind—when dwelling
in its natural habitat—starving to death?
In Chapter 8, it was pointed out that money buys nothing but labor:
money for the labor in removing raw materials from the earth; and
money for the labor to convert the raw materials into finished
products.
There is no dearth of raw materials. The earth is ever ready to give
generously from its stores of minerals and vegetables. There is no
scarcity of labor to remove the raw materials and to convert them
into manufactured products.
"If this is true, why do people have difficulty in buying the
products? Why do they lack the money?" many will ask.
Hoarding money instead of buying products is the answer.
The English essayist, James Howell, said: "Wealth is not his who has
it, but his who enjoys it."
If all money should be kept in circulation, there would be work for
everyone, and everyone would have sufficient money with which to buy
not only the necessities of life, but a good number of luxuries.
Such a condition sounds like a Utopia, but as good as it seems on
the surface, I am not sure that I favor it.
Incentive would be gone! One would be inclined to do just enough to
enable him to earn his share—and nothing further.
It is the men of vision who build estates, industries, cities, who
keep the wheels of progress turning, and inspire others to do
likewise.
There is a law of abundance and the amount of worldly goods one will
acquire is in direct proportion to the heights to which he raises
his sights.
Statistics show that only 5 per cent of the population is successful
from a financial point of view. This figure will appear dismal to
the negatively minded individual, but to others it will be
heartening. To you, who are developing a positive attitude, this
statistic shows you how much room there is at the top—and with your
I WILL determination, you'll reach it.
Just think of the odds in your favor! If you were to go prospecting
for gold or some other precious metal, you would seek an area where
surface indications showed that the mineral you were looking for
might be there. You would spend much time and considerable money in
determining whether or not your guess was right.
In attempting to take advantage of the law of abundance, you begin
with the knowledge that the key to the quest lies within your own
mind. As to how much you will draw from the source of abundance
depends entirely upon the success consciousness you have developed.
If what you want seems to be beyond the realm of possibility and you
cannot possibly imagine yourself possessing it, it will do you
little good to strive for it. The doubt in your mind will win.
After one of my lectures on the law of abundance in a large
Midwestern city, a young man approached me, and with great
enthusiasm admitted: "I have always wished that I could be rich, but
beneath the wish was the feeling that riches were never intended for
me. After that talk of yours I know I can be rich and I'll not stop
until my bank account records a million at least."
This boy had no money at all, and no prospects for much, but somehow
I believed him. His sincerity and confident manner made me feel he
was not indulging in wishful thinking.
In less than two years from the time I met this enthusiastic fellow,
he phoned me and invited me to his club for lunch. It was then that
he revealed that his personal fortune had passed the million dollar
mark—and was still climbing.
I'm not so fortunate with most of the people I lecture to. They all
agree with me that they would like to have riches, yet few of them
can grasp the truth that riches can and will be theirs as soon as
they believe they can be rich.
I recall the case of another man who came to me with the
enthusiastic remark that he could now see the light and that he was
going to be rich. Quite some time later he came to me and bragged
about the fact that through his new mental attitude he had nearly
doubled his income.
"Are you now rich?" I queried cautiously.
"Not exactly," he returned with a voice of fixed firmness. "Riches
are a little bit too much to expect in such a short time."
This man's belief did not extend beyond an increase in his income.
Perhaps he tried to believe he could be rich but he lacked
sufficient faith.
"All right, if a changed mental attitude could double your income,
haven't you now grown mentally to the point where you can see
yourself as being really rich?" I asked.
He gave a quick affirmative answer, and although I have not seen him
since, I feel certain that when I do I will be greeting a rich man.
A man in Florida, when still quite young, amassed a fortune of over
a million dollars, but, through unsound investments, quickly lost it
all. Although this man was unhappy over his loss, he was not
discouraged. His reasoning told him that he still possessed the
ability he had when he accumulated his riches, plus much added
experience. He started all over again and is now back in the class
of the millionaires.
The dominant idea in this, chapter is to cause you to believe. You
might go through the lip service of saying you believe, but do you?
You've heard the story, I am sure, about the parson who spent a few
days with a family who were members of his congregation. During
dinner the subject of conversation was faith.
"Do you believe with the Bible that faith can move mountains?" asked
the husband.
"Yes, I do," the parson reflected calmly.
"All right, tonight I'm going to bed with the belief that the
mountain facing our home will be gone in the morning," proclaimed
the head of the household.
The next morning he eagerly looked out of the window, and seeing the
mountain still there, bragged: "I knew it wouldn't go away."
Many times what we think is faith is nothing but wishful thinking.
We sincerely try to believe but the long established pattern of
doubt in our minds breaks through and neutralizes the thoughts which
we hope will become beliefs.
It may sound strange to you, but in many cases a person will
subconsciously resist the positive thoughts he works on consciously.
This is usually due to a guilt complex of some sort. He may have
sinned at some time and he feels he is not entitled to the best
things in life. Under such conditions, any attempt to tap the
ever-present source of abundance will be futile.
HELD BACK BY A FEELING OF GUILT
Should one who has sinned be held back from Success and Happiness?
If the answer were yes, there would not be many successful and happy
people, because who can honestly say he has never sinned in any way?
Here is a question I should like to ask: When one is held back
through a sin, is he helping anyone? The answer, of course, is no.
If he goes through life a failure, he cannot be considered a good
provider for his family. He is not helping his community
economically because, being a failure, he cannot be a good customer
in the stores he patronizes.
If, through introspection, you find you have been nursing a feeling
of guilt, determine you will make an asset of it. You will profit by
it as far as your future conduct is concerned, and you will even do
all you can to help others from making the same mistakes you made.
Doing this will actually mean that your mistakes are proving to be a
blessing to humanity.
Clearing your conscience from the elements which have been
disturbing it will enable you to take an entirely different attitude
toward yourself. You will then consider success and happiness to be
your rightful heritage.
There is the case of a man who had twice attempted suicide and who
was always wishing he was dead. He was induced to visit a
psychiatrist who, after probing into his early life, made an
interesting discovery.
In his early twenties, this man got rather heavily in debt, and
instead of trying to pay off his bills, he moved to another city.
When the psychiatrist told him that it was not too late to make
amends and pay off those old creditors, the patient said that it had
been so many years, he had forgotten who most of them were, and
those he could remember, he could not find.
"Lean backward in being honest in all of your present dealings with
mankind, and every chance you have to help a needy person, do so in
the name of those creditors who lost money through you. This will
relieve your conscience and enable you really to begin to live," the
psychiatrist advised him.
The suggestion proved to be a magic formula. He started a fund for
the sole purpose of helping others. He bought inspirational books by
the dozen to give to those who could be helped. He started a
business, and, so far as he could, employed physically handicapped
men and women.
Before this awakening, the man with a guilty conscience was not
happy; he made just enough of a success to enable him to live. But
what a revelation! With a mind freed from guilt he did big things
because he felt he was entitled to do so. But best of all, he is now
ideally happy.
Perhaps this case, to some degree, applies to you. Many people have
a guilt complex and do not know it. If you have an inner feeling
that you are not entitled to success, know that each new day can be
the beginning of a new life, because you cannot relive the past and
your future depends upon what you do about it now—not what you did
10, 20 or 30 years ago.
Do you know why so many prison parolees commit crimes right after
gaining their freedom? They have guilty consciences. They look at
themselves as criminals and do what criminals are expected to do.
Those capable of cleansing their hearts and souls of all the ill
will they have felt for themselves will be successful in making a
new start in life. Ex-convicts who are big enough to realize that
guilt is part of the price they must pay for their crimes will live
it down in time, and gain the respect of those who know them.
HOW REAL IS THE LAW OF ABUNDANCE?
"Aw, I don't believe in that mind over matter stuff," a young man
said impertinently. "They claim if you think just so and then do
certain things, you're all to the good. Success will grab you by the
hand and stay with you the rest of your life."
Most people think this way. That is why 95 per cent fail to grasp
success in life.
"Do you consider yourself a success?" I asked this skeptical one.
"No, I don't," he quickly replied.
"Why not?" I continued.
He gave many excuses. He had had too little education; he knew no
one of importance who could help him to better him¬self; he had no
money and could not leave his job long enough to make a start in
another field. And on and on he went—not at any time giving a valid
reason for his failure.
The way this man talked about success you would not think there was
enough of it to go around and that a large percentage of people were
doomed to failure.
I talked at length about the law of abundance, and pointed out that
there was enough success for everyone, and that the more people who
acquired success consciousness, the more there was for others.
Through a series of carefully thought out questions I led this
fellow on until he had given a full list of his alibis—most of which
he believed himself. Then I went through these alibis one by one and
proved they were not reasons—but mere excuses. Finally a gleam came
into his eyes and he began to see that there was a solid foundation
under the premise of mind over matter. He not only thought of things
he could do; but things he would do.
Real estate had been of interest to this man throughout his life,
but he never felt he could be a success in it.
Since in most states one must pass an examination before obtaining a
license, this man decided to take the steps necessary to become a
realtor. He took a night school course in real estate; took the
examination—and passed. It did not take long to get a job in a real
estate office and with his changed attitude he did quite well. In
fact the first month he made a sale which netted him $765 in
commissions.
The next month he went over a thousand dollars—and kept climbing. He
left his job and opened an office of his own. Accumulating a good
sum of money, this fellow purchased a tract of land and started a
home-building development. He is now the guiding hand in a
multimillion-dollar enterprise.
Does he still question the validity of mind over matter? Does he
doubt the law of abundance?
"How blind can one be?" he asked while giving the story of his rise
to fortune. "Open your eyes and let the light of opportunity enter
your consciousness," he counsels the doubters.
"Out there," pointing to the great outdoors, "are fortunes for
everyone willing to accept that truth. The riches are so close to
you that you can literally reach out and take them," he added.
"Times are bad and it is hard to make a start," was the alibi given
by one man who had made a poor showing in life. To which I replied:
"Stuff and rubbish!"
During bad times, the greatest leaders are born. At such periods
there are opportunities galore—everywhere you look.
During bad times, if you tell an executive that you know how he can
increase his business, he will open his ears and listen intently.
When business is good, he is not apt to pay any attention at all to
you.
Shortly after the crash of 1929, when businesses were closing in
every direction you looked, I talked to a man who was preparing to
open a new business.
"Friends tell me I am crazy to open a business at this time, but I'm
not afraid. I'll put it over in a big way." This man did put it over
and by the time the depression had ended, he was so far ahead of
those just trying to get started, they never caught up with him.
Depressions are not products of nature; they are man made. Likewise,
good times are created by man—not nature.
During the 1929 depression I was operating an advertising agency in
New York. Daily I had men and women coming into the office actually
begging for jobs. They needed them because they were without funds
to meet household expenses.
A man in Seattle, Washington, picked my firm as one he would like to
associate with. Every few days I would receive a letter from him
regarding the job he wanted. In every letter he would outline ideas
for increasing my business, but in none of them did he intimate his
need of a job. Although there were thousands of unemployed people
within walking distance of my office, I sent across the continent
for this man. Instead of seeing a world which was standing still,
this man believed in the law of abundance and, by his actions,
proved its existence.
WILL YOU TEST THE LAW OF ABUNDANCE?
In this life we first creep before we walk, and walk before we run.
This may be a good pattern to follow in testing the law of
abundance. Test it first in a modest way. Perhaps you are driving an
old car. Millions of new ones are being made every year and will be
sold to millions of people. One of them might just as well be you.
Decide first of all that you intend to get a brand new car.
Determine the make and model you wish. Establish in your mind that
you have the necessary faith to enable you to get it—then put that
faith into action.
Before retiring at night, implant in your Creative Mind the idea
that you will be guided to think the thoughts and do the things that
will make the new car a reality.
This test should mean much to you. It should make you begin to
understand that you can get what you want in life. If you will
operate with faith and not wishes, you will be amazed to find how
quickly you will be driving your new car.
Go a step further in your next test. Is it a business of your own?
Use the same principles and it will not be long until your name
appears over your building.
NO SHORTAGE OF BLESSINGS
Remember! There will never be any shortage of the blessings nature
is willing and anxious to bestow upon you. The law of abundance is
unfailing. Work according to the law and it will work for you.
In bringing this chapter to a close, there is one thought I wish to
emphasize: Be happy! Be happy that you now are really qualified,
through the use of the law of abundance, to enjoy life.
To quote James Howell again: "Wealth is not his who has it, but his
who enjoys it."
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