Chapter 25 - You And Your Subconscious Mind As Partners In Action…In Relation To Health

I am starting this chapter on health with a story that is intended to be propaganda to influence your subconscious mind. I have a good reason for this approach, which I will tell you about later. Just now, I assure you that this will be positive propaganda, so it will make a good impression on your subconscious.

Just a shiny penny, not a gold piece

This is the story of one single penny. Once upon a time, a storekeeper was counting his receipts at the end of the day. With a hundred or more coins spread out on the counter, he was counting and stacking halves, quarters, dimes, nickels, and finally a number of pennies. He spread them out so that he; could count them, two-by-two. Suddenly, his eye was attracted to one shiny penny that lay like a little gold piece among all the rest.

"Even as you and I ..."

The storekeeper paused, smiled and picked up the penny, and he slipped it into his pocket, even as you or I might have done. We can understand that somehow it seemed like a good idea to hang on to that bright little coin ... as though it might be a symbol of good fortune. In the days after that, the storekeeper, as you and I might do, would dig into his pocket every so often for change and come across the penny. He would smile and make sure he didn't spend it. It might even be said that he became affectionate toward the little penny.

But, alas, one day it accidentally dropped from his hand when he was putting coins into a parking meter. Unaware that he had dropped it, he walked away, leaving the shiny penny lying on the sidewalk. It didn't lie there for long, because a passerby spotted it and retrieved it. It seemed like more than a simple coin to this man, too, because of the shininess, and he thought, "I think I'll keep it, just because it looks more valuable than other pennies." And he did keep it, for quite some time, until he accidentally spent it. He hoped some one else would see its value and give it a good home. That is just what happened when a certain other man received it in change at the store. He spotted its golden shine and had an inspiration for using it.

... But it wasn't a new penny

That evening, when he gave his young daughter her weekly allowance he told her she was getting a "raise" and included the little penny with the usual large silver coin. The little girl saw it as something like a magic coin and said she would never spend it! She showed her treasure to her mother, who immediately had to satisify the same curiosity that you and I might have by looking at the mint date. Surprised at what she read, she exclaimed, "Why; this isn't a new penny! I wonder why it's so shiny?"

Well, her husband couldn't answer that, and neither can I, except to say that the penny had some special quality about it, something that made it look new, even though it was as old as the other pennies with the same mint date.

Take a lesson from the penny

The point to this fable could be that no matter how old you are, it's how old others think you are that counts! But I think that a more subtle and even more important point that is displayed here is that if you want to be something special, you must look special. With the assumed license of a "modern" fable teller, I say that the second point applies to health, and that the whole fable emphasizes a significant concept of health, this concept is one that your subconscious has a great deal to do with!

Recalling the storekeeper in the story, I am sure that you can imagine the assortment of pennies he had spread out to count. This assortment could be likened to a group of people picked at random. Among the pennies you would see coins with many different appearances, just like the people in the representative group. You would see some pennies that were worn around the edges, while others would be shabby in appearance, as though they were "tired of it all." Still others would look just past the "new" stage . . . and while they wouldn't look too bad, they would be lusterless in comparison with that one shiny penny.

You know, of course, that every one of the coins is worth exactly one cent in spending value, yet the shiny one looks as if it were worth a lot more. You know, too, that it is still just a penny, made of the same metal as all the rest. Yet, strictly from an appearance standpoint, I am sure that your reaction to it would be the same as the people in the fable. You would see something "special" in it, and you would be attracted to it.
Some people look bright and shiny

Now to relate all of this to health. I am sure that you can recall mental pictures of people you know who fit the descriptions of the pennies. I am equally sure that if you could get them to confess, they would tell you that they feel just as they look. If we asked the person who looks like the bright shiny penny how he or she felt, the prompt answer would be, "I feel wonderful!" From my own experience in analyzing the "inner man," I know there is something special about this person, just as with the shiny penny. But, this is where the fable and the person differ. While we said we didn't know why the not-so-new penny was special, we do know why the person is.

Look right and you must be right

There is something "special" in a person who looks like a bright shiny penny. This is the desire to look that way, the self-influenced desire to feel right, look right, and therefore be right! This is the key to the wholesome influence of Health in your life!

First, take care of your body

Of course, health has many facets in your life, and I urge you to be realistic about all of them. I am confident that you follow the rules of good physical health, and that you provide good care and maintenance for your body. I know that you will always do the intelligent things that will keep your body functioning as near normally as possible. And certainly, if there are times when you need professional help to correct some physical condition, you will seek that help and have faith in it.

Adopt good mental health habits

I know that you have proper concern for your mental health. You have demonstrated that through your interest in this book of yours. Your mind is a functional element of your being which can be abused or misused, just as your muscles or your heart. Concentration on positive influences, such as you are doing now, is an important mental health factor, and I know that you will continue to follow this pattern, which is a program of good mental health.

Provide for spiritual good health

And, of course, there is the matter of spiritual health. Spiritual health is a transitory, almost fragile condition. It requires constant "feeding" of a diet based upon faith, understanding, good will, belief in the Supreme Spirit and belief in relationships and conditions that are right for you. We have already covered all of this, so I know that spiritual good health is a positive factor in your life.

Yes, physical, mental and spiritual health are three of the major facets of health in your life. In each case I am sure that you realize the importance of maintaining the adjective "good" in relation with each of them. If this is not among the goals you have set up for yourself, then now is the time to add it to your list. But there is another fact to health, one you cannot afford to overlook. It is subconscious good health! Never heard of it? I think you have, but perhaps under a different label. In fact, I am certain that you have had casual experiences with it, at sometime in your life. Of course, you now know that you should never be casual about anything that has to do with your subconscious; our objective is to make subconscious good health a dynamic health factor in your life. This is the ingredient that will make you look like the shiny penny, with something "special" in its makeup.

Subconscious support of good health

Subconscious good health is really a simple thing to develop, to have, and to hold. It is the key to having the right attitude, the positive attitude, toward physical, mental and spiritual health. It helps put the right values on these factors. It helps add the adjective "good," because it is based on a belief in good health, for yourself.

I have worked with people who have had no negative physical condition yet felt "bad." Actually, they looked as if they lacked good health. On the other hand, I have been associated with people who had serious bodily handicaps, yet they declared they "felt fine" . . . and they looked to be in perfect health. Some people apparently have the desire to "feel bad." They seem to enjoy it! All I can say is "What a life that must not be." On the other hand, some have the desire to feel good and, as a consequence, they look as though they were sitting on top of the world! That is the way for you to enjoy life!

Look shiny, and mean it!

The way to enjoy life is to look like the bright, shiny penny. Perhaps you've heard that "folksy" description of "shiny" people. It goes like this: "You look bright-eyed and bushy-tailed." I picture a lively little squirrel when I hear that phrase, one of those little fellows who always seems to be alert and happy. At least, he looks that way. That's the key to subconscious good health.

You can't look "bright-eyed and bushy-tailed" unless you feel that way. It's pretty hard to maintain a false front for your feelings consistently. Therefore, if you want to look bright and healthy, and if you mean that you want to look that way, you are going to have to back up that appearance with your true feelings!

Obviously, this means simply creating the subconscious desire to look bright and shiny, to look the picture of good health. Here is a case where the proverb about a "picture being more effective than a thousand words" applies. You don't have to be concerned with formulae and rules for good health to create this powerful subconscious influence. All you have to do is create a mental picture of yourself as one who looks bright, shiny and healthy. This is a positive picture that your subconscious will support. Subconscious support of such a picture of you will induce you to act so that it becomes a real life picture.

You look just fine!

Subconscious good health means that you see yourself as shiny and attractive as the penny in the fable. It means that you are letting the power of your subconscious influence you to actually look that way to others. This influence will cause that effect, because it will induce you to act according to concepts of good physical, mental and spiritual health. It is the ideal way for you to subconsciously picture yourself, so that is the way you will be. That's for you, isn't it?

In Sum

Subconscious good health is dependent on a positive desire for good physical, mental and spiritual health.

Create the subconscious desire to look the picture of good health.
 
Result Getting Projects

1. Examine all of your conscious health habits. Analyze the "cause and effect" action in relation to your physical, mental and spiritual habits in terms of their "healthiness" or "unhealthiness." Determine where, if at all, you are disregarding any sensible, logical concept of good health practice in any of the three areas. Then make a pact with yourself to correct these conditions by changing from negative to positive habits of health. Add the action required of this pact to the program of goals you are working on. This will remove any barrier that may exist today to the presence of consistently good health in your life.

Accept this project with an open mind, because there is no other way to relate the ideal of good health to your life. This is also an example of the highest order of control by self-influence.

2. Take a few moments tonight at bedtime to paint a mental picture of yourself as the bright, shiny, healthy person. See yourself being recognized by others as some one cheerful, competent, genial, willing, eager, energetic and the picture of health. Assign this picture to your subconscious mind as the "model" of the kind of a person you want to look like, hereafter. Conduct this kind of a reverie and picture painting for several nights in a row. Then, in a few days begin looking into the eyes of others and you will see that the reflection of you, the person, looks right. And, therefore, it must feel right. You can see the same reflection in your own mirror!

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