William Walker Atkinson - Nuggets of the New Thought: Several Things That Have Helped People

I do not like writing a prefaceit seems too much like an apology. Ihave no special apology to tender for offering this collection of NewThought nuggets. They may possess no literary merit, but they havehelped men and women. With the exception of "The Secret of theI Am," these essays appeared from month to month in "New Thought," ofwhich magazine I am associate editor. They were written hastily,principally upon the demand of the printer for "copy," and, for themost part, were printed just as they were written, there being no timefor revision or polishing up. You may pick up any one of them and findmany sentences needing straightening outmany thoughts which could bebetter expressed by the change of a few words. Knowing these things, Ifirst thought that I would go over each essay and add a little here,and take away a little there, polishing up and burnishing as I wentalong. But when I looked over them, my heart failed me. There theywere just as they were writtenjust as they were dug out of mymindand I hadn't the heart to change them. I remembered thecircumstances surrounding the writing of every one of them, and I letthem alone. A "nugget" polished up would be no longer a nugget. Andthese thoughts are nuggetsI dug them myself. I will not say muchregarding the quality of the metalthat is for youbut you see themjust as they came from the minerough, unpolished, mixed with therock, queerly shaped. If you think that they contain metal ofsufficiently good quality, refine them, melt them and fashion theminto something useful or ornamental. For myself, I like things withthe bark onwith the marks of the hammerwith the original quartzadhering to the metal. But others are of different tastethey likeeverything to feel smooth to the touch. They will not like thesenuggets. Alas, I cannot help itI cannot produce the beautifullyfinished articleI have nothing to offer other than the crude productof the mine. Here they are, polish them up yourself if you prefer themin that shapeI will not touch them.

W. W. A.
Chicago, October 2, 1902.

"I Can and I Will!!!" Have you ever said these words to yourself witha firm conviction that you were speaking the truthwith the strongfeeling that needed no other proof. If so, you then felt within you athrill which seemed to cause every atom of your being to vibrate inharmony with some note in the grand scale of Life, sounded by the RealSelf. You caught a momentary glimpse of the Inner Lightheard a straynote of the Song of the Soulwere conscious for the moment ofYOURSELF. And in that moment of ecstasy you knew that untold power andpossibilities were yours. You felt that you were in touch with allStrength, Power, Knowledge, Happiness and Peace. You felt that youwere equal to any taskcapable of executing any undertaking. For themoment there was no Fear in the world for you. All the Universe seemedto vibrate in the same key with your thought. For the moment youRECOGNIZED THE TRUTH.

But alas, the spirit of doubt, distrust, fear and unfaith calledyou again to Earthand the vision faded. And yet, the remembranceof the sightthe echo of the soundthe remnant of the new-foundstrengthis with you still. You still find that memory to be astimulus to great effortsa comforting thought in times of weaknessand trial. You have been able to accomplish much by the aid of thelingering vibrations of the mighty thought.

In times of great perilgrave perplexitieslife and death struggles,a feeling of calm confidence and strength often comes to us, and weare borne on by a power of us and in us (and yet in everythingelse, too) that seems to lift us off our feet and sweep us on tosafetyto peaceto rest. We are possessed of an abiding sense ofpower, reserve force and security. When extraordinary conditionsconfront uswhen our bodies seem paralyzedour minds stupefiedourwill power gone, we are often made conscious of the existence of theReal Self, and it answers our involuntary demand, and comes to rescuewith the cheering cry: "I AM HERE"!

Many of us have made use of this inner strength without realizing it.One day we were sorely distressed and made the demand, and lo! it wasanswered. We knew not from whence came this new-found strength, but wewere conscious of the uplift, and felt more confidence in ourselves.The next time we confidently demanded the aid, and again we wereanswered. We acquired that which we call confidence and faith inourselves, and were carried over many a dark place and started on theroad to Success. Our repeated success caused us to think and speak ofour "luck," and we grew to believe that we had a "star," and tookchances and risks that others would not dream of. We dared. We madesome apparent failures, but we soon came to know them as only lessonsleading to ultimate success. The "I Can and I Will" feeling carriedus over rough places safely, and we got to simply know that we would"get there" in the end.

And so we went on and on, knowing that if we advanced three steps andslipped back two, we were still one step ahead. We had confidence,because we knew that "things would come our way" in the end. Andso long as we held this attitude, we did succeed, and it was onlywhen we lost heart at some unexpected sliponly when, after havingattained success, we became dazed and frightened, and began to fearthat our "luck might turn" and that we would lose all of ouraccumulationsit was only then, I saythat our star waned.

Talk with any successful man, and, if truthful, he will admit havingfelt, from the time of his first success, that he had some sort of"pull" with Fatesome "lucky star"some special Providence operatingin his behalf. He grew to expect resultsto have confidence inthings turning out rightto have faith in something of which heknew not the natureand he was not disappointed. Things seemed towork in his favornot always just in the way he expected, sometimesin an entirely different waymatters seemed somehow to straightenthemselves out in the endso long as he kept his "nerve." He did notknow the source of his strength, but he believed in it and trusted itjust the same.

Let us wake up and recognize this Something Withinlet us begin tounderstand this "I Can and I Will" feelinglet us cherish it if wehave it, and cultivate it if we have it not. Do you know that we areyoung giants who have not discovered our own strength? Are you notaware that there are powers latent within us, pressing forth fordevelopment and unfoldment? Do you not know that earnest desire, faithand calm demand will bring to us that which we requirewill place atour hand the tools with which we are to work out our destinywillguide us in the proper use of the toolswill make us grow? Do you notknow that Desire, Faith and Work is the triple key to the doors ofAttainment? There are possibilities before us, awaiting our coming, ofwhich we have never dreamed. Let us assert ourselvestake up thekeyunlock the doorsand enter our kingdom.