THREE MAXIMS TO KEEP IN MIND

Articles In This Section:

· MEN AND WOMEN ARE LOOKING FOR LONG LIFE

· NEEDS OF YOUR BODY

· ABSOLUTE MASTERY OVER THE MIND AND EMOTIONS

· THREE MAXIMS TO KEEP IN MIND

· NOTHING BEYOND THE HUMAN REACH

It is important always to bear in mind the following three maxims:

First, a negative attitude not only presupposes failure but actually invites it. Conversely, you can think yourself into an attitude of success. This is not auto-suggestion. Your thoughts invariably determine your own actions and other people's reactions to you.

Hence the second rule—learn to act as if failure were impossible. This doesn't mean you are to become arrogant. Far from it. Self-confidence does not preclude modesty. A completely confident person, quietly aware of inner strength and ability, is more likely to be modest about it than the man or woman who must bluster because of inner insecurity. All that you must ask of yourself, then, is to maintain a completely positive attitude and to act on the positive, constructive impulses instead of on the self-defeating ones.

Thirdly, and lastly, never permit yourself to doubt that you have within you the strength and ability to overcome whatever difficulties are in your path. Simply learn—and here again Yoga Concentration is your ally—to dig out what is best in yourself and to utilize it. You are never as weak nor other people as strong as, in your moments of despondency, you may imagine. Remember to direct your energy and brainpower instead of allowing them to react automatically, and you will find that you have harnessed a powerhouse.

Most people allow themselves to be defeated by putting off what they want to accomplish, meaning to get things done but never doing them. Learn to see the continuity of action and events. The future is not something beyond you, but a continuation of the present, just as the present is a continuation of the past. Therefore the future will never be automatically "different" and tomorrow will not be magically "better" unless you consciously work at changing your patterns. Anything else is a vain and superstitious hope, and the sooner you recognize this the further along you will be. Success is rarely a matter of luck. More often it is a matter of marshaling your forces. Oddly enough it is not intelligence which is the decisive factor here, but determination. Highly intelligent people are often the sensitive ones who vacillate; they also allow themselves to be distracted by extraneous interests from the main tasks they have set themselves. Later on they wonder bitterly why someone less bright, and far less talented, has got ahead of them.

From this it does not necessarily follow that in order to be a success one must have a one-track mind. Rather, it is attacking one problem at a time that will make the difference. Allow yourself all the broad interests you feel you need in order to make your life rich in varied experience. But know when to indulge your preferences. Learn to husband your time and your energy.