Thorstein Veblen - Achieving Prosperity - Ultimate Collection

I will suppose that you are a victim to Fear thought (and I am very likely correct) and that you are about to try the four plans of ridding yourself of it. I will suppose that you will try them in turn one after the other. You will first try the power of the Will, and will say to yourself: "I will not Fear," "I command Fear to depart." This is the heroic remedy. I shall not go into details of this treatment. You know all about it, already. You have all tried it. You will next try the effect of Hypnotic Suggestion, and will employ a good suggestionist who will place you in an easy position; cause you to relax every muscle; quiet every nerve and assume a state of mental calm; and who, having secured your undivided, concentrated attention, will give you strong, repeated suggestions of Fearlessness, Courage, Hopefulness, Confidence, etc. The capable suggestionist will study each case closely, and by carefully selected, and properly administered suggestions, will plant the seed of the new thought-habit with its designed to supplant and crowd out the old one. Splendid results are obtained by this line of treatment. The writer has cured many persons of undesirable thought-habits in this way, when they felt that they preferred outside help. He has also used this form of treatment in order to get the patient started on the right mental path; to give him confidence in himself and in the efficacy of this form of mental development; and then instructed him in the theory and practice of auto- suggestion and Thought Absorption, leaving him to finish the fight himself. You will then try the power of autosuggestion by constantly repeating to yourself the words: "I am Fearless"; "I am Confident"; "I have abolished Fear"; "I Fear Nothing," etc. These autosuggestions must be made earnestly, just as if you were suggesting to another person, and you must endeavor to live up to them.

Let your Passive mind see - that you believe what you say, and it will have confidence in your statements, and, accepting them as correct, will act accordingly. If you go about this practice in good faith and in earnest, you will notice an improvement from the first. You must remember, however, that if the Passive mind thrusts a Worry thought upon your consciousness, you must double your assertion of Fearlessness, until the intruder retreats. This may bother you at the first, for the Worry thought is pretty confident of a friendly reception, but like any other mangy cur it will soon learn that you carry a club, and will bear a hasty retreat at the mere sight of it.

Carry this idea of the cur and the club in your mind, and you will have but little trouble with the brute. You will learn to despise the Worry thought as you do the snarling, snapping cur, and will not hesitate to deal him a good sound whack with your mental club, provided he stays long enough to be hit. He will soon retreat with his tail between his legs, and will thereafter manifest a wholesome respect for the club. Don't wait until he actually bothers you, but get in the habit of reaching out for the club at the first sight of the yellow hide of the mongrel.

And now you are ready to try the effects of Thought absorption. In this case you place yourself in the suggestible, passive condition, just as you did at the bidding of the suggestionist when was preparing to give you helpful suggestions. The more passive you become, the better will be the effect. In other words, you relax, let go, and become perfectly passive, bodily and mentally. You thus relieve the Active mind from duty and allow the Passive mind to have undisputed control. You then carry the thought of "I am Fearless," and the others above given, calmly and firmly. You also picture yourself, on your imagination, as being Fearless, acting fearlessly, having moral and physical courage, and as driving away the Worry mongrel with our mental club.

Give your imagination full scope, but hold it down to the desired line of thought. You will find the exercises in concentration most valuable here. You also will carry the thought of Fearlessness with you all the time, and endeavor to act the part naturally. I mean adjust what I say; act the part just as does the actor when he assumes a role. The assumed character will soon become more real, and in time will be the "real thing" with you. After a little practice, it will become second nature to you; and eventually will become your real nature.

As I have said before, the combination of Thought Absorption and Autosuggestion forms the ideal treatment in Character Building. I will close this lesson with a few exercises designed to aid you in Thought Absorption. Do not forget to practice the Concentration exercises, but do not wait to master them before commencing your fight on the Fear thought cur. Commence this flight at once. Cut your club today, and just "lay" for the brute. Once you get him out of the way, you will be able to pursue the study of this subject, without the annoyance of having him around, howling and yelping at you. The treatment for lack of Energy, Confidence, Perseverance, etc., is identical with that directed for Fear thought, the words of the auto- suggestions and affirmations, of course, being, altered to suit the particular case.

THE PRACTICE OF THOUGHT ABSORPTION

1. Find a secure, quiet place, as far as possible removed from the scenes and sounds of the outside world. If the ideal conditions cannot be secured, you must content yourself with the best obtainable conditions. The idea is to shut out the distracting, impression, and enable you to be alone with yourself.

2. Place yourself on a couch, bed or easy chair, obtaining a position of absolute ease and comfort. Relax every muscle; withdraw the tension from every nerve; allow yourself to be perfectly "limp" all over, from head to feet. Breathe deeply and slowly, retaining the breath for several moments before expelling it; continue the deep breathing until a feeling of calm, restful quiet manifests itself.

3. Concentrate your whole attention inwardly upon yourself, shutting out all outside impressions. Concentration exercises will enable you to do this.

4. Having obtained the proper conditions of bodily and mental relaxation, fix your thought firmly, calmly and steadily upon the word "FEARLESS," letting its outward form sink into your mind, as they dive into the wax. Give yourself up to the thought and the word. Then think of the meaning of the word, the characteristics of a person possessing that, quality, etc.

5. Form the mental picture of yourself possessed of the desired quality, act it out in your mind, as in a dream; think of yourself doing certain things by reason of the possession of the woman, you being possessed of the desired quality. In short, indulge in a pleasant "day dream," having for its theme your possession of the quality desired. Give your imagination full sway, merely insisting upon it sticking to the text, and it's always showing you successful the scenes and occurrences of the dream. Always conclude this "dream" with a strong impression and thought of "I AM."

6. Repeat these exercises as often as possible. It is like the dripping of the water on the stone. The repeated thought takes root and grows rapidly. It is a good plan to practice this exercise when you retire for the night, and also during your waking hours at night, if you have any. The exercises will not keep you from slumber, but will rather tend to induce the desire for sleep. If you feel yourself dropping into a doze, do not resist it, as the impression, which you carry with you into sleep, will dwell with you, and will do its work even while you are slumbering.

In the above exercises, I have used the word "Fearless" and its accompanying thought, to illustrate the process of inducing Thought Absorption. You will understand that you are to use the word expressing the quality of which you are desirous of acquiring. If you wish to rid yourself of an undesirable quality, select the word expressing the opposite thought. For instance, if you are inclined to be indolent, select the word "Active" or "Energy," etc., and so on. You must remember that when we wish to brighten a room, we do not have to drive out the darkness first; we merely open the blinds and admit the light, and lo, the darkness has departed. Do not bother about the undesirable thought, but concentrate on their opposites, and the positive will neutralize the negative. Do not become discouraged if the results do not come as soon as you would like. Remember, they are sure to come, in time. All that you require is repeated practice. The mind can be developed just as can be the muscles, and by the same process - continued practice.