Mental Attitude

Success is in the blood.  There are men whom fate can never keep down—­they march forward in a jaunty manner, and take by divine right the best of everything that the earth affords.  But their success is not attained by means of the Samuel Smiles-Connecticut policy.  They do not lie in wait, nor scheme, nor fawn, nor seek to adapt their sails to catch the breeze of popular favor.  Still, they are ever alert and alive to any good that may come their way, and when it comes they simply appropriate it, and tarrying not, move steadily on.

Good health!  Whenever you go out of doors, draw the chin in, carry the crown of the head high, and fill the lungs to the utmost; drink in the sunshine; greet your friends with a smile, and put soul into every hand-clasp.

Do not fear being misunderstood; and never waste a moment thinking about your enemies.  Try to fix firmly in your own mind what you would like to do, and then without violence of direction you will move straight to the goal.

Fear is the rock on which we split, and hate the shoal on which many a barque is stranded.  When we become fearful, the judgment is as unreliable as the compass of a ship whose hold is full of iron ore; when we hate, we have unshipped the rudder; and if ever we stop to meditate on what the gossips say, we have allowed a hawser to foul the screw.

Keep your mind on the great and splendid thing you would like to do; and then, as the days go gliding by, you will find yourself unconsciously seizing the opportunities that are required for the fulfillment of your desire, just as the coral insect takes from the running tide the elements that it needs.  Picture in your mind the able, earnest, useful person you desire to be, and the thought that you hold is hourly transforming you into that particular individual you so admire.

Thought is supreme, and to think is often better than to do.

Preserve a right mental attitude—­the attitude of courage, frankness and good cheer.

Darwin and Spencer have told us that this is the method of Creation.  Each animal has evolved the parts it needed and desired.  The horse is fleet because he wishes to be; the bird flies because it desires to; the duck has a web foot because it wants to swim.  All things come through desire and every sincere prayer is answered.  We become like that on which our hearts are fixed.

Many people know this, but they do not know it thoroughly enough so that it shapes their lives.  We want friends, so we scheme and chase ’cross lots after strong people, and lie in wait for good folks—­or alleged good folks—­hoping to be able to attach ourselves to them.  The only way to secure friends is to be one.  And before you are fit for friendship you must be able to do without it.  That is to say, you must have sufficient self-reliance to take care of yourself, and then out of the surplus of your energy you can do for others.