Earl Prevette - How to Turn Your Ability Into Cash

One day not long ago, while standing on the corner of a busy street in Philadelphia, talking to a friend, along came an old man. He was a decrepit old man with swollen, tearful eyes, and his unshaven face was drawn and withered. His lips were blue with unclean sores. His toes were pushing through his worn-out shoes. His clothes were torn to rags. He had seen better days. I thought, how dreadfully poverty has gnawed at you. I was stunned for the moment. With a look of sadness, and with a dirty bloated hand thrust forward, he pleaded for a few pennies. He got a few more pennies; I got a little more sense.

As I pondered over the circumstances which had caused the deplorable condition of this man, and had left him a wreck in its ruins, I began to think: It might have been you!

What happened to this old man? What precipitated his deplorable condition? What caused such poverty? Why had fortune turned into misfortune? His plight may have been owing to overindulgence, to grief, to envy, to jealousy, to hatred, to prejudice, to dread, to self-pity, to temptation, or to discouragement. Whatever it was had changed his outlook, his attitude, his process of thinking and his entire pattern of living.

Desperation, despair, discouragement, disappointment, sorrow and sadness were indelibly stamped in the lines of his face. He was a picture of his thoughts, a victim of circumstances and a slave to poverty.

In analyzing the plight of this old man, I came to the conclusion that his condition was a definite result of that desperate little enemynegative thinking.

Negative thinking is a sneaky little enemy which silently steals its way into a man's consciousness and, like a thief at night, steals not his purse, but robs him of that power which makes him poor indeed. It is a sinister and destructive influence that works night and day to prey on a man's soul. It is man's worst enemy, and life's meanest foe. It is worse than war, and largely the cause of war. It is the curse of the human race. It is as blind to reason as an owl is to light. It turns friends into enemies and enemies into foes. It robs a man of reason. It stirs up hate, greed, selfishness, cynicism, pessimism, anger, suspicion, rivalry, jealousy, revenge, lust and envy. It tears down confidence, undermines health, impairs character and causes poverty.

An old legend relates that the devil was thrown into bankruptcy. Out of all his tools, the creditors permitted him to keep one. The tool he selected was the wedge of negative thinking. Asked why he liked this tool better than all the rest, the devil explained, "It is because this is the one tool which I can use when all others fail. Let me get that little wedge into a man's consciousness, and it opens everything else. That wedge has opened more doors for me than all other weapons combined."

Someone asked one of the world's greatest explorers what exploration he enjoyed most. His answer was, "My personal preference is for sitting in an old-fashioned rocking chair and exploring the undiscovered regions inside my own mind."

In exploring the undiscovered regions inside the mind, man discovers he has interest. His interest creates a desire. There are two kinds of desire. One is physical. One is mental. Subsistence and propagation satisfy the physical desire. Thoughts and ideas satisfy the mental desire.

There are two kinds of thoughts. Positive thoughts which are creative. Negative thoughts which are destructive. I often compare positive thoughts to light, and negative thoughts to darkness. Darkness isnothing. It is the absence of light. Turn on the light, and there is no darkness.

Negative thoughts of dread, worry, anger, prejudice, jealousy, envy, grudge, stubbornness, impudence, selfishness, cynicism, gloom, hate, despair and discouragement disappear instantly when they meet the positive thoughts of love, faith, consideration, respect, kindness, courage, understanding, persistence, fervence, loyalty, joy, power, plenty, endurance and strength. Think positive thoughts, and the ability can accomplish any desire.

Positive thoughts are based on understanding and faith. Negative thoughts are based on ignorance and doubt. There is no problem or condition that fails to disappear in the light of positive thoughts. Face one half of your problems or troubles with positive thoughts, and they will disappear, and then face the other half, and they will disappear. Positive and creative thinking will burn holes in problems, as a lighted cigarette will burn holes in tissue paper.

In the study of physics we find Ohm's Law of Electricity. It teaches: C = E/R. C is the current or the amount of electrical energy to be delivered for any given purpose. E is the power house to supply the current. R is the resistance the current meets on its way to do the job. The less resistance offered to the current, the more electrical energy available to do the job. This depends on the efficiency of the conductor.

The same applies to you. You are a conductor for your thoughts. Ability is the power house. Positive thoughts are the current. Negative thoughts are the resistance. Get rid of all negative thoughts. Get rid of resistance. Get rid of all inhibitions, all grudges and all dreads. The ability demonstrates its full power and strength when unhampered, and unencumbered by resistance. Your income, your health, your well-being, your happiness, and your peace of mind are only retarded by permitting the phantoms of negative thinking to set up a resistance to your ability.

A physician in Boston examined twentyfive people suffering from inflammatory disorders. A close checkup revealed that every one of them was holding a grudge. Negative thinking impairs the body, and also disrupts the ability.

Cut loose and free yourself from all petty restrictions, all pygmy notions and all corroded resistance. They retard and hold you back. Open up the channel to good. Cast out all your troubles. What good are they? Turn the power and dominion of positive thoughts on worries and dreads, and they are gone. Seek good and expect nothing but good. Rejoice and be glad. It liberates and frees you. You cease to dread, you cease to worry. You feel like a new person. You feel like starting all over again. What seemed a burden and a task is turned into a pleasant and interesting adventure.

Conditions are thought-made; change your thoughts and you change your conditions. Therefore, if your conditions seem unbearable, dark and gloomy, change your thoughts about them and see how quickly your thoughts change you.

J. Allen Stone in his book, Letters to Strongheart, reveals the qualities and attributes of a German Shepherd dog who became a movie star. To sum up the character of this wonderful dog, he put everything he had in everything he did. All of his acts were positive and decided. He spared nothing. He gave all. This teaches a great lesson. Whatever you do, put your all into it. Lose yourself in that which you are seeking to accomplish. Give all and there is no room for negative thoughts. Therefore, the remedy for negative thinking is positive thoughts. The application of positive thoughts floods the consciousness with faith, confidence, dominion and determination and gives you the power to perform with decision, precision, skill and speed. Think positive, be positive and act positive, and negative thinking goes out the window. One mighty breath from Truth will scatter negative thinking and all its hosts of humanmockeries and miseries like a whirlwind and establish the reign of positive thoughts that assure success in any endeavor.