ythm itself, such as is
heard in the rolling of the sea, or the rushing of a river.

The re-adjustment from abnormal to normal conditions of sleeping may be
made surely if we set about it with a will, for we have all nature on
our side. Silence is orderly for the night's rest, and rhythm only
emphasizes and enhances the silence, when it is the rhythm of nature.

The habit of resistance cannot be changed in a single day--it must take
time; but if the meaning, the help, and the normal power of
non-resistance is clearly understood, and the effort to gain it is
persistent, not only the power to sleep, but a new sense of freedom may
be acquired which is quite beyond the conception of those who are in
the daily habit of resistance.

When we lie down at night and become conscious that our arms and our
legs and our whole bodies are resting heavily upon the bed, we are
letting go all the resistance which has been left stored in our muscles
from the activities of the day.

A cat, when she lies down, lets go all resistance at once, because she
moves with the least possible effort; but there are very few men who do
that, and so men go to their rest with more or less resistance stored
in their bodies, and they must go through a conscious process of
dropping it before they can settle to sleep as a normal child does,
without having to think about how it is done. The conscious process,
however, brings a quiet, conscious joy in the rest, which opens the
mind to soothing influences, and brings a more profound refreshment
than is given even to the child--and with the refreshment new power for
work.

One word more about outside disturbances before we turn to those
interior ones which are by far the most common preventatives of
refreshing sleep. The reader will say: "How can I be willing that the
noise should go on when I am not willing?" The answer is, "If you can
see clearly that if you were willing, the noises would not interfere
with your sleep, then you can find the ability within you to make
yourself willing."

It is wonderful to realize the power we gain by compelling and
controlling our desires or aversions through the intelligent use of the
will, and it is easier to compel ourselves to do right against
temptation than to force ourselves to do wrong against a true
conviction. Indeed it is most difficult, if not impossible, to force
ourselves to do wrong against a strong sense of right. Behind an our
desires, aversions, and i