esire that prompts
him, it must nevertheless grow. Instead of rising at a certain hour
because the will decrees it he may rise only because he knows his
livelihood depends upon it. But he is learning the same lesson--the
overcoming of the inertia of the physical body--albeit it is
compulsory instead of voluntary. But all this is unconscious
evolution. It is the long, slow, painful process. It is the only way
possible for those who are not wise enough to co-operate with nature
in her evolutionary work and thus rise above the necessity of
compulsion.

How, then, may we develop the will when it is so weak that we are
still the slaves of nature instead of the masters of destiny? Will
power, like any other faculty, may be cultivated and made strong. To
do this one may plan in advance what he will do under certain
circumstances and then carry out the program without evasion or
hesitation when the time arrives. His forethought will enable him to
do this if he does not undertake things too difficult at first. Let
him resolve to do at a certain hour some small thing which, in the
ordinary course of his duties, he sees is necessary but unpleasant;
and then firmly resolve in advance that exactly at the appointed time
he will do it. Thus fortified before the trial comes he will probably
go successfully through with it. After once deciding upon the time
there should be no postponement and not an instant's delay when the
moment arrives.

One of the things we have to learn is to overcome the inertia of the
physical body and many people are not really awake on the physical
plane because they have not done so. To a certain extent they are
"dead" within the physical body for it is a condition much nearer
death than that supposed death of one who no longer has the physical
body. The inert mass of physical matter in which such people are
functioning leaves them only half alive until they have aroused
themselves from its domination. They remind one of the lines:

"Life is a mystery, death is a doubt,
And some folks are dead
While they're walking about!"

This inertia of the physical body that so often renders people nearly
useless is very largely a matter of habit and can be overcome to a
surprising degree by simply using a little will-power. Everybody is
familiar with the fact that it is sometimes much easier to think and
act than at other times. But perhaps it is not so well known that the
dull periods can invariab