Let it be said here, without attempt to moralize, that wrongdoing will contribute its share to self-consciousness. It may be an injury done another, an unfair advantage in business, or a secret habit; but whatever it be, its mark is seared upon the conscience, and sooner or later finds expression in embarrassment. What should one do who comes under this classification? Repair the injury, stop every undesirable habit, and resolve hereafter to deal justly with all men.
Constantly hold in your mind a high estimate of yourself, but be sure you have reasons for doing so. It is of little use to say you are well if you are ill. Do not deceive yourself. You are no greater than the sum of your thoughts and habits. Have you good and sufficient reasons for your self-approbation. Are you a man of noble impulses? Is your ambition lofty? Have you high ideals and do you work persistently to realize them? Are you doing the best you can? Have you an uncompromising love for truth?
A business man recently wrote to a teacher, saying: "I lose control and become embarrassed when I speak even to my own employees, and can not keep a straight face at any time when meeting strangers. I feel embarrassed, turn red in the face, and otherwise feel uncomfortable when talking to a single individual. If I were called upon to address an audience, I believe I should drop dead." This is an illustration of the extremes to which self-consciousness may carry its victim. The mind is a prolific field for the growth of all kinds of thought. If false and negative ideas are allowed to take root, they, like weeds of an ordinary field, spread with wonderful rapidity, and may easily discourage and overwhelm the owner. The man to whom we have referred has long neglected his mental field and now finds himself in a bad way. The remedy for him, and for others so situated, is patiently to root out every obnoxious habit and to substitute strong, healthy, positive thoughts in its place. He must at first be content with small victories, since he has permitted his mental field and garden to be overrun with these objectionable thought habits, but he can comfort himself with the assurance that in this way he can and will attain success.
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