There is machinery so delicate that it can measure the least expenditure of physical force. If similar machinery could be devised for measuring character many a millionaire would be chagrined at the record of his own just measurement, while many an humble worker would be amazed at the high mark his earnest unceasing efforts to reach his ideal had achieved.
I believe the time will come when not money, but growth, not lands and houses, but mental and moral expansion in larger and nobler living, will be even the popular measure of true riches, real success. The measure of a successful man will be that of his soul; he will be rated in a new sort of Bradstreet, a spiritual Bradstreet, as a large heart, a magnanimous mind, a cultured intellect, instead of as a great check book.
Phillips Brooks said: "The ideal life of full completion haunts us all. We feel the thing we ought to be beating beneath the thing we are. God hides some ideal in every human soul. At some time in his life, each feels a trembling, fearful longing to do some great good thing. Life finds its noblest spring of excellence in its hidden impulse to do one's best."
Every one who substitutes the finer for the cheaper goal, each one who to-day and every day holds to his high ideal despite the stress and turmoil of modern daily living, in such measure hastens the day when such an ideal will be the inspiration of the masses and the power that moves the world.
CHAPTER XIII
HOW TO MAKE THE BRAIN WORK FOR US DURING SLEEP
Would you not think yourself fortunate to have a secretary of great ability and worth absolutely subject, day and night, to your will, and so susceptible to instructions that even your slightest mental suggestion would be faithfully carried out? If you had such a secretary, and knew that in spite of his great ability he would be able to do what you suggested only in proportion to your belief in his power to do so, would you not be careful to entertain no doubts of his ability to carry out your wishes or suggestions?
Now, just substitute for this personal secretary your subconscious self, that part of you which is below the threshold of your consciousness, and try to realize that this self is actually the sort of secretary I have endeavored to describe, capable of carrying out all your desires, of executing all your purposes, of realizing your ambitions, to the exact extent of your belief in its powers, and you will get some idea of what it can accomplish for you.
This secretary is closer to you than your breath, nearer than your heart beat, a faithful servant, walking by your side all through life, to execute your faintest wish, to carry out your desires, to help you to achieve your aims. Every bit of help, of encouragement, of support you give to this other self will add to the magnificence, the splendor of your destiny. On the other hand, all negative, vicious thoughts, all selfishness, greed and envy, all doubts and fears, all the discouraging, destructive thoughts you entertain, will impair and weaken your secretary or servant in exact proportion to their intensity and persistency. In fact it rests with yourself whether your secretary shall be your greatest help, a heavenly friend and assistant, or your greatest hindrance, your worst enemy.