Soul-Force
You often have heard the word "Enthusiasm" used – have used it
often yourself. But have you ever thought of what the word really
means – from what source it originated – what is its essential spirit?
Few have. The word "Enthusiasm" is derived from the Greek term meaning
"to be inspired; to be possessed by the gods, etc.," the term having
been originally used to designate the mental state of an inspired
person who seems to be under the influence of a higher power. The term
originally meant, "Inspired by a superhuman or divine power; ecstasy;
etc." It is now used, according to Webster, in the sense of:
"Enkindled and kindling fervor of soul; ardent and imaginative zeal or
interest; lively manifestation of joy or zeal; etc." The word has
acquired a secondary, and unfavorable meaning in the sense of
"visionary zeal; imaginative fervor; etc. "; but its real and primary
meaning is that ardent, lively zeal and interest in a inner forces of
one’s nature. Real enthusiasm means a powerful mental state exerted in
favor of, or against, some idea.
A person filled with Enthusiasm seems indeed to be inspired by some
power or being higher than himself – he taps on to a source of power
of which he is not ordinarily conscious. And the result is that he
becomes as a great magnet radiating attractive force in all directions
and influencing those within his field of influence. For Enthusiasm is
contagious and when really experienced by the individual renders him a
source of inductive power, and a center of mental influence. But the
power with which he is filled does not come from an outside source –
it comes from certain inner regions of his mind or soul – from his
Inner Consciousness. Those who have read our little manual entitled
"Inner Consciousness" will readily understand from what part of the
mentality such power is derived. Enthusiasm is really "soul power,"
and when genuine is so recognized and felt by those coming within its
field of influence.
Without a certain amount of Enthusiasm no one ever has attained
Success, and never will do so. There is no power in personal
intercourse that can be compared to Enthusiasm of the right sort. It
comprises Earnestness, Concentration, and Power, and there are a very
few people that cannot be influenced in some degree by its
manifestation by another. Few people realize the actual value of
Enthusiasm. Many have succeeded by reason of its possession, and many
have failed by reason of its lack. Enthusiasm is the steam that drives
our mental machinery, and which indirectly thus accomplishes the great
things in life. You cannot accomplish tasks properly yourself unless
you manifest a degree of interest in them, and what is Enthusiasm but
Interest plus Inspiration – Inspired Interest, that’s what Enthusiasm
is. By the power of Enthusiasm the great things of life are brought to
expression and accomplishment.
Enthusiasm is not a thing, which some possess and others lack. All
persons have it potentially, but only a few are able to express it.
The majority is afraid to let themselves "feel" a thing, and then to
let the "feeling" express itself in powerful action like the steam in
an engine. The majority of persons do not know how to get up the steam
of Enthusiasm. They fail to keep the fires of Interest and Desire
kindled under their mental boiler, and the consequence is they fail to
get up the steam of Enthusiasm. Enthusiasm may be developed, by
cultivating interest and love of your task. Interest, confidence, and
desire arouse Enthusiasm, and it remains for you to either concentrate
it so that its effect will be directed strait toward the object,
person or thing that you wish to move, or else allow it to dissipate
itself in the air without result. Like steam, Enthusiasm may be
dissipated or used – by concentrated direction it produces results;
and by foolish waste and dissipation it fails to do so. The more
interest you take in a thing, the greater does your confidence and
desire grow – and from these arise the steam of Enthusiasm. So
remember always that Interest is the mother of Enthusiasm.
The enthusiastic man naturally tends toward the optimistic frame of
mind, and by doing so he diffuses an atmosphere of confident, cheerful
expectation around him which tends to inspire confidence in others,
and which aids him in his endeavors. He surrounds himself with a
mental aura of Success – he vibrates Success – and those into whose
presence he comes, unconsciously take on his vibrations. Enthusiasm is
very contagious, and one filled with the right quality, kind and
degree of it unconsciously communicates his interest, earnestness and
expectations to others. Enthusiasm plays an important part in that
which is called Personal Magnetism. It is a live, warm, vital mental
quality, and it quickens the pulse of the one using it, and those who
are affected by it. It is different from the cold-blooded indifference
that one meets with so often in business, and which causes many a sale
to be lost, and many a good thing to be "turned down."
The man who lacks Enthusiasm is robbed of more than half his force
of Personal Influence. No matter how good his arguments may be – no
matter how meritorious his proposition may be – unless he possess the
warm vital quality of Enthusiasm, his efforts are largely wasted, and
his result impaired. Think over the salesman who have approached you
and remember how some of them produced the chilling effect of a damp
cellar upon you, while others caused you to sit up and take notice in
spite of yourself by reason of their earnest interest and enthusiasm.
Analyze the impression produced upon you by the different people with
whom you have come in contact, and then see how great an influence
Enthusiasm exerts. And then remember the effect it produces upon
yourself, when you feel it. Enthusiasm is Mental Steam – remember
that.
A few days ago there was erected a tablet, in one of the great
colleges of the land, as a memorial to a former student in its halls.
This young man saved the lives of seventeen people during a great
storm on the lake. He swam out after them, one by one, and brought
them all in alive. He fainted away from exhaustion, and when he
recovered consciousness, his first words were, "Boys, did I do my
Best?"
The words of this young man express the great question that should
urge every true seeker after Success to so live and act that he may be
able to answer it in the affirmative. It is not so much a question
of"did I do so much," or "did I do as much as some one else?" as it is
matter of "DID I DO MY BEST?"
The man who does his best is never a failure. He is always a
success, and if the best should be but a poor pretty thing, still the
world will place the laurel wreath of victory upon his brow when he
accomplishes it. The one who does his best is never a "quitter," or a
"shirker" – he stays right on his job until he has bestowed upon it
the very best that there is in him to give at that particular time.
Such a man can never be a failure.
The man who does his best is never heard asking the pessimistic
question, "What’s the Use? "He doesn’t care a whole lot about that
part of it – his mind is fixed upon the idea that he is "on his job,"
and is not going to be satisfied with anything less than his Best. And
when one really is able to answer the great question with an honest,
"Yes, I did my Best," then verily, he will be able to answer the
"What’s the Use" question properly – it is "of use" to have brought
out the Best work in oneself, if for no other reason than because it
is a Man Making process – a developer of the Self.
This infernal "What’s the Use" question seems to have been invented
by some pessimistic imp of darkness to use in discouraging people
making desperate struggles or leading forlorn hopes. It has brought
down many a man into the Mire of Despondency and Failure. Chase it out
of you mind whenever it appears, and replace it with the question, "Am
I doing my Best," knowing that an affirmative answer settles the other
question also. Anything is "Of Use" if it is in the right spirit, in a
worthy cause, and because one’s own manhood demands it. Yes, even if
one goes down to death in the doing of it still it is a Success.
Listen to this story, told in a recent magazine article:It is a story
of a sailor on the wreck of a German kerosene steamer, which dashed
against the rocks of the Newfoundland coast in the early part of 1901.
She had taken fire, and had been run ashore on a submerged reef about
an eighth of a mile from the coast. The coastline itself was a wall,
some four hundred feet high. When morning dawned, the fisherman on
shore saw that her boats were all gone, and all the crew and officers
had apparently been lost – all except three men. Two of these three
men were standing on the bridge – the third was aloft, lashed to the
rigging. Later, the watchers saw a tremendous wave strike the vessel,
sweeping away the bridge and the two men who had been standing on it.
Several hours later they saw the man in the rigging unlash him and
beat his arms against his body vigorously, evidently to restore the
circulation, which had been almost stopped by the lashing and the
extreme cold. The man then took off his coat, waved it to the
fishermen on top of the cliff and then plunged into the sea. The first
thought was that he had given up the fight and committed suicide – but
he as not that kind of a man. He struck out for shore, and reaching it
made three separate attempts to secure a foothold on the rocks at the
bottom of the cliff. But, he failed – three times was he swept away by
the surf, and finally, seeing the futility of his efforts, he swam
away again, toward the ship. As the narrator well says:"At that crisis
in the struggle ninety-nine men out of a hundred would have given and
allowed themselves to drown; but this man was not a quitter. "
After a fierce battle with the waves the man gained the ship, and
after a desperate struggle managed to board her. He climbed again into
the rigging and waved his hand to the fishermen high up on the cliff,
who were unable to help him. He lashed himself fast, and until dark
could be seen signaling the fishermen above, to show them that he was
still alive and game. When the following morning broke the fishermen
saw that his head had fallen to his breast - he was motionless –
frozen during the night. He was dead – his brave soul had gone forth
to meet its maker, and who can doubt that when that man confronted his
Maker his eyes were looking firmly and bravely toward the Presence,
and not bowed down in shame or fear. Such a man was indeed worthy to
face his Maker, unabashed and unashamed. As the writer, George Kennan,
has said in words that make one thrill:"That man died as a man in
adverse circumstances ought to die, fighting to the last. You may call
it foolish, and say that he might better have ended his sufferings by
allowing himself to drown when he found that he could not make a
landing at the base of the cliff; but deep down in your hearts you pay
secret homage to his courage, his endurance, and his indomitable will.
He was defeated at last, but so long as he had consciousness neither
fire nor cold not tempest could break down his manhood. "
The Caucasians have a favorite proverb that says:"Heroism is
endurance for one moment more. "And that one moment more tells the
difference between the "quitter" and the man who has "done his Best.
"No one is dead until his heart has ceased beating – and no one has
failed so long as there is one more bit of fight in him. And that "one
moment more" often is the moment in which the tide turns – the moment
when the enemy relaxes his hold and drops back beaten.
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