Expect the Best and Get it - 2
That this philosophy is of practical value is illustrated by the experience of a young woman whom I interviewed a number of years ago. She made an appointment to see me in my office at two o’clock on a certain afternoon. Being quite busy that day, I had gotten a little behind schedule, and it was about five minutes after two when I walked into the conference room where she was waiting. It was obvious that she was displeased for her lips were pressed firmly together.
"It’s five minutes after two, and we had an appointment at 2 P. M.," she said. "I always admire promptness."
"So do I. I always believe in being prompt, and I hope you will forgive me for my unavoidable delay," I said with a smile.
But she was not in a smiling mood, for she said crisply, "I have a very important problem to present to you and I want an answer, and I expect an answer." Then she shot out at me: "I might as well put it to you bluntly. I want to get married."
"Well," I replied, "that is a perfectly normal desire and I should like to help you."
"I want to know why I can’t get married," she continued. "Every time I form a friendship with a man, the next thing I know he fades out of the picture and another chance is gone by, and," she added, speaking frankly, "I am not getting any younger. You conduct a personal-problem clinic to study people and you have had some experience, and I am putting my problem right up to you. Tell me, why can’t I get married?"
I studied her to see if she was the kind of person to whom one could speak frankly, for certain things had to be said if she really meant business. Finally I decided that she was of big enough caliber to take the medicine that would be required if she was to correct her personality difficulties, so I said, "Well, now, let’s analyze the situation. Obviously you have a good mind and a fine personality, and, if I may say so, you are a very handsome lady."
All of these things were true. I congratulated her in every way that I honestly could, but then I said, "I think that I see your difficulty and it is this. You took me to task because I was five minutes late for our appointment, You were really quite severe with me. Has it ever occured to you that your attitude represents a pretty serious fault? I think a husband would have a very difficult time if you checked him up that closely all the time. In fact; you would so dominate him that, even if you did marry, your marital life would be unsatisfactory. Love cannot live under domination."
Then I said, "You have a very firm way of pressing your lips together which indicates a domineering attitude. The average male, I might as well tell you, does not like to be dominated, at least so that he knows it." Then I added, "I think you would be a very attractive person if you got those too-firm lines out of your face. You must have a little softness, a little tenderness, and those lines are too firm to be soft." Then I observed her dress, which was obviously quite expensive, but she didn’t wear it very well, and so I said, "This may be a bit out of my line, and I
hope you won’t mind, but perhaps you could get that dress to hang a little better." I know my description was awkward, but she was a good sport about it and laughed right out loud.
She said, "You certainly don’t use style phraseology, but I get the idea." Then I suggested, "Perhaps it might help to get your hair fixed up a little. It’s a little—floaty. Then you might also add a little sweet-smelling perfume—just a whiff of it. But the really important thing is to get a new attitude that will change the lines on your face and give you that indefinable quality known as spiritual joy.
This I am certain will release charm and loveliness in you." "Well," she burst out, "never did I expect to get this combination of advice in a minister’s office."
"No," I chuckled, "I suppose not, but nowadays we have to cover the whole field in a human problem." Then I told her about an old professor of mine at Ohio Wesleyan University, "Rolly" Walker, who said, "God runs a beauty parlor." He explained that some girls when they came to college were very pretty, but when they came back. To visit the campus thirty years later their beauty had faded. The moonlight-and-roses loveliness of their youth did not last. On the other hand, other girls came to college who were very plain, but when they returned thirty years later they were beautiful women, "What made the difference?" he asked. "The latter had the beauty of
an inner sp iritual life written on their faces," and then he added, "God runs a beauty parlor."
Well, this young lady thought about what I told her for a few minutes and then she said, "There’s a lot of truth in what you say. I’ll try it."
Here is where her strong personality proved effective, for she did try it. A number of years went by and I had forgotten her.
Then in a certain city, after making a speech, a very lovely-looking lady with a fine-looking man and a little boy about ten years of age came up to me. The lady asked smilingly, "Well, how do you think it hangs?" "How do I think what hangs?" I asked, puzzled.
"My dress," she said. "Do you think it hangs right?"
Bewildered, I said, "Yes, I think it hangs all right, but just why do you ask?"
"Don’t you know me?" she asked.
"I see a great many people in my life," I said. "Frankly, no, I don’t think I have ever seen you before."
Then she reminded me of our talk of years ago which I have described.
"Meet my husband and my little boy. What you told me was absolutely true," she said very earnestly. "I was the most frustrated, unhappy individual imaginable when I came to see you, but I put into practice the principles you suggested. I really did, and they worked."
Her husband then spoke up and said, "There was never a sweeter person in the world than Mary here," and I must say that she looked the part. She had evidently visited "God’s beauty parlor."
Not only did she experience a softening and mellowing of her inner spirit, but she properly used a great quality which she possessed, namely, the driving force to get what she wanted. This led her to the point where she was willing to change herself so that her dreams could be realized. She had that quality of mind whereby she took herself in hand, she applied the spiritual techniques, and she had a profound and yet simple faith that what her heart told her she wanted could be obtained by the proper creative and positive procedures.
So the formula is to know what you want, test it to see if it is a right thing, change yourself in such a manner that it will naturally come to you, and always have faith. With the creative force of belief you stimulate that particular gathering together of circumstances which brings your cherished wish to pass.
Students of modern dynamic thought are realizing more and more the practical value of the ideas and teachings of Jesus, especially such truths as the dictum, "According to your faith, be it unto you." (Mt 9:29) According to your faith in yourself, according to your faith in your job, according to your faith in God, this far will you get and no further. It you believe in your job and in yourself and in the opportunities of your country, and if you believe in God and will work hard and study and put yourself into it—in other words, if you "throw your heart over the
bar," you can swing up to any high place to which you want to take your life and your service and your achievement. Whenever you have a bar, that is to say a barrier, in front of you, stop, close your eyes, visualize everything that is above the bar and nothing that is below it, then imaginatively throw "your heart" over that bar and see yourself as being given lifting power to rise above it. Believe that you are experiencing this upthrust of force. You will be amazed at the lifting force you will receive. It in the depth of your mind you visualize the best and employ the powers of faith and energy, you will get the best.
Naturally in this process of achieving the best it is important to know where you want to go in life. You can reach your goal, your best dreams can come true, you can get where you want to go only if you know what your goal is. Your expectation must have a clearly defined objective. Lots of people get nowhere simply because they do not know where they want to go. They have no clear-cut, precisely defined purpose. You cannot expect the best if you think aimlessly.
A young man of twenty-six consulted me because he was dissatisfied with his job. He was ambitious to fill a bigger niche in life and wanted to know how to improve his circumstances. His motive seemed unselfish and entirely worth while.
"Well, where do you want to go?" I asked. "I just don’t know exactly," he said hesitantly. "I have never given it any thought. I only know I want to go somewhere other than where I am."
"What can you do best?" I then asked. "What are your strong points?"
"I don’t know," he responded. "I never thought that over either."
"But what would you like to do if you had your choice? What do you really want to do?" I insisted.
"I just can’t say," he replied dully. "I don’t really know what I would like to do. I never thought it over. Guess I ought to figure that one out too."
"Now, look here," I said, "you want to go somewhere from where you are, but you don’t know where you want to go. You don’t know what you can do or what you would like to do. You will have to get your ideas organized before you can expect to start getting anywhere."
That is the failure point with many people. They never get anywhere because they have only a hazy idea where they want to go, what they want to do. No objective leads to no end.
We made a thorough analysis, testing this young man’s capabilities, and found some assets of personality he did not know he possessed. But it was necessary to supply a dynamic to move him forward, so we taught him the techniques of practical faith. Today he is on the way to achievement.
Now he knows where he wants to go and how to get there. He knows what the best is and he expects to attain it and he will—nothing can stop him.
I asked an outstanding newspaper editor, an inspiring personality, "How did you get to be the editor of this important paper?"
"I wanted to be," he replied simply.
"Is that all there is to it?" I asked. "You wanted to be and so there you are."
"Well, that may not be all of it, but that was a large part of the process," he explained. "I believe that if you want to get somewhere, you must decide definitely where you want to be or what you want to accomplish. Be sure it is a right objective, then photograph this objective on your mind and hold it there. Work hard, believe in it, and the thought will become so powerful that it will tend to assure success. There is a deep tendency," he declared, "to become what your mind pictures, provided you hold the mental picture strongly enough and it the objective is sound."
So saying, the editor pulled a well-worn card from his wallet and said, "I repeat this quotation every day of my life. It has become my dominating thought."
I copied it and am giving it to you: "A man who is self-reliant, positive, optimistic, and undertakes his work with the assurance of success magnetizes his condition. He draws to himself the creative powers of the universe."
It is indeed a fact that the person who thinks with positive self-reliance and optimism does magnetize his condition and releases power to attain his goal. So expect the best at all times. Never think of the worst. Drop it out of your thought, relegate it. Let there be no thought in your mind that the worst will happen. Avoid entertaining the concept of the worst, for whatever you take into your mind can grow there. Therefore take the best into your mind and only that. Nurture it, concentrate on it, emphasize it, visualize it, prayerize it, surround it with faith. Make it your obsession. Expect the best, and spiritually creative mind power aided by God power will produce the best.
It may be that as you read this book you are down to what you think is the worst and you may remark that no amount of thinking will affect your situation. The answer to that objection is that it simply isn’t so. Even it you may be down to the worst, the best is potentially within you. You have only to find it, release it, and rise up with it. This requires courage and character, to be sure, but the main requirement is faith. Cultivate faith and you will have the necessary courage and character.
A woman was compelled by adversity to go into sales work, a type of activity for which she had no training. She undertook to demonstrate vacuum cleaners from house to house. She took a negative attitude toward herself and her work. She "just didn’t believe she could do this job." She "knew" she was going to fail. She feared to approach a house even though she came for a requested demonstration. She believed that she could not make the sale. As a result, as is not surprising, she failed in a high percentage of her interviews.
One day she chanced to call upon a woman who evidenced consideration beyond the average. To this customer the saleswoman poured out her tale of defeat and powerlessness. The other woman listened patiently, then said quietly, "If you expect failure, you will get failure, but if you expect to succeed, I am sure you will succeed." And she added, "I will give you a formula which I believe will help you. It will restyle your thinking, give you new confidence, and help you to accomplish your goals. Repeat this formula before every call. Believe in it and then marvel at
what it will do tor you. This is it. ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Ro 8:31) But change it by personalizing it so that you say, ‘If God be for me, who can be against me?’ If God be for me, then I know that with God’s help I can sell vacuum cleaners. God realizes that you want security and support for your little children and yourself, and by practicing the method I suggest you will be given power to get what you want."
She learned to utilize this formula. She approached each house expecting to make a sale, affirming and picturizing positive, not negative, results. As the saleswoman employed this principle she presently acquired new courage, new faith, and deeper confidence in her own ability. Now she declares, "God helps me sell vacuum cleaners," and who can dispute it?
It is a well-defined and authentic principle that what the mind profoundly expects it tends to receive. Perhaps this is true because what you really expect is what you actually want. Unless you really want something sufficiently to create an atmosphere of positive factors by your dynamic desire, it is likely to elude you. "It with all your heart"ùthat is the secret. "If with all your heart," that is to say, if with the full complement of your personality, you reach out creatively toward your heart’s desire, your reach will not be in vain.
(From Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale)
That this philosophy is of practical value is illustrated by the experience of a young woman whom I interviewed a number of years ago. She made an appointment to see me in my office at two o’clock on a certain afternoon. Being quite busy that day, I had gotten a little behind schedule, and it was about five minutes after two when I walked into the conference room where she was waiting. It was obvious that she was displeased for her lips were pressed firmly together.
"It’s five minutes after two, and we had an appointment at 2 P. M.," she said. "I always admire promptness."
"So do I. I always believe in being prompt, and I hope you will forgive me for my unavoidable delay," I said with a smile.
But she was not in a smiling mood, for she said crisply, "I have a very important problem to present to you and I want an answer, and I expect an answer." Then she shot out at me: "I might as well put it to you bluntly. I want to get married."
"Well," I replied, "that is a perfectly normal desire and I should like to help you."
"I want to know why I can’t get married," she continued. "Every time I form a friendship with a man, the next thing I know he fades out of the picture and another chance is gone by, and," she added, speaking frankly, "I am not getting any younger. You conduct a personal-problem clinic to study people and you have had some experience, and I am putting my problem right up to you. Tell me, why can’t I get married?"
I studied her to see if she was the kind of person to whom one could speak frankly, for certain things had to be said if she really meant business. Finally I decided that she was of big enough caliber to take the medicine that would be required if she was to correct her personality difficulties, so I said, "Well, now, let’s analyze the situation. Obviously you have a good mind and a fine personality, and, if I may say so, you are a very handsome lady."
All of these things were true. I congratulated her in every way that I honestly could, but then I said, "I think that I see your difficulty and it is this. You took me to task because I was five minutes late for our appointment, You were really quite severe with me. Has it ever occured to you that your attitude represents a pretty serious fault? I think a husband would have a very difficult time if you checked him up that closely all the time. In fact; you would so dominate him that, even if you did marry, your marital life would be unsatisfactory. Love cannot live under domination."
Then I said, "You have a very firm way of pressing your lips together which indicates a domineering attitude. The average male, I might as well tell you, does not like to be dominated, at least so that he knows it." Then I added, "I think you would be a very attractive person if you got those too-firm lines out of your face. You must have a little softness, a little tenderness, and those lines are too firm to be soft." Then I observed her dress, which was obviously quite expensive, but she didn’t wear it very well, and so I said, "This may be a bit out of my line, and I
hope you won’t mind, but perhaps you could get that dress to hang a little better." I know my description was awkward, but she was a good sport about it and laughed right out loud.
She said, "You certainly don’t use style phraseology, but I get the idea." Then I suggested, "Perhaps it might help to get your hair fixed up a little. It’s a little—floaty. Then you might also add a little sweet-smelling perfume—just a whiff of it. But the really important thing is to get a new attitude that will change the lines on your face and give you that indefinable quality known as spiritual joy.
This I am certain will release charm and loveliness in you." "Well," she burst out, "never did I expect to get this combination of advice in a minister’s office."
"No," I chuckled, "I suppose not, but nowadays we have to cover the whole field in a human problem." Then I told her about an old professor of mine at Ohio Wesleyan University, "Rolly" Walker, who said, "God runs a beauty parlor." He explained that some girls when they came to college were very pretty, but when they came back. To visit the campus thirty years later their beauty had faded. The moonlight-and-roses loveliness of their youth did not last. On the other hand, other girls came to college who were very plain, but when they returned thirty years later they were beautiful women, "What made the difference?" he asked. "The latter had the beauty of
an inner sp iritual life written on their faces," and then he added, "God runs a beauty parlor."
Well, this young lady thought about what I told her for a few minutes and then she said, "There’s a lot of truth in what you say. I’ll try it."
Here is where her strong personality proved effective, for she did try it. A number of years went by and I had forgotten her.
Then in a certain city, after making a speech, a very lovely-looking lady with a fine-looking man and a little boy about ten years of age came up to me. The lady asked smilingly, "Well, how do you think it hangs?" "How do I think what hangs?" I asked, puzzled.
"My dress," she said. "Do you think it hangs right?"
Bewildered, I said, "Yes, I think it hangs all right, but just why do you ask?"
"Don’t you know me?" she asked.
"I see a great many people in my life," I said. "Frankly, no, I don’t think I have ever seen you before."
Then she reminded me of our talk of years ago which I have described.
"Meet my husband and my little boy. What you told me was absolutely true," she said very earnestly. "I was the most frustrated, unhappy individual imaginable when I came to see you, but I put into practice the principles you suggested. I really did, and they worked."
Her husband then spoke up and said, "There was never a sweeter person in the world than Mary here," and I must say that she looked the part. She had evidently visited "God’s beauty parlor."
Not only did she experience a softening and mellowing of her inner spirit, but she properly used a great quality which she possessed, namely, the driving force to get what she wanted. This led her to the point where she was willing to change herself so that her dreams could be realized. She had that quality of mind whereby she took herself in hand, she applied the spiritual techniques, and she had a profound and yet simple faith that what her heart told her she wanted could be obtained by the proper creative and positive procedures.
So the formula is to know what you want, test it to see if it is a right thing, change yourself in such a manner that it will naturally come to you, and always have faith. With the creative force of belief you stimulate that particular gathering together of circumstances which brings your cherished wish to pass.
Students of modern dynamic thought are realizing more and more the practical value of the ideas and teachings of Jesus, especially such truths as the dictum, "According to your faith, be it unto you." (Mt 9:29) According to your faith in yourself, according to your faith in your job, according to your faith in God, this far will you get and no further. It you believe in your job and in yourself and in the opportunities of your country, and if you believe in God and will work hard and study and put yourself into it—in other words, if you "throw your heart over the
bar," you can swing up to any high place to which you want to take your life and your service and your achievement. Whenever you have a bar, that is to say a barrier, in front of you, stop, close your eyes, visualize everything that is above the bar and nothing that is below it, then imaginatively throw "your heart" over that bar and see yourself as being given lifting power to rise above it. Believe that you are experiencing this upthrust of force. You will be amazed at the lifting force you will receive. It in the depth of your mind you visualize the best and employ the powers of faith and energy, you will get the best.
Naturally in this process of achieving the best it is important to know where you want to go in life. You can reach your goal, your best dreams can come true, you can get where you want to go only if you know what your goal is. Your expectation must have a clearly defined objective. Lots of people get nowhere simply because they do not know where they want to go. They have no clear-cut, precisely defined purpose. You cannot expect the best if you think aimlessly.
A young man of twenty-six consulted me because he was dissatisfied with his job. He was ambitious to fill a bigger niche in life and wanted to know how to improve his circumstances. His motive seemed unselfish and entirely worth while.
"Well, where do you want to go?" I asked. "I just don’t know exactly," he said hesitantly. "I have never given it any thought. I only know I want to go somewhere other than where I am."
"What can you do best?" I then asked. "What are your strong points?"
"I don’t know," he responded. "I never thought that over either."
"But what would you like to do if you had your choice? What do you really want to do?" I insisted.
"I just can’t say," he replied dully. "I don’t really know what I would like to do. I never thought it over. Guess I ought to figure that one out too."
"Now, look here," I said, "you want to go somewhere from where you are, but you don’t know where you want to go. You don’t know what you can do or what you would like to do. You will have to get your ideas organized before you can expect to start getting anywhere."
That is the failure point with many people. They never get anywhere because they have only a hazy idea where they want to go, what they want to do. No objective leads to no end.
We made a thorough analysis, testing this young man’s capabilities, and found some assets of personality he did not know he possessed. But it was necessary to supply a dynamic to move him forward, so we taught him the techniques of practical faith. Today he is on the way to achievement.
Now he knows where he wants to go and how to get there. He knows what the best is and he expects to attain it and he will—nothing can stop him.
I asked an outstanding newspaper editor, an inspiring personality, "How did you get to be the editor of this important paper?"
"I wanted to be," he replied simply.
"Is that all there is to it?" I asked. "You wanted to be and so there you are."
"Well, that may not be all of it, but that was a large part of the process," he explained. "I believe that if you want to get somewhere, you must decide definitely where you want to be or what you want to accomplish. Be sure it is a right objective, then photograph this objective on your mind and hold it there. Work hard, believe in it, and the thought will become so powerful that it will tend to assure success. There is a deep tendency," he declared, "to become what your mind pictures, provided you hold the mental picture strongly enough and it the objective is sound."
So saying, the editor pulled a well-worn card from his wallet and said, "I repeat this quotation every day of my life. It has become my dominating thought."
I copied it and am giving it to you: "A man who is self-reliant, positive, optimistic, and undertakes his work with the assurance of success magnetizes his condition. He draws to himself the creative powers of the universe."
It is indeed a fact that the person who thinks with positive self-reliance and optimism does magnetize his condition and releases power to attain his goal. So expect the best at all times. Never think of the worst. Drop it out of your thought, relegate it. Let there be no thought in your mind that the worst will happen. Avoid entertaining the concept of the worst, for whatever you take into your mind can grow there. Therefore take the best into your mind and only that. Nurture it, concentrate on it, emphasize it, visualize it, prayerize it, surround it with faith. Make it your obsession. Expect the best, and spiritually creative mind power aided by God power will produce the best.
It may be that as you read this book you are down to what you think is the worst and you may remark that no amount of thinking will affect your situation. The answer to that objection is that it simply isn’t so. Even it you may be down to the worst, the best is potentially within you. You have only to find it, release it, and rise up with it. This requires courage and character, to be sure, but the main requirement is faith. Cultivate faith and you will have the necessary courage and character.
A woman was compelled by adversity to go into sales work, a type of activity for which she had no training. She undertook to demonstrate vacuum cleaners from house to house. She took a negative attitude toward herself and her work. She "just didn’t believe she could do this job." She "knew" she was going to fail. She feared to approach a house even though she came for a requested demonstration. She believed that she could not make the sale. As a result, as is not surprising, she failed in a high percentage of her interviews.
One day she chanced to call upon a woman who evidenced consideration beyond the average. To this customer the saleswoman poured out her tale of defeat and powerlessness. The other woman listened patiently, then said quietly, "If you expect failure, you will get failure, but if you expect to succeed, I am sure you will succeed." And she added, "I will give you a formula which I believe will help you. It will restyle your thinking, give you new confidence, and help you to accomplish your goals. Repeat this formula before every call. Believe in it and then marvel at
what it will do tor you. This is it. ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Ro 8:31) But change it by personalizing it so that you say, ‘If God be for me, who can be against me?’ If God be for me, then I know that with God’s help I can sell vacuum cleaners. God realizes that you want security and support for your little children and yourself, and by practicing the method I suggest you will be given power to get what you want."
She learned to utilize this formula. She approached each house expecting to make a sale, affirming and picturizing positive, not negative, results. As the saleswoman employed this principle she presently acquired new courage, new faith, and deeper confidence in her own ability. Now she declares, "God helps me sell vacuum cleaners," and who can dispute it?
It is a well-defined and authentic principle that what the mind profoundly expects it tends to receive. Perhaps this is true because what you really expect is what you actually want. Unless you really want something sufficiently to create an atmosphere of positive factors by your dynamic desire, it is likely to elude you. "It with all your heart"ùthat is the secret. "If with all your heart," that is to say, if with the full complement of your personality, you reach out creatively toward your heart’s desire, your reach will not be in vain.
(From Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment