Conclusion
Our
critics say: "If Nature Cure is all that you claim for it,
why is it not more generally accepted by the medical profession
and the public?"
The
greatest drawback to spreading the Nature Cure idea is the
necessity of self-control which it imposes. If our cures
of so-called incurable diseases could be made without asking the
patients to change their habits of living, without the demand of
effort on their own part, Nature Cure sanitariums could not be built
fast enough in this country.
No
matter how marvelous the results of the natural methods--when
investigators learn that the treatment necessitates the control
of indiscriminate appetite and self-indulgence and the persistent
practice of natural living and all that this involves, they exclaim:
"The natural regimen may be all right, but who can live up
to it? You are asking the impossible. You are looking for a perfection
which does not exist. Your directions call for an amount of willpower
and self-control which nobody possesses."
Fortunately,
however, this is not true. Human nature is good enough and strong
enough to comply with Nature's laws. Furthermore, the natural ways
must be the most pleasant in the end or Nature is a fraud and a
cheat. True enjoyment of life and happiness are impossible without
perfect physical, mental and moral health and these depend upon
natural living and natural treatment of human ailments.
Strengthening of Will-Power and Self-Control
If
I were asked the question: "What do you consider the greatest
benefit to be derived from the Nature Cure regimen?" I should
answer: "The strengthening of willpower and self-control."
This
is the very purpose of life. Upon it depends all further achievement.
Self-control is the master's key to all higher development on the
mental, moral and spiritual planes of being; but before we can exercise
it on the higher planes, we must have learned to apply it on the
lower plane, in the management and control of our physical appetites
and habits. When we have learned to control these, higher development
will come easy.
A
good method for strengthening the willpower is autosuggestion. The
most opportune moments in the twenty-four hours of the day for practicing
this mental magic are those before dropping to sleep. At this time
there is the least disturbance and interference from outside influences,
the mind is most passive and susceptible to suggestion and impressions
made under these favorable conditions upon the "phonograph
records" of the subconscious mind are the most lasting and
the most powerful to control physical, mental and moral activities.
When
thoroughly relaxed, at rest and at peace, say to yourself: "Whatever
duties confront me tomorrow, I shall execute them promptly, without
wavering or hesitation. I shall not give in to this bad habit which
has been controlling me. I shall do that only of which reason and
conscience approve."
In
order to be more specific and systematic and to obtain results more
surely and quickly, concentrate upon one weakness at a time.
When that has been overcome, take up another one, until in this
way you have attained perfect control over your thoughts, feelings
and actions.
Suppose
you have acquired the habit of remaining in bed and dozing after
your mental alarm clock has given its signal to arise and you dread
the effort of going through your morning exercises and ablutions.
Then, the night before, impress upon the subconscious mind deeply
and firmly the following suggestions: "Tomorrow morning, on
awakening, I shall jump out of bed without hesitation and go through
my morning exercises with zest and vigor."
Or,
suppose you are subject to the fear and worry habit. Say to yourself:
"Tomorrow or any time thereafter when depressing, gloomy thoughts
threaten to control me, I shall overcome them with thoughts of hope
and faith, and with absolute confidence in the Divine power of the
will within me to overcome and to achieve."
In
this manner you may give the subconscious mind suggestions and impressions
for overcoming bad habits and for establishing and strengthening
good habits.
If
a serious problem is confronting you, and you are unable to solve
it to your satisfaction, think upon it just before you are dropping
off to sleep and confidently demand that the right solution come
to you during the hours of rest. The inner consciousness is always
awake. It is the watchman who awakens you at the appointed time
in the morning. It will work upon your problem while your physical
brain is asleep. In this lies the psychological justification for
the popular phrase: "Before I decide the matter I'll sleep
over it."
In
the practice of mental magic, as in everything else, success depends
upon patience and perseverance. It would be entirely useless to
go through these mental drills occasionally and in a desultory fashion;
but if persisted in faithfully and intelligently, they will prove
truly magical in their effects upon the development of willpower
and self-control, and on these depend the mastery of conditions
within and without, the conquest of fate and destiny.