Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-01-23
TRAINING THE WILL IN
THE HABIT OF MASTERY
viii Power Can Be Developed Only by
Exercise-How to Go About the En-
largement of Your Mental and Moral
Calibre.
By JOSEPH II. oDELL

cal methods of developing the human will.
And yet volltional power is a growth just like
any other function. The sooner we realize
that the will is weak and can be strengthened
only by the observance Of certain rules the
more likely we shall be able to evolve an in
vincibe faculty Of resolution. For 1t is only
by regular exercise that the will grows Wig
orous.
There Is no artificial or accidental way.
There is no wll-buidng compound that
can be prescribed. We can make bone,
or blood, or fat, by what we eat or drink.
But the will is immateria and nothing ma
terial can affect It one way or the other We
sometimes speak loosely of alcohol weakening
the will. 1t is not the alcohol but the willing
to take Il. Every time we resolve to drink
we exercise the will in given direction and
the exercise makes it easy for the will to
move in that direction again.
Then the key to the development OF the will
lies in the word exercise. The potentiality-
the vital, plastic responsive thing called the
will-grows in proportion as it is used.
Fight it Out on That Line"
1t is necessary that we should learn how
important it is for the will to triumph over
physical reluctance. Most men have a
marked dislike of cold water Supposing we
"hgnt 1t out on that line IL it takes all sum-
mer'' and all winter, too. We lay down the law
that we must take a cold bath every MORN
ing. The mere thought may be appalling at
first. To make our resolution we fill
the bathtub on the preceding night. The first
morning 1t is agony, but we survive. With
the brisk rubbing there comes the grateful
glow of the reaction. The following morning
we are fortified with the one successful ex-
pertinent and force ourselves again to pass
through the ordeal
Thus we go along for months; each morn
ing requires a new exercise of the will, but
each day begins with a decisive victory And
there is always something in a local victory
which makes for a general triumph. Later in
the day we find a situation from which
shrink; the habit of the bath Is In our minds
and we say, II do that, too" In course
of time the will gets a settled habit Of mas
terry, diskes to be thwarted, and establishes
long line of minor conquests which make
the issue inevitable when the critical battle
ground is reached upon which our success
failure for life is to be determined.
Child's Discovery
If we are really serious in wishing to de-
velop a strong will the motto that must be
placarded before the eyes is: mo Exceptions
Allowed" One exception may end weeks of
laborious training. 1t Is well, therefore, that
we should not undertake too large contract
in the beginning. This is the law of peda-
gogics The alphabet is usually the starting
point. Then words-one, two, three and four
syllables Why does the child flush with pride
when he read the simple lesson of his
first hook? Not because he has gained val
liable stock of knowledge Long before he
read he knew that the dog could bark, that
the bird could sing and that the fire is warm
Everything the book contained he knew be-
fore he read 1t. The pleasure lies in the
sense of victory; he is conscious Of an en-
larged power: he reves in the knowledge
that there are difficult things he can accom-
plish. 1t constitutes discovery that the
will can be trained to win victories.
No better line can be chosen for the grown
man than to enlarge the sphere of action of
the will and the realm of knowledge at one
and the same time You are busy. There are
a score of different things you would like to
do. But throughout all your occupations you
realize that your will is not the robust, effec-
tive and reliable force It should be- You re-
solve: "I will read a book for one hour each
day!" It is wise to select an easy and an
interesting book for the first. The exact time
of study does not matter-morning, noon or
night. But the third day you are rushed and
when the reading hour comes you are tired,
nervous, sleepy Shall the rule be broken? If,
in spite of everything, you read desperately
and doggedly through the dragging minutes,
you have added muscles to your will, you
have struck the pace that leads swiftly to
larger conquests, you have added a new and
dominating note to your personality. But If
you succumb, II you allow an exception, you
have keyed and trained your will to the halt
ing, vacilating step that leads to failure. you
have accustomed yourself to surrender and
invited series of defeats.
The Stamp of Victory
For the next step take a more difficult
book, one that requires more attention, closer
thought. BY sticking to your resolution, even
though you master only paragraph in the
hour, you will be building new fibre and
callbre into the will. The other tasks Of life
will not seem half 50 hard; one by one they
also can be accomplished. Their very diff
Guilty will come as a challenge and you will
spring at them as though the mere act Of
overcoming We're the chief privilege of living.
A sense Of mastery will steal into your atti-
tude a tone of sure and calculated confidence
will be heard in your voice Other people
viii set you apart from the crowd as a man
who can do difficult things and success win
grow still easier because every one expects
you to succeed. The mob divides and makes
a clear way for the man with a will.
Now what has happened? You have not
really added new power faculty to your
original equipment You have simply In
creased your will by exercise and established
it's undeniable affirmatons as a nxed habit
OF your life. This is stamped all over you;
It shows in bearing, gesture. accent, even in
your clothes. You could not have bought II