THE POWER OF CONCENTRATION/PART 15
LESSON XV. CONCENTRATE
SO YOU WILL NOT FORGET
A
man forgets because he does not concentrate his mind on his purpose, especially
at the moment he conceives it. We remember only that which makes a deep
impression, hence we must first deepen our impressions by associating in our
minds certain ideas that are related to them.
We
will say a wife gives her husband a letter to mail. He does not think about it,
but automatically puts it in his pocket and forgets all about it. When the
letter was given to him had he said to himself, "I will mail this letter.
The box is at the next corner and when I pass it I must drop this letter,"
it would have enabled him to recall the letter the instant he reached the mail
box.
The
same rule holds good in regard to more important things. For example, if you are
instructed to drop in and see Mr. Smith while out to luncheon today, you will
not forget it, if, at the moment the instruction is given, you say to yourself
something similar to the following:
"When
I get to the corner of Blank street, on my way to luncheon, I shall turn to the
right and call on Mr. Smith." In this way the impression is made, the
connection established and the sight of the associated object recalls the
errand.
The
important thing to do is to deepen the impression at the very moment it enters
your mind. This is made possible, not only by concentrating the mind upon the
idea itself, but by surrounding it with all possible association of ideas, so
that each one will reinforce the others.
The
mind is governed by laws of association, such as the law that ideas which enter
the mind at the same time emerge at the same time, one assisting in recalling
the others.
The
reason why people cannot remember what they want to is that they have not
concentrated their minds sufficiently on their purpose at the moment when it
was formed.
You
can train yourself to remember in this way by the concentration of the
attention on your purpose, in accordance with the laws of association.
When
once you form this habit, the attention is easily centered and the memory
easily trained. Then your memory, instead of failing you at crucial moments,
becomes a valuable asset in your every-day work.
Exercise
in Memory Concentration. Select some picture; put it on a table and then look
at it for two minutes. Concentrate your attention on this picture, observe
every detail; then shut your eyes and see how much you can recall about it.
Think of what the picture represents; whether it is a good subject; whether it
looks natural. Think of objects in foreground, middle ground, background; of
details of color and form. Now open your eyes and hold yourself rigidly to the
correction of each and every mistake. Close eyes again and notice how much more
accurate your picture is. Practice until your mental image corresponds in every
particular to the original.
Nature
is a Wonderful Instructor. But there are very few who realize that when we get
in touch with nature we discover ourselves. That by listening to her voice,
with that curious, inner sense of ours, we learn the oneness of life and wake
up to our own latent powers.
Few
realize that the simple act of listening and concentrating is our best interior
power, for it brings us into close contact with the highest, just as our other
senses bring us into touch with the coarser side of human nature. The closer we
live to nature the more developed is this sense. "So called"
civilization has over developed our other senses at the expense of this one.
Children
unconsciously realize the value of concentration—for instance: When a Child has
a difficult problem to solve, and gets to some knotty point which he finds
himself mentally unable to do—though he tries his hardest—he will pause and
keep quite still, leaning on his elbow, apparently listening; then you will
see, if you are watching, sudden illumination come and he goes on happily and
accomplishes his task. A child instinctively but unconsciously knows when he
needs help, he must be quiet and concentrate.
All
great people concentrate and owe their success to it. The doctor thinks over
the symptoms of his patient, waits, listens for the inspiration, though quite
unconscious, perhaps, of doing so. The one who diagnoses in this way seldom
makes mistakes. An author thinks his plot, holds it in his mind, and then
waits, and illumination comes. If you want to be able to solve difficult
problems you must learn to do the same.
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