out your
part well, and exhibiting the desired qualities. Do not be ashamed to
indulge in these day-dreams, for they are the prophecies of the things to
follow, and you are but rehearsing your part before the day of the
performance. Practice makes perfect, and if you accustom yourself to
acting in a certain way in imagination, you will find it much easier to
play your part when the real performance occurs. This may seem childish
to many of you, but if you have an actor among your acquaintances,
consult him about it, and you will find that he will heartily recommend
it. He will tell you what practice does for one in this direction, and
how repeated practice and rehearsals may fix a character so firmly in a
man's mind that he may find it difficult to divest himself of it after a
time. Choose well the part you wish to play--the character you wish to be
yours--and then after fixing it well in your mind, practice, practice,
practice. Keep your ideal constantly before you, and endeavor to grow
into it. And you will succeed, if you exercise patience and perseverance.

But, more than this. Do not confine your practice to mere private
rehearsal. You need some "dress rehearsals" as well--rehearsals in
public. Therefore, after you get well started in your work, manage to
exercise your growing character-habits in your everyday life. Pick out
the little cases first and "try it on them."

You will find that you will be able to overcome conditions that formerly
bothered you much. You will become conscious of a growing strength and
power coming from within, and you will recognize that you are indeed a
changed person. Let your thought express itself in action, whenever you
get a good chance. But do not try to force chances just to try your
strength. Do not, for instance, try to force people to ask for favors
that you may say "No!" You will find plenty of genuine tests without
forcing any. Accustom yourself to looking people in the eye, and feeling
the power that is back of you, and within you. You will soon be able to
see through their personality, and realize that it is just one portion of
the One Life gazing at another portion, and that therefore there is
nothing to be afraid of. A realization of your Real Self will enable you
to maintain your poise under trying circumstances, if you will but throw
aside your false idea about your personality. Forget yourself--your
little personal self--for a while, and fix your mind on the Universal