| The first excerpt represents the past or something you must release, and is drawn from Lady Susan by Jane Austen: delightful, and since matters have now taken so favourable a turn, I am
quite sorry that I ever imparted my apprehensions to you; for the pleasure
of learning that the danger is over is perhaps dearly purchased by all that
you have previously suffered. I am so much agitated by delight that I can
scarcely hold a pen; but am determined to send you a few short lines by
James, that you may have some explanation of what must so greatly astonish
you, as that Reginald should be returning to Parklands. I was sitting about
half an hour ago with Sir James in the breakfast parlour, when my brother
called me out of the room. I instantly saw that something was the matter;
his complexion was raised, and he spoke with great emotion; you know his
eager manner, my dear mother, when his mind is interested. "Catherine,"
Lady Susan |
The second excerpt represents the present or the deciding factor of the moment, and is drawn from Where There's A Will by Mary Roberts Rinehart: shouldn't needs to give me pneumonia."
Mrs. Moody was standing beside the bed, and I saw her double chin
begin to work. If you have ever seen a fat woman, in a short red
kimono holding a candle by, a bed, and crying, you know how
helpless she looks.
"Don't go, Minnie," she sniffled. "It would be too awful. If
you are afraid you could take the poker."
"I'm not going!" I declared firmly. "It's--it's dratted idiocy,
that's all. Plain water would do well enough. There's a lot of
people think whisky is poison with water, anyhow. Where's the
pitcher?"
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The third excerpt represents the future or something you must embrace, and is drawn from The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James: namely from within outward, from small to great.[57] Consequently
one's thought should be centred on the ideal outcome, even though
this trust be literally like a step in the dark.[58] To attain
the ability thus effectively to direct the mind, the New Thought
advises the practice of concentration, or in other words, the
attainment of self-control. One is to learn to marshal the
tendencies of the mind, so that they may be held together as a
unit by the chosen ideal. To this end, one should set apart
times for silent meditation, by one's self, preferably in a room
where the surroundings are favorable to spiritual thought. In
New Thought terms, this is called 'entering the silence.'"[59]
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