Salt Lake evening Democrat. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1885-1887, 1885-06-26
CONCENTRATION.
"Oit OF Mind Which All Should
Strive TO Obtain.
philadelphia Ledger. !

"NSiliild Aeugcr.
4, among the powers of the human mind
Clat seem OF themselves to make life
worm hVlng, that of concentration occu-
PIES prominent place. To be able to
i ilA the thoughts of the attention excIus-
iTeIy upon one subject, and to keen them
mere without wavering as long as is
necessary, is most important element
Vi success IN every occupation. It is a
Co!hnon mistake to think that although
~ Illls ABILITY Is essential in professions. in
Iilterary pursuits, in the management of
large enterprises, or in any position in
volVing the laying of plans or the carry
ing out OF systems, for the ordinary and
commonplace worker, especially If his
work be chiefly manual. it is of little CON
sequence. This is one of those fallacies
which lie at the root of much of the moor
inefficient and inferior quality of work
winch IS offered to the world in ouan+i
tles Tar exceeding the demand. 1t is q
Well-known fact that while hundreds of
unserviceable men and women stand
idle, waiting for employment which does
not come, every one who is able and
ready to do superior work in any DEPART
ment is eagerly canght up, and NAV al
most command his own terms.
One of the most radical differences be-
tween 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 knowledge or physical strength or
previous training go, to perform the work
before 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 spasmod-
ically, with intervals of wandering
thoughts and tagging attention 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 90 to
swell the ranks of the unemployed It
matters not what is to be done, from the
simplest mechanical work to the most
abstruse and complex mental operation,
the power of putting all the thought,
energy and attention on that and nothing
else, for the time being, will very largely
determine the quality and amount of
labor performed.
To some extent this is a natural gift
We see children at play who, without
other motive than their instructive ten
denotes, persist continuously in any effort
they make, or purpose they form, with a
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, per-
hapsanore than in most tendencies, cul-
ture and practice come in to strengthen
what is lacking. The discipline of the
schools is most valuable in developing
the Commemorative power in the province
of thought, and it would be blessing to
every child if, in some way, a like disci
pline 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
wandering thoughts, and force them reso-
lutelv in one direction, We increase the
power and develop the habit, and the eX
ertion, at first painful and laborious, be-
comes 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
on a given subject for ten minutes before
something else would come into his
mind, but gaining by long practice the
power of continuous and uninterrupted
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 max
ing another, until after working in this
way one day and two nights they finally
succeeded.
This habit does not necessarily make q
person so absorbed in one thing as to be-
come 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 his energies at will can
also divert them at will into another
channel when the proper time arrives.
Many things rightly claim our attention,
but none of them will receive it Alright if
our thoughts aimlessly wander from one
to another without compass or guide.