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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
after another whether they are real or imaginary. Imagination, indeed, has a legitimate place in a fable. The tellers of ghost stories have their fun, but the listeners have a hard time later; they cannot sleep because of fear. All night they turn in their beds this way and that. They see ghosts and spectres on all sides. Their bodies tremble with fear. Whether the story was real or imaginary, the scenes thereof are recreated in the mind of the listener, making him restless.
(4) Stimulation of the Atoms of Fear.
This fourth source of fear is very important. No immediate provocative situation may exist, nor any thought of fear, nor any discussion thereof, nor may there be any fear in the mind and yet as soon as the atoms of fear become active, a grave misgiving takes hold of one. This apprehension is not due to any outside factors; it owes its origin mainly to inner disquiet. In the absence of any outside causes, it is also known as a causeless fear. It is produced by the activity of the atoms of fear accumulated inside. A situation of fear develops, apparently without any cause. Fear pervades the whole atmosphere without any reason.
We are well acquainted with the doctrine of circumstances. We know of the factors and circumstances influencing our conduct from the outside. However, we are not so well acquainted with the inner environment.
This aspect has certainly been considered by the psychologists. The objects of knowledge sometimes occupy our conscious mind, and at other times they occupy our sub-conscious or the unconscious mind. These objects have their movements in three mental spheres. Some thought comes to the conscious mind; after a while attention falters and that thought enters the sub-conscious mind. We know it from our daily experience that hundreds of thoughts come to the conscious mind and are soon forgotten. Where do these go? A little while ago we were discussing one thing. After two minutes, the subject is changed, and the mind is now concentrated on another object. Was the previous topic exhausted? Oh no, it was only relegated to the sub-conscious mind at a greater depth. The objects of the sub-conscious and the unconscious mind keep changing all the time. The cycle goes on. The thought occupying the sub-conscious mind moves to the conscious mind, and that possessed by the conscious mind goes back into the sub-conscious. The cycle never stops. That is why sometimes a particular memory fills a man with fear; at other times with anger or love.
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