SELF-CONFIDENCE 213tjfort is lost sight of, and instead of taking hold of Nature's forces that
are in evidence all around us, and permitting those forces to carry us
to the heights of great achievement, we dery them and they become
forces of destruction.
THE POWER OF SELF-CONFIDENCE
Perhaps none of these great forces of Nature are more available for our
personal growth and self-improvement than is the principle of auto-
suggestion. But ignorance of this force is leading the majority of people
to apply it so that it acts as a hindrance and not as a help.
Following are four examples, arbitrarily two men and two women,
that show how this misapplication of a great force of Nature takes place.
Here is a man who meets with some disappointment-a friend
proves false, or a neighbor seems indifferent. So he decides (through
self-suggestion) all people are untrustworthy and all neighbors unap-
preciative. These thoughts so deeply embed themselves in this man's
subconscious mind that they color his whole attitude toward others.
Go back to what was said in Lesson Two about the way the domina-
ting thoughts of our minds attract others whose thoughts are similar.
Apply the law of attraction and you will soon see and understand
why the unbeliever attracts other unbelievers.
Reverse the principle:
Here is a woman who sees nothing but the best in all whom she
meets. If her neighbors seem indifferent she takes no notice of it, for
she makes it her business to fill her mind with dominating thoughts of
optimism and good cheer and faith in others. If people speak to her
harshly she speaks back in tones of softness. Through the operation of
this same eternal law of attraction, she draws to herself the attention
of people whose attitude toward life and whose dominating thoughts
harmonize with her own. Tracing the principle a step further:
Here is a man who has been well schooled and has the ability to
render the world some needed service. Somewhere, sometime, he has