This dynamo called the mind can be trained to do anything.  Not only can it be guided at the start but it can be guided by all that follows.  It can be used for building additional dynamos to be called into action in times of need.  This statement may seem at first far-fetched.  If we think so it is proof that we have not profited by our experiences and should get down to “stock taking” before it is too late.

The practical man, after all, is only one who takes advantage of opportunities.  He could double and triple his power if he only realized how superficial the average setback really is.  The young man has just as much chance of being considered practical as the so-called older one, always provided that he has a store of experiences to profit by.  The first big experience of life usually makes or breaks us.  For this experience we need to be prepared.  We must have a strong heart that we may bear defeat nobly from this is not to be our last kick—­our last breath—­not by a jugful!

We are going to start all over again after our setback and we are not going to wait any longer than it takes to bury the dead.  This will be done decently and in good order—­our training will admit of no indecorum.  If the smash was a bad one we will assume the liability, nevertheless, and get back on the job.  We are out to win and eventually we will win.

And that is what we mean by taking profit from experience. The powers that break down are also the powers that build up. The electrician who handles the motor could just as well end his own existence by that mysterious current as he could make use of it for the good of humanity.  He spends years of conscientious study and masters the knowledge of it so that its uses are as simple as his A B C’s.  There is no doubt in the world but that he had to learn by experience.  He had to go into the shop and climb up from the bottom.  There was no other way by which he could come to know how to turn a deadly force into a well-trained necessity.

Yet the average man goes into life with as little knowledge of its forces as the baby who puts its foot upon the third rail.  That fact keeps the thoughtless man down until experience comes to the rescue.  When it does come, if he has the sand, the common sense, the will to do, there is naught to hold him away from his goal.

CHAPTER V

ENERGY, SUCCESS AND LAUGHTER

There are many essentials to success, but there is one that is of such importance that without it all the others become as naught.  The man who wins success is invariably impelled to do the great work allotted him by something within that tells him he can.  He may not know exactly what it is, but he knows he possesses it and is able to act on that faith, accomplishing things which seem utterly impossible to other people.  This