Success Through A Positive Mental Attitude

But reach out she did, and through the aid of a devoted and brilliant teacher who in love reached out to Helen Keller, that deaf, mute, and blind little girl became a brilliant, joyful, happy woman. Miss Keller once wrote:

Anyone who out of the goodness of his heart speaks a helpful word, gives a cheering smile, or smooths over a rough place in another's path knows that the delight he feels is so intimate a part of himself that he lives by it The joy of surmounting obstacles which once seemed unremovable, and pushing the frontier of accomplishment further ? what joy is there like unto it?

If those who seek happiness would stop one little minute and think, they would see that the delights they already experience are as countless as the grasses at their feet, or the dewdrops sparkling upon the morning flowers.

Helen Keller counted her blessings and was profoundly grateful for them. Then she shared the wonder of these blessings with others, and caused them to feel delight Because she shared that which is good and desirable, she attracted unto herself more of that which is good and desirable. For the more you share, the more you will have. And if you share happiness with others, happiness will grow richer within you.

But if you share misery and unhappiness, you will attract misery and unhappiness to yourself. And we all know of persons who are eternally having troubles ? not problems, or opportunities in disguise. Theirs are spelled t-r-o-u-b-l-e. No matter what happens to them, it just isn't good. And this is because they are always sharing their troubles with others.

Now there are many lonely people in this world who long for love and friendship but never seem to get it Some repel that which they seek with NMA. Others curl up in their little corners and never venture out. They secretly hope that something good will come to them, but they do not share any of the good which they enjoy. They do not realize that when you withhold from others that which you have which is good and desirable, your own portion of the good and desirable diminishes.

Others, however, have the courage to do something about their loneliness, and they find their answer in sharing the good and beautiful with others. There was one such little boy who was a very lonely, unhappy little boy indeed. When he was born his backbone was arched into a grotesque hump and his left leg was crooked. Looking at the infant, the doctor assured the boy's father: "But he'll get along all right."

The family was poor. And the baby's mother died before he was a year old. As he grew up, other children shunned him because of his misshapen body and his inability to participate successfully in many of their activities. Charles Steinmetz was his name. And he was a lonely, unhappy little fellow.

But the Great Giver of All Good had not overlooked this little fellow. To compensate for his misshapen body, Charles had been endowed with an extraordinarily keen mind. Using the greatest asset available to him, Charles ignored his physical disabilities about which he felt he could do nothing, and worked to excel

with his mind. At five he could conjugate Latin verbs. At seven he learned Greek and a smattering of Hebrew. At eight he had a good understanding of algebra and geometry.

When he went on to college, he excelled in all his studies. In fact, he was graduated with honors. He had carefully saved his pennies so he could rent a dress suit for the occasion. But with the inconsiderate cruelty that is so often characteristic of persons under the influence of NMA, the school authorities posted a notice on the bulletin board excusing Charles from the ceremonies.

At long last it occurred to Charles that instead of trying to force respect for himself from people by making them take notice of his mental capacities, he would cultivate their friendship; he would use his abilities not to attract notice and to satisfy his own ego, but for the furtherance of the good of mankind. To start his new way of life, he boarded a ship and came to America.

Having reached this country, Charles Steinmetz began to look for a job. Several times he was rebuffed because of his appearance, but he finally landed a job with General Electric as a draftsman at $12 a week. In addition to his regular duties he spent long hours in electrical research, and he endeavored to cultivate the friendship of his fellow employees by trying to share with them that which he had that was good and desirable.

After some time the chairman of the board of General Electric Company recognized the rare genius of this man, and said to Charles: "Here is our entire plant. Do anything you want with it. Dream all day, if you wish. We'll pay you for dreaming."