The Path of Prosperity: Chaper Five Continued

(This month we here at Successful Living are focusing on some of the great self development books of the past. Now we focus on James Allen and his classic Path of Prosperity. We will have a chapter posted on Monday, Wednesday and Friday until the complete book is posted).

Strive, 0 reader! to acquire, above everything, the priceless possession of this
dauntless faith, for it is the talisman of happiness, of success, of peace, of power,
of all that makes life great and superior to suffering.

Build upon such a faith, and you build upon the Rock of the Eternal, and with the
materials of the Eternal, and the structure that you erect will never be dissolved,
for it will transcend all the accumulations of material luxuries and riches, the end
of which is dust.

Whether you are hurled into the depths of sorrow or lifted upon the heights of joy,
ever retain your hold upon this faith, ever return to it as your rock of refuge, and
keep your feet firmly planted upon its immortal and immovable base.

Centered in such a faith, you will become possessed of such a spiritual strength as
will shatter, like so many toys of glass, all the forces of evil that are hurled against you, and you will achieve a success such as the mere striver after worldly gain can never know or even dream of. "If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this, . . . but if ye shall say unto this mountain, be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea, it shall be done."

There are those today, men and women tabernacled in flesh and blood, who have
realized this faith, who live in it and by it day by day, and who, having put it to the uttermost test, have entered into the possession of its glory and peace.

Such have sent out the word of command, and the mountains of sorrow and disappointment, of mental weariness and physical pain have passed from them, and
have been cast into the sea of oblivion.

If you will become possessed of this faith you will not need to trouble about your
success or failure, and success will come.

You will not need to become anxious about results, but will work joyfully and
peacefully, knowing that right thoughts and right efforts will inevitably bring
about right results.

I know a lady who has entered into many blissful satisfactions, and recently a
friend remarked to her, "Oh, how fortunate you are! You only have to wish for a
thing, and it comes to you."

And it did, indeed, appear so on the surface; but in reality all the blessedness that
has entered into this woman's life is the direct outcome of the inward state of blessedness which she has, throughout life, been cultivating and training toward
perfection.

Mere wishing brings nothing but disappointment; it is living that tells.

The foolish wish and grumble; the wise, work and wait. And this woman had
worked; worked without and within, but especially within upon heart and soul;
and with the invisible hands of the spirit she had built up, with the precious stones
of faith, hope, joy, devotion, and love, a fair temple of light, whose glorifying radiance was ever round about her.

It beamed in her eye; it shone through her countenance; it vibrated in her voice;
and all who came into her presence felt its captivating spell.
And as with her, so with you. Your success, your failure, your influence, your
whole life you carry about with you, for your dominant trends of thought are the
determining factors in your destiny.

Send forth loving, stainless, and happy thoughts, and blessings will fall into your
hands, and your table will be spread with the cloth of peace.

Send forth hateful, impure, and unhappy thoughts, and curses will rain down
upon you, and fear and unrest will wait upon your pillow. You are the unconditional
maker of your fate, be that fate what it may. Every moment you are sending
forth from you the influences which will make or mar your life.

Let your heart grow large and loving and unselfish, and great and lasting will be
your influence and success, even though you make little money.

Confine it within the narrow limits of self-interest, and even though you become
a millionaire your influence and success, at the final reckoning will be found to be
utterly insignificant. Cultivate, then, this pure and unselfish spirit, and combine
with purity and faith, singleness of purpose, and you are evolving from within the
elements, not only of abounding health and enduring success, but of greatness
and power.

If your present position is distasteful to you, and your heart is not in your work,
nevertheless perform your duties with scrupulous diligence, and whilst resting
your mind in the idea that the better position and greater opportunities are waiting
for you, ever keep an active mental outlook for budding possibilities, so that
when the critical moment arrives, and the new channel presents itself, you will
step into it with your mind fully prepared for the undertaking, and with that intelligence and foresight which is born of mental discipline.

Whatever your task may be, concentrate your whole mind upon it, throw into it
all the energy of which you are capable. The faultless completion of small tasks
leads inevitably to larger tasks. See to it that you rise by steady climbing, and you
will never fall. And herein lies the secret of true power.

Learn, by constant practice, how to husband your resources, and to concentrate
them, at any moment, upon a given point. The foolish waste all their mental and
spiritual energy in frivolity, foolish chatter, or selfish argument, not to mention
wasteful physical excesses.

If you would acquire overcoming power you must cultivate poise and passivity.
You must be able to stand alone. All power is associated with immovability. The
mountain, the massive rock, the storm-tried oak, all speak to us of power, because
of their combined solitary grandeur and defiant fixity; while the shifting
sand, the yielding twig, and the waving reed speak to us of weakness, because
they are movable and non-resistant, and are utterly useless when detached from
their fellows.

He is the man of power who, when all his fellows are swayed by some emotion or
passion, remains calm and unmoved. He only is fitted to command and control
who has succeeded in commanding and controlling himself.

The hysterical, the fearful, the thoughtless and frivolous, let such seek company,
or they will fall for lack of support; but the calm, the fearless, the thoughtful, and let such seek the solitude of the forest, the desert, and the mountain-top, and to their power more power will be added, and they will more and more successfully
stem the psychic currents and whirlpools which engulf mankind.

Passion is not power; it is the abuse of power, the dispersion of power. Passion
is like a furious storm which beats fiercely and wildly upon the embattled rock
whilst power is like the rock itself, which remains silent and unmoved through it
all.

That was a manifestation of true power when Martin Luther, wearied with the
persuasions of his fearful friends, who were doubtful as to his safety should he go
to Worms, replied, "If there were as many devils in Worms as there are tiles on
the housetops I would go."

And when Benjamin Disraeli broke down in his first Parliamentary speech, and
brought upon himself the derision of the House, that was an exhibition of germinal
power when he exclaimed, "The day will come when you will consider it an
honor to listen to me."

When that young man, whom I knew, passing through continual reverses and
misfortunes, was mocked by his friends and told to desist from further effort,
and he replied, "The time is not far distant when you will marvel at my good fortune
and success," he showed that he was possessed of that silent and irresistible
power which has taken him over innumerable difficulties, and crowned his life
with success.

If you have not this power, you may acquire it by practice, and the beginning of
power is likewise the beginning of wisdom. You must commence by overcoming
those purposeless trivialities to which you have hitherto been a willing victim.
Boisterous and uncontrolled laughter, slander and idle talk, and joking merely to
raise a laugh, all these things must be put on one side as so much waste of valuable
energy.

St. Paul never showed his wonderful insight into the hidden laws of human
progress to greater advantage than when he warned the Ephesians against "Foolish
talking and jesting which is not convenient," for to dwell habitually in such
practices is to destroy all spiritual power and life.

As you succeed in rendering yourself impervious to such mental dissipations you
will begin to understand what true power is, and you will then commence to grapple
with the more powerful desires and appetites which hold your soul in bondage,
and bar the way to power, and your further progress will then be made clear.

Above all be of single aim; have a legitimate and useful purpose, and devote yourself
unreservedly to it. Let nothing draw you aside ; remember that the doubleminded
man is unstable in all his ways.

Be eager to learn, but slow to beg. Have a thorough understanding of your work,
and let it be your own; and as you proceed, ever following the inward Guide, the
infallible Voice, you will pass on from victory to victory, and will rise step by step to higher resting-places, and your ever-broadening outlook will gradually reveal
to you the essential beauty and purpose of life.

Self-purified, health will be yours; faith-protected, success will be yours; self-governed, power will be yours, and all that you do will prosper, for, ceasing to be a
disjointed unit, self-enslaved, you will be in harmony with the Great Law, working
no longer against, but with, the Universal Life, the Eternal Good.

And what health you gain it will remain with you; what success you achieve will
be beyond all human computation, and will never pass away; and what influence
and power you wield will continue to increase throughout the ages, for it will be a
part of that unchangeable Principle which supports the universe.

This, then, is the secret of health, -a pure heart and a well-ordered mind ; this is
the secret of success, -an unfaltering faith, and a wisely-directed purpose; and to
rein in, with unfaltering will, the dark steed of desire, this is the secret of power.

All ways are waiting for my feet to tread,
The light and dark, the living and the dead,
The broad and narrow way, the high and low,
The good and bad, and with quick step or slow,
I now may enter any way I will,
Andfind, by walking, which is good, which ill.

And all good things my wandering feet await,
If I but come, with vow inviolate,
Unto the narrow, high and holy way
Of heart-born purity, and therein stay;
Walking, secure from him who taunts and scorns,
To flowery meads, across the path of thorns.

And I may stand where health, success, and power
Await my coming, if, eachfleeting hour,
I cling to love and patience; and abide
With stainlessness; and never step aside
From high integrity ; so shall I see
At last the land of immortality.

And I may seek andfind; I may achieve,
I may not claim, but, losing, may retrieve.
The law bends not for me, but I must bend
Unto the law, if I would reach the end
Of my aflictions, if1 would restore
My soul to Light and Life, and weep no more.

Not mine the arrogant and seljish claim
To all good things; be mine the lowly aim
To seek andfind, to know and comprehend,
And wisdom-ward all holy footsteps wend,
Nothing is mine to claim or to command,
But all is mine to know and understand.


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