Bridgeton pioneer., 1885-10-01
CONCENTRATION.

| tnlS lie worth living, CnaU OF cOncen-
tration occupies n prominent place.
To be able to fix the thoughts or the
attention exclusively upon one subject,
and to keep them there without way
ering as long as is necessary, is most
important element of success in every
occupation. 1t is n common mistake
to think that although this ability is
essential in professions, in literary pur-
suits, in the management of large en-
terprises, or in any position involving
the laying of plans or the carrying out
of systems, for the ordinary and com
mon-place worker, especially if his
work be chiefly manual, it is of little
consequence This is one of those fall
lacies which lie at the root of much of
the poor, inefficient and inferior quail
! ity of work which is offered to the
| world in quantities far exceeding the
| demand. 1t is n well-known fact that
while hundreds of unserviceable men
and women stand idle, waiting for en-
| plOyment which does not come, every
one who is able and ready to do SUI
| perior work in any department is
eagerly caught up, and may almost
! command his own terms.
| One of the most radical differences
between these two classes of workers
is this very power of concentrating the
energy and strength of both body and
mind upon the work Immediately at
hand. Two men. working side by
side in the field or the factory, may be
equally competent, as far as knowl-
edge or physical strength or previous
training go. to perform the labor be-
fore them. They begin with equal
promise of good success, but in a short
time. while one is persisting, the other
is relaxing in effort. One pursues his
work with unremitting zeal; the other
spasmodically, with intervals of wan
dering thoughts and Tagging atten-
ton. 1t is already an assured fact that
the one who has acquired the habit of
concentration will be the successful
competitor. He will be anxiously
sought for and re-engaged. while the
other will soon go to swell the ranks of
the unemployed. 1t matters not what
is to be done, from the simplest me-
chanical work to the most abstruse
and complex mental operation, the
power of putting all the thought,
onorrv onI OF ~, thot o,I ootb
ing else, for the time being, will very
largely determine the quality and
amount of labor performed.
To some extent this is natural gift.
We see children at play who, with
out other motive than their instructive
tendencies, persist continuously in any
effort they make, or purpose they form,
with perseverance and earnestness
which may well shame many of their
elders, while others will be distracted
by every passing object, and forget
their determinations as soon as they
are formed. Yet here, perhaps more
than in most tendencies, culture and
practice come in TO strengthen what
islacking. The discipline of the schools
is most valuable in developing the con-
centrative power in the province of
thought, and it would be blessing to
every child if, in some way, like dis
| cipline helped him in the work of his
hands. Like every other faculty, this,
too, is strengthened by exercise. Each
time we recall our scattering energies
and wondering thoughts, and force
them resolutely in one direction, we
increase the power and develop the
habit, and the exertion, at first painful
and laborious, becomes in time easy
and agreeable.
Mr.. Thomas A. Edison attributes his
success as an inventor largely to this
faculty, which he gained by steadfast
exertion, once being able only to think
upon a given subject for ten minutes
before something else would come into
his mind, but gaining by long practice
the power of continuous and uninter-
rupted thought for hours on a simple
topic. At one time he worked with
his assistants in trying to connect a
piece of carbon to a wire. Each time
it would break, and they would spend
several hours in making another, until
after working in this way one day and
two nights they finally succeeded.
This habit does not necessarily make
person as absorbed in one thing, as
to become narrow and one sided. He
may become so by yielding wholly to a
native impulse of dwelling on one
thing; but the same self-control that
concentrates his energies at will can
also divert them at will into another
channel when the proper time arrives.
Many things rightly claim our atten-
ton, but none of them will receive it
Alright if our thoughts aimlessly wan
der from one to another without com
pass or guide -PhiIndeIDhin Jedder