ely physical.

There are times when temperamental failings, or the gravity of our
affliction, places our imagination beyond our ordinary control. The
suggestion operates in spite of us; we do not seem to possess the power
to rid our minds of the adverse thought. Under these conditions we
should never struggle to throw off the obsessing idea by force. Our
exertions only bring into play the law of reversed effort, and we
flounder deeper into the slough. Coue's technique, however, which will
be outlined in succeeding chapters, will give us the means of mastering
ourselves, even under the most trying conditions.

Of all the destructive suggestions we must learn to shun, none is more
dangerous than fear. In fearing something the mind is not only
dwelling on a negative idea, but it is establishing the closest
personal connection between the idea and ourselves. Moreover, the idea
is surrounded by an aura of emotion, which considerably intensifies its
effect. Fear combines every element necessary to give to an
autosuggestion its maximum power. But happily fear, too, is
susceptible to the controlling power of autosuggestion. It is one of
the first things which a person cognisant of the means to be applied
should seek to eradicate from his mind.

For our own sakes, too, we should avoid dwelling on the faults and
frailties of our neighbours. If ideas of selfishness, greed, vanity,
are continually before our minds there is great danger that we shall
subconsciously accept them, and so realise them in our own character.
The petty gossip and backbiting, so common in a small town, produce the
very faults they seem to condemn. But by allowing our minds to rest
upon the virtues of our neighbours, we reproduce the same virtues in
ourselves.

But if we should avoid negative ideas for our own sakes, much more
should we do so for the sake of other people. Gloomy and despondent
men and women are centres of mental contagion, damaging all with whom
they come in contact. Sometimes such people seem involuntarily to
exert themselves to quench the cheerfulness of brighter natures, as if
their Unconscious strove to reduce all others to its own low level.
But even healthy, well-intentioned people scatter evil suggestions
broadcast, without the least suspicion of the harm they do. Every time
we remark to an acquaintance that he is looking ill, we actually damage
his health; the effect may be extremely slight, but by repetition it
gr