The Art of Being Alive E-Book

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

• Herausgeber: Andura Publishing
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

Experience the life-changing power of Ella Wheeler Wilcox with this unforgettable book.

Leseprobe

The Art of Being Alive

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I

ART THOU ALIVE?

Art thou alive? Nay, not too soon reply,

Tho’ hand and foot, and lip, and ear, and eye

Respond, and do thy bidding; yet maybe

Grim death has done his direst work with thee.

Life, as God gives it, is a thing apart

From active body and from beating heart.

It is the vital spark, the unseen fire,

That moves the mind to reason and aspire;

It is the force that bids emotion roll,

In mighty billows from the surging soul.

It is the light that grows from hour to hour,

And floods the brain with consciousness of power;

It is the spirit dominating all,

And reaching God with its imperious call,

Until the shining glory of his face

Illuminates each sorrowful, dark place;

It is the truth that sets the bondsman free,

Knowing he will be what he wills to be.

With its unburied dead the earth is sad.

Art thou alive? Proclaim it and be glad.

Perchance the dead may hear thee and arise,

Knowing they live, and HERE is Paradise.

II BEING ALIVE

Cease wondering why you came– Stop looking for faults and flaws; Rise up to-day in your pride and say, “I am part of the First Great Cause!” IN every thousand people who are living on this earth, not more than one is alive.

To be really alive means more than to be a moving, breathing, eating, drinking, and talking human creature.

He who is actually alive finds the days too short for all the wonderful explorations which life offers in three realms to the reverent and aspiring adventurer.

He finds life itself a continual adventure, an unfolding panorama, with opportunities for pleasure and achievement at every turn.

He finds himself an object of interesting study, however dissatisfied he may be with the present results of that study, for he perceives that he is a crude chunk of Eternity, and that in himself lie all the powers and possibilities latent in the Universe. And that in himself lies the will to work out these possibilities.

He who is fully alive enjoys the earth and all its pleasures. He loves the slap of the wind upon his cheek, the dash of the waves up on his breast, the motion of his limbs in the swift walk; the thrill of the good steed’s body under his own; the ecstasy of rhythm in the dance; the vibrant swing of the oar. He loves labor, and the fatigue which follows; and in his harmoniously developed frame there is not one lazy or unused muscle.

But being alive does not stop here.

The man who is practicing the art of being alive to its full extent has an alert, receptive brain and an awakened spirit. Without these he would simply be a splendid animal. With these he is the highest expression of the Creative Power visible to mortal vision. And with these he finds his opportunities for happiness, usefulness, and pleasure in existence threefold.

He knows the pleasures of the physical plane, for which his body is fashioned; he draws to himself the pleasures of the mental plane, and he senses the pleasures of the spiritual plane, which lies near, and derives power therefrom.

The man who is alive in all these ways must radiate light, cheer, sympathy, and helpfulness to all who come within his aura. Being alive to the vibrations from three realms, he knows all temptations; and having made many missteps himself, in his road to unfoldment, he can sympathize, counsel, and help onward those who have not been able to keep step with him in his progress.

The man who is really alive realizes that he must use his own position in the world, and his own environment, as the first field of action if he hopes to reach success in any venture. He must not wait for luck or a miracle to give him a change of location and surroundings better suited to his taste. Out of whatever destiny has bestowed upon him he will make the conditions which he desires.

And out of every earth day he will make a little bit of heaven.

No difficulty can discourage, no obstacle dismay, no trouble dishearten the man who has acquired the art of being alive. Difficulties are but dares of fate, obstacles but hurdles to try his skill, troubles but bitter tonics to give him strength; and he rises higher and looms greater after each encounter with adversity.

The man who is wholly alive finds pleasure in the simplest things; and to him nothing is commonplace, nothing is menial. And he is never bored, for nature and human nature and himself are ever interesting subjects of contemplation and study. And the future to him is a radiant vision, growing ever more and more wonderful.

If you are alive you are in touch with every new movement; you are awake to the consciousness of the march of progress and the discoveries of science; and you are lending a listening ear to what the students of metaphysical thought have to say.

If you are dull or indifferent or unbelieving when the great facts relative to this subject are mentioned in your presence, then you are no more alive to the vital truths of the day than is the child unborn, or the victim of the sleeping sickness, who lies for months in a state of lethargy, unable to think or reason, even though not dead. The marvels which exist all but you, the wonderful experiences which are related by thousand of intelligent human beings, who have given time and concentration to the exploration of the mental realm, have appealed to your mind and heart sufficiently to awaken your respectful interest, if you are really alive.

If you are bored with life and work, if you think the years of early youth alone are happy years, if you believe sentiment and romance are evanescent feelings, if you find daily life commonplace, if you imagine you are too old or too busy to make something worth while out of your opportunities, then you are not alive.

If you believe sickness, poverty, and unhappiness cannot be changed to health, comfort, and peace by yourself, then you are indeed unborn; and if you think elasticity of body and mind, and a joyful outlook, and worthy achievements, and vital joy in life cannot accompany human beings along the way after the half-century mark has been passed, you are not alive. You merely exist. And you are losing your wonderful chance to utilize for the good of the world and for your own good, here and hereafter, these golden days by a knowledge and use of the Divine Will in yourself.

III THE SCIENCE OF SENSIBLE THINKING

However full the world, There is room for an earnest man. It had no need of me, or I would not be– I am here to strength the plan.

A FEW years ago the philosophy of “Mind Over Matter” was talked and believed only by advanced thinkers and dreamers, the spiritual-minded and the visionary. Practical, every-day people laughed at or ignored all phases of the new version of a very old science.

It is gratifying and surprising to find how the law is to-day being understood and employed in the world.

Not long since a successful manager of two very large hotels was complimented upon the harmony and happiness which pervaded his hotels. Employees and associates all seemed to regard the employer as a personal friend and work as a recreation. The proprietor was a handsome, florid man, of middle age, alert and active. A casual observer would have considered him a man particularly fond of the luxuries of life, and if his ideas of enjoyment had been under discussion one would have said that the race-track and bridge whist took the lead and religious matters were left to the women of his family. Instead, this man, in a conversation regarding his hotel success, remarked that he felt his prosperity was entirely due to the fact that for five years he had been a patient student of Mental Science, and was applying its laws to his daily affairs.

“When things go at all wrong with me,” he said, “and I feel nervous or out of sorts, I go at once to my room, sit alone, and take a half-hour of concentration, until I grow peaceful. I know I have no right to mix with my employees or guests until I have harmonious conditions within myself. I am my own heaven and hell, my own failure or success. It is not always my fault if things go wrong, but it is my fault if they do not become righted. It is my fault if I do not make a success of whatever I undertake. Until five years ago I had no success in anything. I blamed Fate and conditions and every body and thing but myself Then I went into the study of Mental Laws and began to learn what a limitless field the mind has and what wonderful powers are contained in the spirit of man, and since then everything has turned my way. Whatever I undertake succeeds, and I have no trouble with help or business associates. Any passing disturbance I can trace to its source and allay.”

These words from a practical business man were especially interesting.

The earth has too many expensive churches and too much Sunday religion. What it wants is a religion that is applied every hour of the day in the street and mart and office and home–a religion which helps men to be happy in their work and makes their employees and associates happy. A religion to keep health of body and mind and harmony and hope in the mental atmosphere and to create a heaven right here on earth.

The purpose of this book is to assist those who seek a simple, practical method of applying the laws of Mind to the daily affairs of life.

The book makes no claim of originality of thought or of literary excellence. Its ideas are as old as the universe. The central theme may be found in the Vedas and in all the later Bibles of the world. These old, old truths have been revamped and presented to the public by gifted minds in countless forms. Many of these forms have been beautiful and of rare literary value. This book aims only at simplicity and practicality in the use of these age-old truths.

It aims to help many, not to please the few. This work is not intended to compete for imperishable honors in the halls of art, but to be here and how a daily help to struggling souls on life’s crowded highways.

IV THE LIFE WORTH WHILE

Like one blindfolded groping out his way, I will not try to touch beyond to-day. Since all the future is concealed from sight, I need but strive to make the next step right.

“THE Life Worth While” differs in the minds of individuals. That which seems worth while to one may seem unendurable to another; and so any analysis of the subject must be made from the purely personal standpoint, and must not be considered an effort to lay down arbitrary laws for the human race to follow.

The religious fanatic in certain parts of India thinks life is worth while if he is enabled to sit in one position for ten years and to suffer physical anguish while he holds his arm above his head in order to prove his willingness to mortify the body. Hundreds of devotees do him reverence, and furnish him with food to sustain life in order that he may continue to suffer; and in this peculiar manner he illustrates his ideal of the life worth while.

The Yogi, who is of a higher order of mind, believes the only life worth while is one devoted to religious communings and to a study of the Creative Powers which caused this universe to come into material expression. He lives much alone, dwells frequently in caves for long periods of time; and comes forth to associate with his kind only as he can cast spiritual light upon life’s pathways. He avoids all excesses; he eats merely to sustain life, dresses solely to cover the body from heat or cold, bathes twice a day, never feasts or fasts inordinately, and ignores all mortal aims, ambitions, and occupations.

The inventor in his laboratory, the creator in the world of art or literature in his study, the nun in her cell, the Salvation Army enthusiast in her street concert, the woman of fashion in her opera-box, the financier in adding millions to millions, all feel that they are living the life worth while.

To each one the life of any of the others would be unendurable. So long as there is deep interest, enthusiasm, and pleasure in the life we are living that life must be worth while, even if to the observer it seems frivolous or mistaken. The world is made interesting by its variety of inhabitants, with their varying ideas and occupations. People it with one kind of human beings, all bent on the same object and doing the same kind of work or following the same kind of pleasure, and earth would become intolerably monotonous. Even the frivolous things, the mistaken things, and the wrong things which people do are sometimes worth while, because they lead those who are engaged in them to knowledge of their worthlessness. Looking back along the road of life, many of us can see where we profited by pursuing the wrong trail for a season. We learned that it led to the land of nowhere or into jungles and quagmires, and now we are protected for evermore–in this incarnation or another–from wanting to tread that path.

Not every soul can win the race By always running right. Some feet must tread the mountain’s base Before they gain the height.

Yet, if this consciousness of what is best and right, and wise and true, be born in a man, or bred in him from his cradle to maturity, blest is he that need not learn through his mistakes! But doubly, then, is he blest if with this consciousness dwell sympathy and understanding for those who must learn the lesson otherwise. For sympathy is the keynote to the life worth while.

Most lives contains something which makes them worth while; but once, at least, I have seen a life which seemed to me utterly worthless. An elderly woman, going down into the valley of old age, born to wealth, wedded to one who had given her kindness and devotion, yet living a life of utter selfishness; concerned only with the events of her personal social circle; worrying about her gowns and her menus, stimulating a depleted system to carry her through her petty ambitions, and seeking sleep through the medium of drugs. Yet when this woman was born there was a great rejoicing, for she inherited wealth and an honorable name and every blessing.

Surely no child born in a poor tenement-house or no foundling left upon a doorstep ever made life less worth while than this favorite of fortune. For even upon the verge of the grave she had failed to learn how trivial and petty were her aims and ambitions, and no regret for wasted opportunities touched her atrophied old heart. Such a life must renew itself in a later incarnation, in poverty and loneliness; and, spurred by necessity, it must struggle out into the light of knowledge and learn the blessedness of work and growth which comes through effort.

My own ideal of the life worth while is one which brings into play all the physical, mental, and spiritual powers inherent in the human being. It includes growth along all of those lines, from the crudeness of adolescence to the maturity of age.

First of all must come a purpose, an object. It may be the cultivation of a talent, it may be the learning of a trade, it may be the accomplishment of some philanthropic aim, or the establishment of an ideal home, or the performance of a duty. But whatever it is, however simple or however great, there must be enthusiasm behind the impulse.

And there must be something more than mere personal aggrandizement or the effort to outshine or outdo some other, or all others, to make it a corner-stone of the life worth while.

With such a purpose in the heart, and a goal in the distance toward which continual effort is directed, there must be a consciousness of the necessity to be as well as to do, if the life is to be made worth while. So many of us, striving to achieve and to perfect the work we have chosen to do, fail to realize how much more important is the work given us to do by the great Master–the perfecting of character. Should not that be considered the real work of a life worth while?

In what I do I note the marring flaw; The imperfections of the work I see; Nor am I one who’d rather do than be, Since its reversal is Creation’s law.

Nay, since there lies a better and a worse, nbsp; A lesser and a larger, in men’s view, I would be getter than the thing I do, As God is greater than his universe.

He shaped Himself before He shaped one world: A million eons, toiling day and night, He built Himself to majesty and might, Before the planets into space were hurled.

And when Creation’s early work was done, What crude beginnings out of chaos came– A formless nebula, a wavering flame, An errant comet, a voracious sun.

And, still unable to perfect His plan, What awful creatures at His touch found birth– Those protoplasmic monsters of the earth, That owned the world before He fashioned Man.

And now, behold the poor, unfinished state Of this, His latest masterpiece! Then why, Seeing the flaws in my own work, should I Be troubled that no voice proclaims it great?

Before me lies the cycling rounds of years; With this small earth will die the thing I do; The thing I am, goes journeying onward through A million lives, upon a million spheres.

My work I build, as best I can and may, Knowing all mortal effort ends in dust. I build myself, not as I may, but must, Knowing, for good or ill, that self must stay.

Along the ages, out and on, afar, Its journey leads, and must perforce be made: Likewise its choice, with things of shame and shade, Or up the path of light, from star to star.

When all these solar systems shall disperse, Perchance this labor, and this self-control, May find reward, and my completed soul Will fling in space a little universe.

One who sets himself this task of perfecting his nature, as he goes alone toward achievement, will find the analysis of his own motives and the cause of his own actions full of interest and benefit. Are you intent upon erecting a house of many stories? If so, why? Is it to build a mansion taller than your neighbor’s and one that shall cause all observers to envy you? Or is it to give comfort and light and fresh air to its inhabitants?

Do you seek wealth? For what, then? Is it to enable you to give expensive dinners, to wear imported garments, and to outshine your comrades in life’s journey? Or is it to enable you to make yourself more useful in the world: And are you sufficiently acquainted with your own disposition and sure of your own good sense and will power to be certain that you would live the life worth while, and dispense your riches wisely, if you attained your object?

Do you seek fame and glory? For what? That you may be envied and lauded; or that you may develop the best that lies in you, use all your powers, and utilize all your talents; and after you have reached your goal that you may be an influence for good in the world?

Only as we analyze our motives and bring them to the standard where they can meet the clear eyes of our own consciousness can ambition fit into the life worth while.

The man or woman who achieves great things in the mental world and who neglects the body, the health, the personal appearance, cannot live life to its fullness–or perfection.

When we pass from earth we will dispense with this physical body; and as we go through each plane of life we will become more and more ethereal, until at last we are simply luminous spiritual beings clothed in a body of light.

But until we enter these realms and while we are on earth the physical body deserves our care, our respect, and its measure of our attention. It was created by our thoughts and acts in other incarnations, and has been given us as the result of our own deeds in the past. Whatever it is, we made it so; and it behooves us to take good care of it while here, to refined it by our methods of life, to beautify it by our thoughts, and to keep it clean, strong, and well clothed.

Comely clothing has its part in life, with lovely homes and fair scenery, with graceful furniture and appetizing food. All the material things of this life are meant for our rational enjoyment while we occupy the material body.

To despise them, and to endeavor to live wholly in the spirit, before we are taken out of this realm, is to serve only one part of the school life intended for our development. To live wholly for and in material pleasures is to keep in the primary class of that school and refuse to progress to higher grades. The individual who appreciates the physical and mental sides of existence and takes no interest in spiritual matters can never live the really worth-while life.

Man is a triangle; and he is abnormal if any one side of this triangle is dwarfed. He is like a tree which roots deep into earth and spreads out straggling, wide branches, but does not grow up into the light.

Have you not met the intellectual giant with a strong physique, a bulging brow, and brilliant eye, who scoffed at any idea of life immortal? Or who, if he did not scoff, turned a listless look and an indifferent ear to any remark upon spiritual subjects?

And have you not felt that same shock which accompanies the first sight of a physically deformed human being?

Even when such a person makes no reference to spiritual matters, the finely attuned human being with delicate perceptions misses something from his personality.

Every thought we send from our mind carries with it a certain vibration. Every emotion we conceal in our hearts sends forth its influence. The man who has an awakened consciousness of his own divine inheritance may not speak of it; but he radiates a certain something which may be likened to the ultra-violet rays carrying healing and beauty on their beams.

The man who is agnostic, indifferent, or an unbeliever in anything beyond this physical plane of existence cannot radiate this light because he has not provided himself with the spiritual mechanism which produces the violent rays of the soul.

Wealth, education, and position may all enable the individual who is properly equipped otherwise to live the life worth while in a broader and more useful manner than the poor man can live it. But the poor man, the uneducated and humble man, may live that life if he understands the real purpose of existence.

There was a little frail laundress who supported four children and an aged, bedridden mother and a good-natured but weak-willed husband who was a periodical drunkard.

When not in his cups the man was repentant, kindly, affectionate, and appreciate of all the good qualities of his life-mate. So she felt it her duty to bear with him and to regard his failing in the light of a physical malady. The bedridden and complaining old mother was a God-given duty which she must meet with cheerfulness and patience; and her home must be made a place of brightness and merriment and comfort for her growing children.

Without any deep wisdom or formulated ideas this simple woman lived the life worth while in all its beautiful completeness. Her humble tasks she performed with a deep sense of gratitude to her patrons and to her Creator that she was enabled to find employment and to sustain her family. There was always a smile on her face and a bright word of cheer on her lip.

In every factory all over our land there are thousands of good girls possessing of beauty, youth, and al the longings for pleasure and fair apparel which accompanies youth and beauty. These girls are looking temptation in the face daily–listening to its seductive voice, yet turning away and performing weary and ofttimes distasteful work in order to keep their self-respect and to be worth of the love and confidence of parents and relatives dependent upon them for support.

Every such work-girl in our great country is living the life worth while. It does not matter what her creed, or how great her lack of education, or how limited her sphere in the world. The fact that she has chosen the rough, right way, and turned her back upon the seemingly smooth, wrong way, because she knew it to be wrong, places her in the ranks of those who are living the life worth while.