_Impulsive Action._--The will is often moved to action by a dim idea or faint perception of purpose or impulse. The action is almost instinctive, although there is a vague perception of purpose. For instance, we feel an impulse to turn toward the source of a strange sound or sight, or other source of interest or curiosity. Or we may feel an impulse arising from the subconscious plane of our mind, causing a dimly-conscious idea of movement or action to relieve the tension. For instance, one may feel a desire to exercise, or to seek fresh air or green fields, although he had not been thinking of these things at the time. These impulses arise from a subconscious feeling of fatigue or desire for change, which, added to a fleeting idea, produces the impulse. Unless an impulse is inhibited by the will activities inspired by other desires, habits, ideas, or ideals, we act upon it in precisely the same way that a young child or animal does. Hoffding says of this type of action: "The psychological condition of the impulse is, that with the momentary feeling and sensation should be combined a more or less clear idea of something which may augment the pleasure or diminish the pain of the moment."
_Instinctive Action._--The will is frequently moved to action by an instinctive stimulus. This form of will activity closely resembles the last mentioned form, and often it is impossible to distinguish between the two. The activities of the bee in building its comb and storing its honey, the work of the silkworm and caterpillar in building their resting places, are examples of this form of action. Indeed, even the building of the nest of the bird may be so cla.s.sed. In these cases there is an intelligent action toward a definite end, but the animal is unconscious of that end. The experiences of the remote ancestors of these creatures recorded their impressions upon the subconscious mind of the species, and they are transmitted in some way to all of that species. The nervous system of every living thing is a record cylinder of the experiences of its early ancestors, and these cylinders tend to reproduce these impressions upon appropriate occasions. In preceding chapters we have shown that even man is under the influence of instinct to a greater extent than he imagines himself to be.
CHAPTER x.x.x.
Will-Training.
It is of the utmost importance that the individual develop, cultivate, and train his will so as to bring it under the influence of the higher part of his mental and moral being. While the will is used most effectively in developing and training the intellect and building character, it itself must be trained by itself to habitually come under the guidance of the intellect and under the influence of that which we call character.
The influence of the trained will upon the several mental faculties is most marked. There are no faculties which may not be cultivated by the will. The first and great task of the will in this direction is the control and direction of the attention. The will determines the kind of interest that shall prevail at the moment, and the kind of interest largely determines the character of the man, his tastes, his feelings, his thoughts, his acts. Gordy says: "Cooperating with a pre-existing influence, the will can make a weaker one prevail over a stronger. * * *
It determines which of pre-existing influences shall have control over the mind."
Moreover, concentrated and continued attention depends entirely upon the exercise of the will. As Gordy says: "If the will relaxes its hold upon the activities of the mind, the attention is liable to be carried away by any one of the thousands of ideas that the laws of a.s.sociation are constantly bringing into our minds."
Even in the matter of mental images the will a.s.serts its sway, and the imagination may be trained to be the obedient servant of the developed will. Regarding the influence of the will upon character, Davidson says: "It is not enough for a man to understand correctly and love duly the conditions of moral life in his own time; he must, still further, be willing and able to fulfill these conditions. And he certainly cannot do this unless his will is trained to perfect freedom, so that it responds, with the utmost readiness, to the suggestions of his discriminating intelligence and the movements of his chastened affections." Halleck says: "We gradually make our characters by separate acts of will, just as a blacksmith by repeated blows beats out a horseshoe or an anchor from a shapeless ma.s.s of iron. A finished anchor or horseshoe was never the product of a single blow."
TRAINING THE WILL.
Perhaps the best way to train the will is to _use_ it intelligently, and with a purpose. The training of any faculty of the mind is at the same time a training of the will. The attention being so closely allied to the will, it follows that a careful training of attention will result in a strengthening of the will. The training of the emotional side of one"s nature also brings results in the strengthening of the will.
Halleck gives his students excellent advice regarding the training of the will. It would be hard to find anything better along these lines than the following from his pen: "Nothing schools the will, and renders it ready for effort in this complex world, better than accustoming it to face disagreeable things. Professor James advises all to do something occasionally for no other reason than that they would rather not do it, if it is nothing more than giving up a seat in a street car. He likens such effort to the insurance that a man pays on his house. He has something that he can fall back on in time of trouble. A will schooled in this way is always ready to respond, no matter how great the emergency. While another would be crying over spilled milk, the possessor of such a will has already found another cow. * * * The only way to secure such a will is to practice doing disagreeable things.
There are daily opportunities. * * * A man who had declared his aversion to what he deemed the dry facts of political economy was one day found knitting his brow over a chapter of John Stuart Mill. When a friend expressed surprise, the man replied: "I am playing the schoolmaster with myself. I am reading this because I dislike it." Such a man has the elements of success in him. * * * On the other hand, the one who habitually avoids disagreeable action is training his will to be of no use to him at a time when supreme effort is demanded. Such a will can never elbow its way to the front in life."
HABITS.
Habits are the beaten track over which the will travels. The beaten path of habit is the line of least resistance to the will. One who would train his will must needs pay attention to providing it with the proper mental paths over which to travel. The rule for the creation of habits is simply this: _Travel over the mental path as often as possible_. The rule for breaking undesirable habits is this: _Cultivate the opposite habit_. In these two rules is expressed the gist of what has been written on the subject.
Professor William James has left to the world some invaluable advice regarding the cultivation of right habits. He bases his rules upon those of Professor Bain, elaborates these, and adds some equally good ones. We herewith quote freely from both James and Bain on this subject; it is the best ever written regarding habit building.
I. "In the acquisition of a new habit, or the leaving off of an old one, launch yourself with as strong and decided an initiative as possible.
This will give your new beginning such a momentum that the temptation to break down will not occur as soon as it otherwise might; and every day during which a breakdown is postponed adds to the chances of it not occurring at all."--_James._
II. "Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is securely rooted in your life. Every lapse is like the letting fall of a ball of string which one is carefully winding up--a single slip undoes more than a great many turns will wind again."--_James._ "It is necessary, above all things, in such a situation, never to lose a battle. Every gain on the wrong side undoes the effect of many conquests on the right. The essential precaution is so to regulate the two opposing powers that the one may have a series of uninterrupted successes, until repet.i.tion has fortified it to such a degree as to enable it to cope with the opposition, under any circ.u.mstances."--_Bain._
III. "Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of the habits you aspire to gain. It is not in the moment of their forming, but in the moment of their producing _motor effects_, that resolves and aspirations communicate their new "set" to the brain."--_James._ "The actual presence of the practical opportunity alone furnishes the fulcrum upon which the lever can rest, by which the moral will may multiply its strength and raise itself aloft. He who has no solid ground to press against will never get beyond the stage of empty gesture making."--_Bain._
IV. "Keep the faculty alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day. That is, be systematically ascetic or heroic in little, unnecessary points; do every day something for no other reason than that you would rather not do it, so that when the hour of dire need draws nigh, it may find you not unnerved and untrained to stand the test. * * * The man who has daily inured himself to habits of concentrated attention, energetic volition, and self-denial in unnecessary things will stand like a tower when everything rocks around him, and when his softer fellow mortals are winnowed like chaff in the blast."--_James._
CHAPTER x.x.xI.
Will-Tonic.
In addition to the general rules for developing and training the will given in the preceding chapter, we ask you to tone up and strengthen the will by the inspiration to be derived from the words of some of the world"s great thinkers and doers. In these words there is such a vital statement of the recognition, realization, and manifestation of that something within, which we call "will," that it is a dull soul, indeed, which is not inspired by the contagion of the idea. These expressions are the milestones on the Path of Attainment, placed by those who have preceded us on the journey. We submit these quotations without comment; they speak for themselves.
WORDS OF THE WISE.
"They can who think they can. Character is a perfectly educated will."
"Nothing can resist the will of a man who knows what is true and wills what is good."
"In all difficulties advance and will, for within you is a power, a living force, which the more you trust and learn to use will annihilate the opposition of matter."
"The star of the unconquered will, It rises in my breast, Serene and resolute and still, And calm and self-possessed.
"So nigh is grandeur to our dust, So near is G.o.d to man, When duty whispers low, "Thou must!"
The youth replies, "I can!""
"The longer I live, the more certain I am that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the great and the insignificant, is energy,--invincible determination,--a purpose once fixed, and then death or victory. That quality will do anything that can be done in this world, and no talents, no circ.u.mstances, no opportunities will make a two-legged creature a man without it."--_Buxton._
"The human will, that force unseen, The offspring of a deathless soul, Can hew a way to any goal, Though walls of granite intervene.
"You will be what you will to be; Let failure find its false content In that poor word environment, But spirit scorns it and is free.
"It masters time, it conquers s.p.a.ce, It cows that boastful trickster, chance, And bids the tyrant circ.u.mstance Uncrown and fill a servant"s place."
"Resolve is what makes a man manifest; not puny resolve, not crude determinations, not errant purpose, but that strong and indefatigable will which treads down difficulties and danger as a boy treads down the heaving frost lands of winter, which kindles his eye and brain with a proud pulse beat toward the unattainable. Will makes men giants."--_Donald G. Mitch.e.l.l._
"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate Can circ.u.mvent, or hinder, or control The firm resolve of a determined soul.
Gifts count for nothing, will alone is great; All things give way before it soon or late.
What obstacle can stay the mighty force Of the sea-seeking river in its course, Or cause the ascending orb of day to wait?
Each well-born soul must win what it deserves.
Let the fools prate of luck. The fortunate Is he whose earnest purpose never swerves, Whose slightest action, or inaction, Serves the one great aim. Why, even death itself Stands still and waits an hour sometimes For such a will."
--_Ella Wheeler Wilc.o.x._
"I have brought myself by long meditation to the conviction that a human being with a settled purpose must accomplish it, and that nothing can resist a will which will stake even existence upon its fulfillment."
--_Lord Beaconsfield._
"A pa.s.sionate desire and an unwearied will can perform impossibilities, or what may seem to be such to the cold and feeble."--_Sir John Simpson._
"It is wonderful how even the casualties of life seem to bow to a spirit that will not bow to them, and yield to subserve a design which they may, in their first apparent tendency, threaten to frustrate. When a firm, decisive spirit is recognized, it is curious to see how the s.p.a.ce clears around a man and leaves him room and freedom."--_John Foster._
"The great thing about General Grant is cool persistency of purpose. He is not easily excited, and he has got the grip of a bulldog. When he once gets his teeth in, nothing can shake him off."--_Abraham Lincoln._
"I am bigger than anything that can happen to me. All these things are outside my door, _and I"ve got the key_. * * * Man was meant to be, and ought to be, stronger and more than anything that can happen to him.
Circ.u.mstances, "Fate," "Luck," are all outside; and if he cannot change them, he can always _beat_ them."--_Charles F. Lummis._
"The truest wisdom is a resolute determination."