Joy Philosophy
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You and I are artists. But we are prone to look too long and often at our canvas— the results of our efforts; and too little at our Ideals, which are the sources of all effort and power of accomplishment.

Let us take special times every day for gazing upon our models—our Ideals. The first thing in the morning and the last thing at night should be daily given to special gazing upon what we desire. Then many times a day we should pause in our efforts, for a few moments’ study of the Ideal.

Choose for these sittings the same hour, the same place, and even the same chair facing the same way. Let the chair be an easy one, but with a straight back.

Keep your appointments with your Ideal to the minute as nearly as possible. But if at any time you are unavoidably hindered take the earliest moment possible.

And remember always that the matter of first importance is to keep sweet. To let a change upset you simply necessitates extra time and effort to get settled again.

Sit bolt upright, resting against the back of your chair, and in an easy position. Keep absolutely still, with eyes resting (not fixed) always on the same spot, straight ahead and slightly above the level. Do not get into a rigid state, but see that you are still. Aim not to move once during the entire sitting, which should be about half an hour long. Perhaps less to begin with.

Now having disposed of your body rise mentally to the highest heights you can picture. For instance, take your highest business ideals; picture it in rosy colors and definite outline. Stretch it. Make your ideal just as large and fine as possible. Picture out the details as plainly as possible. Make it definite. Decide just what you mean to work for and to realize. Let us suppose that you are a married man with a family of small children whom you wish to educate. You don’t want just barely enough to send them to college on, leaving yourself a broken down and poverty stricken slave in the end. Neither do you want to remain a hack worker in a mean position and have somebody die and give you money to school your children with—whilst you keep on doing hack work. You want to be a MAN, so valuable to the world that you can command plenty of money as your RIGHT. You want to GROW in wisdom and knowledge until a more remunerative work will call you and be glad to pay for you. You want, say $5,000 a year, to come easily to you as a result of your own good and enjoyed effort. Then you can hold your head up and enjoy looking any man in the eyes—kindly, as a brother and equal. Then you will enjoy sitting straight and being still and happy.

Keep filling in the details of your Ideal and get just as enthused over it as you possibly can. But keep your muscles relaxed. Rise above the body and revel in your Ideal.

There is a reason for this;—when muscles are relaxed they are in condition to be filled with power from the Ideal held. Tensed muscles keep out the mental energy. Mind is positive to muscle, and relaxed muscles are receptive to mental power.

So loose the body and get enthused over the Ideal. Let your mental picture wake as much emotion as possible; for emotion is real creative force, and creates after the pattern held in mind.

If you hold a fearful picture in mind emotion creates it. Job said “I feared a great fear and it came upon me.” If you hold a beautiful picture emotion creates that. Fear and joy, and all intermediate shades of feeling, are the same force—the soul-force out of which all creation is made.

So I tell you to do your best to get enthused and exalted over your Ideal. Keep telling yourself that your Ideal is you, and that in due time you will prove it in terms of matter. If it is not you what is it? Your Ideal exists within you, does it not? And therefore it must be you. And your poverty, or your work, your “conditions,” exist outside of you, do they not? Then they are not you. What exists within is you.

Of course your “conditions” have their mental pictures within you too,—pictures which preceded the conditions themselves. In past years, perhaps in past ages, you have held with emotion the mental pictures of these very conditions. Hence their creation. But these pictures have grown old, as people grow old, and are ready to be laid away and dissolved in ashes. Every single day and hour you are dwelling with emotion upon more mental pictures which are to take their place, both inside of you and out. So I bid you take special hours for holding with enthusiasm the sort of pictures you want to create; instead of letting your mind perpetuate the same old things over again. And I bid you put into this Ideal picturing all the emotion you can summon, to the end that you the more quickly and vitally create what you want.

Of course this is not at first easy to do. Conditions will come in between you and your Ideal—conditions which arouse fear; which is emotion, remember—your creative energy. Your emotion has habitually gone out to conditions, recreating them. And when you picture your Ideal it seems cold, dead and unreal.

But here is another place where practice makes perfect. Repeated efforts will soon switch emotion into new channels, permitting the old mental pictures to shrivel. And conditions will follow.

And the more regular the efforts the more quickly will energy acquire the habit of flowing in the new directions. There is enormous power in rhythm of effort. One soon gets into the swing of a new thought and it fairly does itself. By rhythmic effort one soon creates through the Ideal a heart-throb. The Ideal passes the period of gestation and comes forth into the actual.

Make light of the actual. Do not permit it to play upon your emotions. But exalt the Ideal. Glorify it. Accord it all power. Rejoice in it and give it your most loving thought. Return to it at regular intervals, and always enthuse over it. To yourself.

As to other people, keep mum. Many a man’s Ideal is stillborn because he wastes his energy in talk; and because he draws to himself the opposition or contempt of others. Be still; make no noise, except when there is something to be gained by it. Noises of all sorts use up your mental energy. In stillness power is generated. Be still.

After a few days of faithful practice at gazing upon your Ideal you will find your whole life changing. You will find yourself with more heart for your work, and things will seem easier to do. Depressions will grow less frequent and less profound, and in time they will entirely cease, and you will find new ideas coming to you about how to do your work. Then your interest in it will increase and you will begin to know the joy of the successful artist.

When you arrive at this stage you will wake some morning to find yourself making more money. And you will find yourself with a little real faith, or conviction, that in due time your Ideal will become real. After that all is easy — our Ideal will live you, instead of having to be carefully nurtured at stated intervals.

Between the times when you gaze specially upon your Ideal it is well to forget it as fully as possible. Put your best thought into your work. But never neglect your stated seasons with your Ideal.

All life is growth, and a live Ideal is no exception. Let it grow. Stretch your imagination to take in all you can. When you find yourself approaching the $5,000-a-year mark you have set for yourself you will find yourself wanting $10,000. Now don’t accuse yourself of never being satisfied. Just rejoice in this evidence of spiritual growth, enlarge your operations and go in to win on a larger scale.

When you have got your children well educated don’t stagnate. Look within and find another Ideal to work for.

Your Ideals are God-given for use. Look eagerly upon them and know that they are Life.

You do not make your Ideals; they make you—if you keep mentally in touch with them.