Laugh and Live | Page 8

experience. _The powers that break down are also the powers that build up._ The electrician who handles the motor could just as well end his own existence by that mysterious current as he could make use of it for the good of humanity. He spends years of conscientious study and masters the knowledge of it so that its uses are as simple as his A B C's. There is no doubt in the world but that he had to learn by experience. He had to go into the shop and climb up from the bottom. There was no other way by which he could come to know how to turn a deadly force into a well-trained necessity.
Yet the average man goes into life with as little knowledge of its forces as the baby who puts its foot upon the third rail. That fact keeps the thoughtless man down until experience comes to the rescue. When it does come, _if he has the sand, the common sense, the will to do_, there is naught to hold him away from his goal.
CHAPTER V
ENERGY, SUCCESS AND LAUGHTER
There are many essentials to success, but there is one that is of such importance that without it all the others become as naught. The man who wins success is invariably impelled to do the great work allotted him by something within that tells him he can. He may not know exactly what it is, but he knows he possesses it and is able to act on that faith, accomplishing things which seem utterly impossible to other people. This inner determination, once firmly implanted in one's nature, cannot be destroyed or conquered. And this element is _energy_--energy of mind, which rules the body. But where does this come from? How do the great minds generate this glorious means of self-propulsion? The answer is that in a healthy body it is inherent from birth, and proper care of the body therefore accentuates within their minds the will to do.
If the preceding chapters have been carefully read we may readily believe that the successful youth must start with a wholesome, generous viewpoint, a good constitution, and a clean mind. We have had an inkling by this time of what one must do to achieve success in a world where competition is keen. We are beginning to realize that these matters are of vital importance and that we are face to face with a problem.
Energy is the natural outpouring of a healthy body. It must be directed, it must be controlled, the same as any other living force. Not only is it a positive necessity to the winner, but it must grow and become a natural quality. It does not stand after years of abuse. It does not spring up in the night after a long season of neglect and ill-health. All of us possess it in varying ways. That fact ought to convince us that we can get hold of ourselves and build up that which nature has given us, rather than allow it to die away. We all have a certain amount of energy ... _why shouldn't we all be successes_? We might to a certain extent, but that doesn't mean that we shall all get rich in the money sense of the world.
When we say: "Why shouldn't we all be successes?" we do not mean that everybody in the world must be greedy for money, nor for power and position. It does not mean that we should be selfish and eager to take everything away from the other fellow. On the contrary, it means that, with energy, we shall be successful according to our brain tendency.
Going back to our second chapter we find the phrase "taking stock" of ourselves. Done rightly that alone will inspire success. Now if we are a little farther along on the way towards sane living and the ability to laugh and we know that after this struggle is over the battle is won we must use the powers that self-analysis gives us--to fight. The mere recognition of them is power and we must not let them go to waste.
Energy is like steam--it cannot be generated under the boiling point. In other words, _half-heartedness_ never produced it nor made it a practical working tool. We must be energetic in order to augment energy. We must have confidence along with it ... the more the merrier. The greater the confidence in ourselves the greater the energy which brought it about. Some minds naturally feel confident. These are the lucky ones, the slender few who have grasped life's meaning at the start by "_taking stock_" before they were threatened with defeat. Success comes to them as easily as rolling off the proverbial log. They come sweeping along, conquering, sure of themselves, confident, aspiring, true to