William Atkinson - The Complete Works of William Walker Atkinson

Fear has hypnotized the race for ages, and its effects are as noticeable now as ever. We have taken in Fear with our mother’s milk—yes, even before birth we have been cursed with this thing. We have had it suggested into us from childhood. The “ifs,” “supposings,” “buts,” “what-ifs” and “aren’t-you-afraids” have always been with us. We have been taught to fear everything in the heavens above, the earth beneath and the waters under the earth. The bugaboos of childhood—the things-to-be-feared of manhood—are all off the same piece. We are told all our lives that “the goblins will catch you if you don’t look out.” Turn which way we may the suggestions of Fear are constantly being poured into us. Any one who knows the power of repeated suggestions can realize what all this has meant to the world. The brave band of New Thought people— Don’t Worry people—and others of this line of thought, are doing much toward pouring a stream of clear, living water into the muddy, stagnant pool of Fearthought that the world has allowed to accumulate, and others are adding to the stream every day, but the pool is enormous.

Fear never accomplished any good and never will. It is a negative thought which has dragged its slimy form along the ages, seeking to devour all which promised good to Mankind. It is the greatest enemy of progress—the sworn foe of Freedom. The cry, “I’m afraid,” has always been heard, and it is only when some man or woman, or a number of them, has dared to laugh in its face, that some bold deed has been done that has caused the world to go forward a notch or so. Let some one advance a new idea calculated to benefit the world, and at once you hear the cry of Fear, with the accompanying yells of the whelps, Hate and Anger, filling the air and awakening echoing yells, growls and snarls from all the Fear-kennels within hearing distance. Let any one try to do a thing in a new way—improve upon some accepted plan—teach the Truth in a new way—and the yell goes up. Fear is the curse of the race.

The man who is in bondage to Fear is a very slave, and no crueler master ever existed. In proportion to his fear, Man sinks in the mud. And the pathetic, although somewhat humorous, part of it all is, that all the time the man has sufficient power to rise up and smite his task-master a blow between the eyes which will cause him to retreat in a hurry. Man is like a young elephant which has not yet recognized its strength. When one once realizes that nothing can hurt him, Fear flees from him. The man who recognizes just what he is, and what is his place in the Universe, parts company with Fear forever. And, before he reaches this stage, Fear loses its hold upon him as he advances step by step toward that recognition.

And not only on this plane may Fear be defeated, but even on the lower plane of self-interest and self-advancement Fear may be gotten rid of. When Man recognizes that Fear is a sort of home-made, pumpkin-headed jack-o’-lantern, instead of the fiery-eyed monster of the night he had supposed it to be, he will walk up to it and knock it off the fence post where it had been placed to frighten him. He will see that the things that happen are never so bad as the things that were feared. He will see that the Fear of a thing is worse than the thing itself. He will see that, as the anticipation of a desired thing is greater than the realization, so is the anticipation of a feared thing worse than the happening of it. And he will find that the majority of feared things do not happen. And he will find that even when things do happen, somehow matters are straightened out so that we bear the burden much better than we had dreamt would be possible—God not only tempers the wind to the shorn lamb, but he tempers the shorn lamb to the wind.

And Man finds that the very fearing of a thing often brings it upon him while a fearless mental attitude sends the thing flying away often at the last moment. Job cried out, “The thing that I feared hath come upon me.”

Some one has said, and I have often repeated it: “There is nothing to be feared but Fear.” Well, I go further than that now and say that there is no sense in fearing even Fear, for, as terrible as he appears on the outside, he is made of the flimsiest material on the inside. He is “a lath painted to resemble iron.” A few strong blows will smash him. He is a fraud—a yellow dog wearing a lion’s skin. Stand up before him and smile boldly in his face—look him in the eyes and smile. Do not mind his frightful form—his hideous mask—he is a weakling when matched with Courage and Confidence. All these negative thoughts are weaklings when compared with their opposites on the positive plane.

Would you know how to get rid of Fear? Then listen. The way to get rid of Fear is to ignore his existence and to carry before you, and with you always, the ideals of Courage and Confidence. Confidence in the great plan of which you are a part. Courage in your strength as a part of the whole. Confidence in the workings of the Law. Courage in your ability to work in accordance with the Law. Confidence in your destiny. Courage in your knowledge of the reality of the Whole and the illusions of separateness. Courage and Confidence arising from the knowledge of the Law of Attraction and the power of Thought-force. Courage and Confidence in your knowledge that the Positive always overcomes the Negative.

Men often say that The New Thought principles are beyond them—that they cannot comprehend—that they want something that will be of use to them in their every day lives. Well, here is something for such people. This idea of the abolishing of Fear will make them over and will give them a peace of mind that they have never been conscious of before. It will give them sweet sleep after business hours; it will give them an even mind during business hours; it will make their paths smoother and will obviate friction; it will soon be used to cause things to “come their way.” And while it is doing these things for them it will be making better men of them. It will be preparing them for the recognition of higher truths.

You neophyte, who are standing at the door of the secret chamber, longing to pass through its portals and thence to knowledge and freedom and power, be not dismayed at the sight of the Dweller of the Threshold. He is merely “gotten up for the occasion.” Smile in his face and gaze steadily into his eyes and you will see what an old humbug he is. Push him aside and enter into the room of knowledge. Beyond that are other rooms for you, which you will pass through in turn. Leave the Dweller for timid mortals who are afraid that the “goblins will get them.” Faint heart never won fair lady nor anything else worth having in this world. And “none but the brave deserve the fair,” or anything else. So drop your whining cry of “I Can’t” or your sniveling “I’m afraid,” and, shouting boldly, “I can and I will,” brush past the Dweller of the Threshold, crowd him up against the door-post with your shoulder and walk into the Room.

Table of Content

Many persons attracted to the New Thought by the healing feature—This feature highly important but not the highest good obtainable—Many theories but only one real force—The secret of permanent cures—The claims of the different schools—All obtaining wonderful results—All forms of healing good, but cures can be made by one’s self—The healing power latent in the individual—Called into force by outside treatment—The sub-conscious plane in healing—Absent treatment—Man has a latent recuperative power within him—Arouse the recuperative power—Vital force—Use of transference of Vital Force—Fear as a poison—Taking off the brake—No special mystery about healing—Explanation of Nature’s processes in mental healing.