The Victorious Attitude

by Orison Swett Marden

Not long since, at a banquet, I met a very intelligent, widely read man who told me that he felt perfectly sure he could not possibly live to be an old man. He cited as a reason for his belief the analogy which runs through all nature, showing that plants, animals and all forms of life which mature early also die early, and because he was practically an adult at fifteen he was convinced that he must die comparatively young. He said he was like a poplar tree in comparison with an oak; the one matured early and died early; the other matured late and was very long-lived.

So thoroughly is this man under the dominion of his belief that he must die early that he is making no fight for longevity. He does not take ordinary care of his health, or necessary precautions in time of danger. "What is the use," he says, "of trying to fight against Nature's laws? I might as well live while I live, and enjoy all I can, and try to make up for an early death."

Multitudes of people start out in youth handicapped by a belief that they have some hereditary taint, a predisposition to some disease that will probably shorten their lives. They go through life with this restricting, limiting thought so deeply embedded in the very marrow of their being that they never even try to develop themselves to their utmost capacity.

Our achievement depends very largely upon the expectancy plan, the life pattern we make for ourselves. If we make our plan to fit only one-half or one-third of the time we ought to live, naturally we will accomplish only a fraction of what we are really capable of doing. I have a friend who from boyhood has been convinced that he would not live much, if any, beyond forty years, because both his parents had died before that age. Consequently he never planned for a long life of steady growth and increasing power, and the result is he has not brought anything like all of his latent possibilities into activity, or accomplished a fourth of what he is really capable.

It is infinitely better to believe that we are going to live much longer than there is any probability we shall than to cut off precious years by setting a fixed date for our death simply because one or both of our parents happened to die about such an age, or because we fear we have inherited some disease, such as cancer, which is likely to develop fatally at about a certain time.

Just think of the pernicious influence upon a child's mind of the constant suggestion that it will probably die very young because its parents or some of its relatives did; that even if it is fortunate enough to survive the diseases and accidents of youth and early maturity, it is not possible to extend its limits of life much, if any, beyond a certain point! Yet we burn this and similar suggestions into the minds of our children until they become a part of their lives. We celebrate birthdays and mark off each recurring anniversary as a red-letter day and fix in our minds the thought that we are a year older. All through our mature life the picture of death is kept in view, the idea that we must expect it and prepare for it at about such a time. The truth is the death suggestion has wrought more havoc and marred more lives than almost anything else in human history. It is responsible for most of the fear, which is the greatest curse of the race.

A noted physician says that if children, instead of hearing so much about death, were trained more in the principles of immortality, they would retain their youth very much longer, and would extend their lives to a much greater length than is now general.

I believe the time will come when the custom of celebrating birthdays, of emphasizing the fact that we are a year older, that we are getting so much nearer the end, will be done away with. Children will not then be reminded so forcibly once in three hundred and sixty-five days that each birthday is a milestone in age. We shall know that the spirit is not affected by years, that its very essence is youth and immortality. In our inmost souls we shall realize that there is a life principle within us that knows neither age nor death. We shall find that old age is largely a question of mental attitude, and that we shall become what we are convinced we must become.

As a matter of fact the average length of life is steadily increasing, because science is teaching men how to live so as to conserve health and youth. Formerly men and women grew old very much earlier than they do now, and they died much younger. We do not think so much about dying as they used to in the early days of this country, when to prepare for the future life seemed to be the chief occupation of our Puritan ancestors. They had very little use for this world and did not try to enjoy life here very much. They were always talking and praying and singing about "the life over there," while making the life here gloomy and forbidding. They forgot that the religion Christ taught was one of joy.

There is no greater foe to the aging processes than joy, hope, good cheer, gladness. These are the incarnation of the youthful spirit. If you would keep young, cultivate this spirit; think youthful thoughts; live much with youth; enter into their lives, into their sports, their plays, their ambitions. Play the youthful part, not half heartedly, but with enthusiasm and zest. You cannot use any ability until you think, until you believe, you can. Your reserve power will stand in the background until your self-faith calls it into action. If you want to stay young you must act as if you felt young.