D. Starke - Poise: How to Attain it

"POISE IS A POWER DERIVED FROM THE MASTERY OF SELF"

All efforts directed toward the correcting of temperamental or mentalblemishes or defects and nervous conditions are of benefit to humanity.In producing this book the Author's purpose was to help mankind toovercome these weaknesses, which are a serious impediment to mentaldevelopment, and hinder personal advancement and general progress. Theaim of the Publishers in issuing this translation is to put into thehands of those who wish to overcome their failings, become masters ofthemselves, and command the attention and respect of others, a work thathas been thoroughly tested abroad and one that will be found ofexceptional service in attaining the end in viewthe securing of aperfect balance.

This book is written in two parts. The first points to the need of Poisein daily life, indicates the obstacles to be overcome, and discusses theeffects of Poise on personal efficiency. The second instructs the readerhow to secure that evenness of temperament which is the chiefcharacteristic of Poise. It includes, in addition, a series of practicalphysical exercises to be used in acquiring Poise.

If such a work as this is to do good, if the reader really wishes tobenefit by the advice that it gives him, it must be read thoughtfullyand diligently, not fitfully and forgetfully, and the reader moststeadfastly keep before him the maxim of the Author"Poise is a powerderived from the Mastery of Self."

THE PUBLISHERS.

Lack of poise has always been an obstacle to those who are imbued withthe desire to succeed.

In every age the awkwardness born of timidity has served to keep backthose who suffered from it, but this defect has never been so great adrawback as in the life of to-day.

The celebrated phrase of the ancient Roman writer who said, "Fortunesmiles on the brave," could very well serve as our motto nowadays, withthis slight alteration: "Fortune smiles on those who are possest ofpoise."

At this point let us attempt an exact definition of poise.

It is a quality which enables us to judge of our own value, and which,in revealing to us the knowledge of the things of which we are reallycapable, gives us at the same time the desire to accomplish them.

It is not a quality wholly simple. On the contrary, it is a composite ofmany others all of which take part in the molding of that totality whichbears the name of poise.

It may be well to pass in review the principal qualities of which it iscomposed, that one may characterize as follows:

Will.
Reason.
Knowledge of one's own value.
Correctness of judgment.
Sincerity toward oneself.
The power of resisting the appeals of self-love.
Contempt of adverse criticism.
Pride that is free from vanity.
A definite and clearly conceived ambition.

Will, as is well known, is the pivot of all our resolutions, whether thequestion for the moment be how to form them or how to keep them whenformed.

A man without will-power is a straw, blown about by every wind andcarried, whether he will or no, into situations in which he has no validreason for finding himself.

Without the will-power which enables us to take a firm hold of ourselvesand to get a grip upon our impressions, they will remain vague andnebulous without presenting to us characters of sufficient definitenessto enable us to direct them readily into the proper channels.

It is will-power which gives us the force to maintain a resolution whichwill lead us to the hoped-for goal of success.

It is will-power also which enables us to correct the faults which standin the way of the acquiring of poise.

We are not now speaking of those idle fancies which are no more thanmanifestations of nervousness. We have in mind rather that controlledand enduring purpose which arms the heart against the assaults of theemotions by giving it the strength to overcome them.

There are many cases even in which will-power has led to their entiresuppression.

This happens more particularly in the case of those artificial emotionsthat the man of resolution ignores completely, but which cause agony tothe timid who do not know how to escape them, and exaggerate them toexcess.

This abnormal development of their personalities is the peculiarity ofthe timid, which their fitful efforts of will only heighten, alienatingfrom them the sympathy which might be of assistance to them.

They take refuge in a species of mischievous and fruitless activity,leaving the field open to the development of all sorts of imaginary illsthat argument does not serve to combat.

Their ego, whose importance is in no way counterbalanced by theirappreciation of the friends they keep at a distance, fills their entireexistence to such an extent that they have no doubt whatever that, whenthey are in public, every eye is, of necessity, fixt upon them.

Their negative will leaves them at the mercy of every sort of emotion,which, in arousing in them the necessity of a reaction they feelthemselves powerless to realize, reduces them to a state of inferioritythat, when it becomes known, is the source of grave embarrassment tothem.

The power of will which sustains those who wish to acquire the habit ofpoise is, then, the capacity to accomplish acts solely because one hasthe ardent desire to achieve them.

We are now speaking, understand, neither of extreme heroism or ofimpossibilities.

Another point presents itself here. Willpower, in order to preserve itsenergy, must be sustained and fixt. At this price alone can we achievepoise. We must, therefore, thoroughly saturate ourselves with thisprinciple: Reasoning-power is an essential element in the upbuilding ofpoise.

It is reasoning-power which teaches us to distinguish between thosethings that we must be careful to avoid and those which are part andparcel of the domain of exaggeration and fantasy.

It is also by means of reasoning that we arrive at the properappreciation of the just mean that we must observe. It is by its aidthat we are enabled to disentangle those impulses that will proveprofitable from a chaos of useless risks.

It is always by virtue of deductions depending upon reason that we areable to adopt a resolution or to maintain an attitude that we believe tobe correct, while preserving our self-possession under circumstances inwhich persons of a timorous disposition would certainly lose theirheads.

Those who know how to reason never expose themselves to the possibilityof being unhorsed by fate for lack of good reasons for strengtheningthemselves in their chosen course.

They adhere, in the very heat of discussion and in spite of theonslaughts of destiny, to the line of conduct that sage reflection hastaught them to adopt and are more than careful never to abandon itexcept for the most valid reasons.