talking hard times. At the end of the month, after this woman began to deliberately think prosperously, she was the only one in the store who received a commission check for having oversold her quota for the month. The other employees had decreed hard times and had gotten such results for themselves.
The owner of an electrical business had an outstanding account of $750 owing his company. As he began to think of those owing him as prosperous, the account was quietly paid. A jeweler had an indebtedness owing him which he tried every means he knew to collect, including the use of unkind letters, all to no avail. When he, too, decided to think in prosperous terms about himself and the one owing him, to his amazement the creditor quickly paid up. One family that desired freedom from indebtedness suddenly inherited a nice sum of money. A government employee received a raise in pay that had been pending in Congress for several years. A telephone company employee also received a general raise that had been promised months earlier. A construction engineer received a new assignment to a 15.5 million dollar construction job, after having served on a million and a half dollar construction job. One couple even received an all-expense trip abroad!
These are but a few examples of the power of prosperous thinking.
Prosperity Brings “New Look” and New Health
But more than financial returns appeared. As I weekly lectured on prosperous thinking, I began to realize that the people in attendance were beginning to blossom forth with a “new look”–a look of inner peace, poise, happiness, security and stability not previously apparent. The failure look of depression and discouragement was replaced with the look of success, self-confidence and inner happiness. The look of defeat was replaced with a look of dominion, authority, victory. It was wonderful to behold!
New mental and physical health appeared for a number of people, too. One businessman had been told most of his life that he had a serious heart condition that would have to be pampered constantly. As he began to apply the power of prosperous thinking in every phase of his world, he relaxed more and more in mind and body. Tension, both conscious and unconscious, gradually eased. After a time his doctor stated that his earlier heart trouble had vanished. Now, several years later, he remains healthier and happier than ever before.
Several people with nervous conditions found new health, serenity and peace of mind. A housewife in this group had for years visited a series of doctors who could find nothing organically wrong with her. As she began deliberately to practice prosperous thinking, she began to think more lovingly of others–including her husband! Her new attitude of appreciation gave him a feeling of approval he had not had from his wife in many a year. This, in turn, added to his self-confidence and was reflected as new success in his work. His new job success brought a happiness and satisfaction to their marriage that had long been missing. This woman’s health improved so much that she soon appeared years younger, and her aches and pains faded as happiness came into the various departments of her life.
Your Whole Outlook Changes
A lonely, unhappy businesswoman who had often threatened suicide became so intensely interested in the laws of prosperity that she found interests outside herself. This led to a happier, more balanced life. The suicide talk stopped. A housewife and also a businessman, whose secret drinking had become serious problems, found new hope in their practice of prosperous thinking. They began to realize that their drinking problems could be overcome. As they gained this victorious expectation, they were able to begin resolving and dissolving inner hostilities and conflicts. Their drinking gradually diminished. Several marriages were saved, after one or another of the marriage partners began to invoke these laws of prosperity. One person’s divorced partner returned and they were remarried. Several lonely, unmarried people were happily married, one after having been widowed for 20 years.
A businessman who had always detested his work found, as he began using these ideas, that he got a whole new perspective on his job, and in due time he no longer disliked it.
The Salesman Was Right
That salesman was right. There is gold dust in the air–for you, for me, for everyone. The economists know this because they declare that we have now entered one of the richest eras the world has ever known, which they are describing as “The Golden Sixties”. The scientists know that there is gold dust in the air because they declare this universe to be composed of nothing but radiant substance or ether, to which man has unlimited access. Psychologists and metaphysicians know about the gold dust. They declare that man forms his world from the rich, unlimited substance within him and around him through his thoughts, emotions, words and actions.
And so let us proceed in confidence, knowing that there is gold dust in the air– and that there is gold dust everywhere. As you begin reading this book, no matter what the conditions of your life may now be, do so in this attitude of mind: There is gold dust in the air–for me. Through definite, deliberate prosperous thinking, I now begin assimilating that gold dust. And even now I am beginning to experience gold dust results!
Now proceed quickly to the following pages where you will learn the exciting gold dust secrets of countless others.
Catherine Ponder
Chapter One
The Shocking Truth about Prosperity
The shocking truth about prosperity is that it is shockingly right instead of shockingly wrong for you to be prosperous! Russell H. Conwell emphasized this in his famous “Acres of Diamonds” lectures:
I say you ought to be rich; you have no right to be poor. To live and not be rich is a misfortune and it is doubly a misfortune because you could have been rich just as well as being poor... We ought to get rich if we can by honorable methods, and these are the only methods that sweep us quickly toward the goal of riches. Please note that the word “rich” means having an abundance of good or living a fuller, more satisfying life. Indeed, you are prosperous to the degree that you are experiencing peace, health, happiness and plenty in your world. There are honorable methods that can carry you quickly toward that goal. It is easier to accomplish than you may now think. That, too, is the shocking truth about prosperity.
Several decades ago a businessman predicted that the religious leaders of the future would be forced to give more attention to helping their followers solve their economic and personal problems of the present; and that they would be less concerned with the dead past or the unborn future. I agree with that businessman and I wish to help you do just that–solve your economic and personal problems of the present. As you do, your dead past and your unborn future will surely be taken care of.
You Should Desire Prosperity
Perhaps one of the greatest shocks I ever received was the one that became apparent when I began lecturing on prosperity. I soon realized that many of the people attending the lectures were still trying to resolve that old conflict of whether they should desire to be prosperous. Of course, they wanted prosperity; every normal person does. But they appeared to secretly wonder whether they should seek it or not, especially from a spiritual standpoint. Most of the business people attending the lectures seemed to feel guilty about wanting to be prosperous, though of course they were working hard every day in their jobs to do so. The question, obviously, was still in their minds: whether poverty was a spiritual virtue or a common vice. That conflict in their thinking was setting up a conflicting result in their affairs, which neutralized their efforts to succeed, no matter how hard they were working.
Soon it became apparent that it would take the expression of some bold, even shocking ideas on the subject to blast out the limited beliefs that had bound these people to mediocre living for years. Realizing this, I spent several lecture
