6

How to Lead a Successful Life and Gain Promotion

EVERY MAN’S LIFE from beginning to end is a plan of God. The famous German philosopher, poet, and dramatist Johann Goethe said, “Life is a quarry, out of which we are to mold and chisel and complete a character.” The Bible says, I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly (John 10:10).

You are here to lead a full, happy, and glorious life. You are here to release your hidden talents to the world, to find your true place in life, and to express yourself at your highest level. When you find your true place in life, you will automatically become a tremendous success. You will be perfectly happy, and health, wealth, and all the blessings of life will follow.

Your success or failure in the art of living a glorious and wonderful life depends on the nature of your habitual thinking and on your true desire to transform and to recast substantially those patterns of thought. Get a new perspective, a new approach, and a new vision about life, God, yourself, and the universe.

Remember, there is a right way and a wrong way to think, speak, act, sing, drive a car, to imagine and feel, and to conduct a business or a profession. Learn how in Cosmic Wisdom to think right, feel right, act right, be right, do right, and pray right, and all your ways will be ways of pleasantness and all your paths will be lanes to happiness and peace.

HOW A WOMAN RECEIVED SPECIFIC GUIDANCE

The following is a letter from Mrs. Vera Radcliffe, a distinguished organist, an artist who has tremendous faith in the Cosmic Power:

Dear Dr. Murphy: Three years ago I was travelling in Kashmir, India. I became acquainted with a prominent jeweler in Srinigar, recommended by mutual friends. Since I could buy there much below the American market, I bought $800 worth of their specialties, superior to gems from any other country, such as star rubies, topaz, and sapphires. I checked the credit of said jeweler, and getting fine reports, I left a check for the order and as I was on my way around the world by air travel, had the merchandise sent to my home.

After returning home, the package did not arrive at the appointed time. Over the next year there were no answers from Kashmir to my eight polite but firm, insistent letters. Since I had exhausted my conscious directions of action, I started praying for Divine guidance and knowing that there would be a complete filling of the order.

I have a friend of whom I’m very fond but whom I seldom see or talk with, since we live about fifty miles apart and our busy schedules do not fit timewise. Gene telephoned and said we hadn’t chatted leisurely for over two years and would I come to lunch, so we met at a lovely restaurant centrally located for us both. After “catching up” on our activities, she asked how I liked India. I replied that I had had a wonderful time but with one flaw—that of the above transaction. She disclosed she was a close friend of the Vice President of India. He had stayed at her home as an exchange student many years ago. This all came as a complete surprise to me.

Gene volunteered to write for help in my behalf. Within five weeks all the merchandise was delivered complete—with apologies! Please accept my sincere thanks for helping me with this problem. Kind regards, Vera Radcliffe, Studio City, California.

A HIDDEN TALENT REVEALED

A young woman came to see me some months ago and said, “I’m a misfit. No one wants me. I’m a square peg in a round hole.” I explained to her that each person is unique and that no two people are alike, any more than are two crystals of snow, or two leaves of a tree. God never repeats Himself; an infinite differentiation is the law of life, and there is no such thing as an unneeded person. I quoted Emerson for her, where he said, “I am an organ of God and God hath need of me where I am, otherwise I would not be here.”

She asked, “What is it God wishes me to do?”

The answer is simple, and the prayer that she applied to follow God’s will also is simple, direct, and to the point.

God reveals to me my hidden talents and whispers into my heart the thing He wants me to do. I know that God is Infinite Intelligence and is seeking expression through me. I am a focal point of Infinite Life in the same way that an electric bulb is a focal point for the manifestation of electricity. God flows through me as harmony, health, peace, joy, growth, and expansion along all lines. I recognize the lead which comes into my conscious, reasoning mind, and I give thanks for the answer now.

After a few days a deep urge came to her to take a certain business course which she is now ardently pursuing, and because of her great sincerity she will undoubtedly be an outstanding success.

LIVING THE TRIUMPHANT LIFE NOW

In February of 1966, I gave a series of lectures at the Unity Center in New Orleans, Louisiana. A newspaper man there told me that one of his assignments at one time had been to ask a number of people the following question: “What have you to live for?” He said that some of the answers took his breath away, and that others made his hair stand on end.

Many men said in substance, “I’m here to eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die.” A large percentage of the people interviewed said that they were waiting to retire at 65, and then they had plans to travel to different parts of the world. Some said that they were waiting to die, that they were good Christians and would go to Heaven and there be forever with God.

About 10 per cent of those interviewed said that they didn’t know why they were here or where they were going, and that when they died it would be the end—they would become just clods of earth, and there was no future life. About five per cent were waiting for their children to grow up and get married; then they would travel and do the things they had always wanted to do. A small percentage were waiting for the old folks to die, and then they would decide what to do.

All these people were waiting for something to happen, instead of realizing that “God is the Eternal NOW.”

ACCEPT HEALTH, WEALTH, AND HAPPINESS NOW

NOW is the time. Countless people are continuously looking forward to the future for better times. They are constantly saying that some day they will be happy, prosperous, and successful.

The other day in a restaurant, I heard a man say to his companion that some time he would hit the jackpot and make his mark in the world. The other replied, “I hope some day I will get a healing for my arthritis.” They were postponing their good and looking to the future for its fulfillment.

The truth is that all the powers of the Cosmic Mind are within. Peace is now; you can claim that God’s river of peace flows through you. Healing is now; feel and know that the Infinite Healing Presence which made you is now transforming, healing, and restoring every atom of your being. Claim that the Creative Intelligence which made you knows how to heal you, and that Divine Order governs your mind and body.

Wealth is available now—it is a thought-image in your mind. If you claim it boldly now, a new creative idea will come to you worth perhaps a fortune. Affirm: God’s wealth is now circulating in my life. I am engraving this idea in my subconscious mind, and I know that whatever I impress on my subconscious mind will come to pass. Actually, the response of your subconscious is compulsive, and you will be compelled to express wealth. Why wait for it?

Strength is now. Call on the Infinite Power of God within you, and this power will respond, energizing, vitalizing, and renewing your whole being.

Love is now. Know and believe that God’s love envelops and saturates your mind and body, and that this Divine love will be filtered through and made manifest in all phases of your life.

Guidance is now. Infinite Intelligence within you knows the answer, and It responds to the nature of your request.

Claim your good NOW. You do not create anything; all you do is to give form and expression to that which always was, now is, and ever shall be. Moses could have used a loud speaker, a radio, or a television. The idea or principle by which these are made always existed in Infinite Mind. Plato referred to the “archetypes of Divine Mind,” which simply means that there is an idea or a pattern in Divine Mind behind every created thing in the universe.

HOW TO PLAN A GLORIOUS FUTURE FOR YOURSELF

Did you ever stop to think that if you are planning something in the future, you are planning it now? If you are fearful of something in the future, you are fearing it now. If you are thinking of the past, you are thinking of it now. The only thing you have to change is your present thought. You are aware of your present thought, and all that you can realize is the outer manifestation of your habitual thinking at the present moment.

The past and the future are two thieves. If you are indulging in remorse and self-criticism over the past mistakes and hurts, the mental agony you experience is the pain of your present thought.

If you are worried about the future, you are robbing and stealing from yourself joy, health, and happiness. Count your blessings now and get rid of the two thieves.

To think of a happy and joyful episode in the past is a present joy. Remember, the results of past events—good or bad—are but the representatives of your present thinking. Direct your present thought into the right channels. Enthrone in your mind peace, harmony, joy, love, prosperity, and goodwill. Dwell consciously and frequently on these concepts and claim them—and forget all other things.

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things (Philippians 4:8).

Take this spiritual medicine frequently and you will experience a glorious future.

HOW A MAID GOT A WONDERFUL CAR BY WRITING A LETTER TO HERSELF

A maid was putting aside $3.00 a week out of her meager wages in order to buy a car. Her sister gave her a copy of one of my books, The Power of Your Subconscious Mind,13 and she read it avidly. She later told my secretary, Mrs. Jean Wright, that she sat down one night and wrote a letter to herself in order to impress her subconscious mind with the idea of a car. The gist of her letter was that she gave thanks to God for the lovely car that she now had and that she accepted it gladly and rejoiced that it was fully paid for and functioning perfectly. She placed the letter in a desk drawer and marked the envelope, “My answered prayer. Thank you, Father.”

The sequel is interesting. On the following Sunday she went to her church, and, during a conversation with one of the ushers, she commented on his new and beautiful Cadillac. He said, “I want to sell one of my cars. Do you know anyone who wants a good car?” She replied, “I do, but I have only $45.00 saved.” The usher said, “That will be all right; I have no storage space for it. Take the car for $45.00”—which she did. Her car has been functioning perfectly for over two years. Before, she had figured it would take her about three years to accumulate funds for a down payment on a car. But she had claimed the car NOW.

A car is a Divine idea in your mind, and if all the motors in the world were destroyed by some holocaust, an engineer could design another and we would have millions of motors in a few months. The idea and the principle of an automobile are in Infinite Mind, which is within you.

HOW AN EIGHT-YEAR-OLD BOY RECEIVED A GIFT HE WANTED

Shakespeare said, “All things be ready if the mind be so.” The Bible says, Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest (John 4:35).

These two quotations apply only to your mental and spiritual world. As previously indicated, all things are present in Infinite Mind as ideas, mental patterns, and principles.

A boy about eight years of age was brought to see me by his mother. He had been disobedient, obstinate, and rebellious. It seemed that all his playmates had dogs, most of which were Irish terriers, and he was constantly crying for a dog. He deeply resented his mother and father for their unwillingness to grant him a pet dog. His mother had told him that dogs were dirty animals and she would not have one in the house, but that when he grew up and was eighteen he could have one and take care of it himself.

The little boy could not understand why he had to wait ten years for a dog. At my request, the mother left him alone with me for half an hour or so, and he poured out all his troubles. I told him to picture the dog he wanted and in his imagination to fondle it and stroke it every night prior to sleep, just to feel that there was a dog right there in the room with him, and that he had his arms around the dog. I suggested that he do this every night.

The boy’s birthday occurred a few weeks later, and his grandfather visited him, presenting him with a $3,000 check to be deposited for his education later on—and in addition he brought him a puppy, an Irish terrier! The grandfather was received with éclat by the whole family, and all opposition to the dog melted in the burst of approval of the two gifts.

This little boy did not have to wait ten years for a dog after all. He had collapsed time by the intensity of his thought when he entered into the joy of having a dog now. The Book of Proverbs says, Hope deferred maketh the heart sick . . . (Proverbs 13:12). Your harvest is ready now in your mind. Ready your mind to receive your good now without further postponement.

HOW COSMIC LOVE RESPONDED TO A WIDOW

I recently interviewed a widow who said that she had been praying three years for a husband, but that she had never met the right man. In talking to her I discovered she had been erecting obstacles and barriers in her own mind, because her silent thought was, “I would like to marry when I retire; then I could travel and be free to enjoy life with my husband.” She had been projecting marriage into the future and was defeating her own purpose.

I explained to her how to collapse time. I suggested that she feel the ring on her finger at night prior to sleep, sensing the tangibility and naturalness of it; moreover, it would mean to her psychologically that the marriage to the ideal man had already taken place and that she should rejoice in the reality of the marriage now.

She did this every night for a week, entering into the feeling and delight that would be hers if she were already married. At the end of that time her son’s Boy Scout master, whom she had met socially, proposed to her, and I had the privilege of performing the marriage ceremony.

This proves that you can realize in your mind the desire of your heart without procrastination. This woman’s mental picture and the feel of the ring were conveyed to her subconscious mind, and the Infinite Intelligence resident in her subconscious responded and brought both of them together. She called her subconscious her “invisible matrimonial agent”—and rightly so!

HOW A PROMOTION AND AN ENORMOUS INCREASE IN SALARY WERE OBTAINED

An engineer once told me that he was trying hard for promotion, but that since others in the organization had priority over him in years of service, he supposed he would have to wait perhaps for several years. This engineer also had a pilot’s license and flew planes for research purposes from Los Angeles to New York and other cities. I asked him how long the flight to New York would take. “Oh,” he said, “by jet, less than five hours,” i.e., he collapsed over 3,000 miles of space into five hours or less. The old horse and wagon might have done it in eighteen months.

Our mathematicians and scientists are pointing out that time and space are one and correlated, and that when we collapse time we collapse space. I told him frankly that he promoted himself, but first he would have to remove the barricade and stumbling blocks which were there in his own mind, preclusions such as “Others are ahead of me,” “I’ll have to wait,” etc.

For about five minutes morning and evening he quieted his mind and imagined his wife saying to him, “Darling, I’m delighted about your promotion and your increase in salary. It’s wonderful!” He felt her embrace and sensed the reality and naturalness of her voice, her gestures, and her expressed joy.

In a few weeks’ time, he realized his cherished goal. At this writing, he is working on his ideal project, doing top secret work, with an increase in prestige and an enormous increase in salary.

HOW A NEW LEASE ON LIFE WAS SECURED

Recently a man phoned me from Texas and elaborated on his many troubles, and he ended up by blaming God for all his reverses. I explained to him, however, that the universe is one of law and order, and that God among other things is Principle or Law, and if man breaks a law, he will suffer accordingly. It is not a question of punishment by an angry God. On the contrary, it is an impersonal matter of cause and effect. If a man misuses the law of mind, the reaction will be negative, but if he uses the law correctly, it will help him and heal him and restore his soul. I instructed him over the phone on how to become a free-flowing channel for Divine Life and gave him the following prayer to use frequently:

I am a clear, open channel of the Divine, and Infinite Life flows unobstructively through me as health, peace, prosperity, and right action. I am constantly releasing new, creative ideas and am setting free the imprisoned splendor within.

This man has received a new lease on life and has told me that he now is just beginning to live. He added ruefully, “I stopped blocking my good. I have taken my foot off the hose, in a manner of speaking, and the waters of Life are flowing abundantly into my life.”

He has learned to relax and let go, and he has ceased pressing the weight of his negative mentality upon the infinite pipeline of life. Consequently he immediately began to receive the blessings of life.

HOW TO EXPERIENCE HAPPINESS AND SUCCESS IN YOUR LIFE RIGHT NOW

There is only one Cosmic Power animating the entire universe. God is Life and that is your life now, but this Life-Principle may be directed constructively or destructively, because you have the ability to choose and to decide.

When you tune in with the Cosmic Power and let It flow through you harmoniously, peacefully, and joyously, and when you think right, feel right, and act right, your life will be one of unalloyed happiness and success along all lines—right here and now.

You are using the Life-Principle destructively whenever you indulge in fear, regret, remorse, or in any form of negative thinking. All resentment, bitterness, hostility, spiritual pride, self-will, criticism, and condemnation of others are especially disastrous methods of misapplying the Life-Principle.

When we cohabit mentally with thoughts of fear, anger, hate, or jealously, our life force gets snarled up in our subconscious mind, in the same way as if you put your foot on the garden hose, thereby blocking the flow of water. In like manner, the negative emotions which are dammed up in our subconscious come forth as all manner of diseases, both mental and physical.

THE JOY OF OVERCOMING ALL YOUR PROBLEMS WITH COSMIC SCIENCE

You are here to reproduce all the qualities, attributes, potencies, and aspects of God. Inasmuch as this is the true reason for your existence, it behooves you to have a wholesome dissatisfaction with anything less than complete harmony, health, and peace of mind.

An inquietude or restlessness regarding frustration, lack, and limitation should become a great incentive to you, enabling you to overcome all difficulties through the Cosmic Power within you. Your joy is in overcoming. Problems, difficulties, and challenges of life enable you to sharpen your mental and spiritual tools and enable you to tap your hidden power and to release the treasures of the infinite storehouse of riches within.

Whatever you desire is already available as a thought in your mind. Claim what you want, and feel its reality. Infinite Mind is spaceless and timeless. Cease limiting yourself. Remove all stumbling blocks which are in your mind and enter now into the joy of the answered prayer.

 . . . Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest (John 4:35). The harvest is the fruit of Cosmic goodness.

SUMMARY

PROFITABLE THOUGHTS

1. You are here to lead a full, happy, and glorious life.
2. There is a right and a wrong way to think, speak, act, sing, drive a car, to imagine and feel, and to conduct a business or a profession. You must know the difference.
3. Call upon the Supreme Intelligence within you, and It will whisper into your heart the thing God wants you to know and to do.
4. Health is now. Wealth is now. Power is now. Love is now. Guidance is now. God is the Eternal now.
5. If you are planning something in the future, you are planning it now. If you are thinking of the past, you are thinking of it now.
6. You can write a letter to yourself, thereby impressing your subconscious mind with your idea or desire. Mark your letter “My Answered Prayer.” It works!
7. All things be ready if the mind be so.
8. Your subconscious is the “invisible matrimonial agent.” If a woman will feel the imaginary ring on her finger prior to sleep, sensing the tangibility and the naturalness of it, her subconscious will respond with the tangible answer.
9. Every man promotes himself. Imagine that a loved one is congratulating you on your marvelous promotion. Keep it up! Perseverance with this picture pays fabulous dividends.
10. The universe is one of law and order, and if a man misuses the laws of mind he will suffer accordingly.
11. Negative emotions snarled up in the subconscious mind come forth as all manner of disease and malfunction.