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Creative Mind and Success, by Ernest Shurtleff Holmes [1919], at sacred-texts.com
ALL demonstrations take place within ourselves. Creation is eternally flowing through all things. The law is always working from that inner pattern. We do not struggle with conditions, we use principles which create conditions. What we can mentally encompass we can accomplish, no matter how hard it may seem from the outside.
All external things are but the outer rim of inner thought activity. You can easily prove this for yourself. If you are in business, say, running an ice cream stand or counter, and are not doing good business, look carefully into your
own thought and see what you will find. You will find that it is an established belief there that business is not good. You are not feeling a sense of activity. You will not find within your thought any feeling of success. You are not expecting many customers.
Now suppose someone comes along and says to you: "What is the matter? Why are you not doing more business?" This is about what the answer would be: "People don't seem to want what I have to sell." Or perhaps something like this: "I am too old to compete with modern methods." Or even: "Well, times are hard." All this is negative thought.
Now this man to whom you are talking does not believe a word you have said. He knows that causation is in mind and not in matter, and he says: "The whole thing is in your own mind; the trouble with you is that you don't feel that you are a success."
Perhaps you have heard something of this before; if so you will ask him what he means, or perhaps you think he is talking about something peculiar; but we are taking it for granted that you are so anxious to do something to make your business a success that you will be willing to try anything, so you ask him to explain. He begins by telling you all is Mind; nothing moves but Mind moves it and that you are a center in this Mind. You do not understand how this relates in any way to your business, but he goes on to say that your thought decides whether your business shall be a success or a failure. Here you become indignant, and ask if he means to tell you that you want to fail. Of course he knows you do not, and he explains that while you wish success, you are thinking failure, fearing it, and
that there is a law that makes your thought, never asking questions but at once sets about its fulfillment. You become interested and ask how this can be; in return you are asked this question: "How did anything come into being?" This sets you to thinking and of course you realize that there was a time when nothing existed but life; so whatever has come into being must have come from that life, for what we see must come from that which we do not see. You have to admit that. Then what you do not see must be the Cause of everything; and you must also admit that; and that Cause works by Law; this you are compelled to admit. Then this Law, being everywhere, must be in you; this is harder for you to see; but after much thought you begin to realize that it is so. Then you, without knowing where your thought processes were leading you, have conceded that you, yourself, are the reason for what happens in your life, be it success or failure.
God couldn't make you any other way and at the same time make you a self-choosing individual. This is plain.
Now what are you going to do about it? This is what you must do. For every time that you have thought failure you are going to replace it with strong radiant thoughts of success. You are going to speak activity into your business. You are going daily to see nothing but activity and to know that it is Law that you are using, Universal Law, and as such your thought is as sure as the thought of God.
Daily you are going to give to the Great Creative Mind exactly what you want to happen. You will see only what you desire and in the silence of your soul you will speak and it will be done unto you. You will come to believe
that a great Divine Love flows through you and your affairs. You will be grateful for this Love.
It fills your life. It satisfies your soul. You are a different man. You are so filled with activity and courage that when you meet people they will wonder at your energy. They will begin to wish simply to come in contact with you. They will feel uplifted.
In the course of a few months you will be a success. People will come to you and say: "How do you do it?" The answer will be the same that was given to you a few months ago.
Let the man who is speaking to the public do the same thing. Let him daily see throngs of people coming to hear him. Let him see nothing else. He will experience what he feels, and sees.
Always remember this. Life is from within outward, and never from without inward. You are the center of power in your own life.
Be sure and not take on false suggestion. The world is full of calamity howlers; turn from them, every one, no matter how great you think they may be; you haven't the time to waste over anything that is negative. You are a success, and you are giving to the Law, every day, just what you want done. And the Law is always working for you. All fear has gone and you know that there is but One Power in all the Universe. Happy is the man who knows this, the greatest of all Truths.
The whole thing resolves itself into our mental ability to control our thought. The man who can do this, can have what he wants, can do what he wishes, and becomes what he wills. Life, God, the Universe, is his.