‘DARE TO BE YOURSELF’

Evening Star, Issue 22261, 12 February 1936, Page 9

‘DARE TO BE YOURSELF’

EFFICIENCY IN THE MAKING AID OF PSYCHOLOGY It is only 100 true that the “ average person,” of whom Mr W. Shakespeare Binks so often speaks in the course of his lectures on psychology, is not a brave person when if comes to flying in the face of convention, to risking the criticism and ridicule of the less worthy of his fellows, to taking the risk of springing from his own particular rut and marching off bearing the ‘ Excelsior ’ banner, to doing anything very “ different.” This, doubtless, is what keeps him in the ranks of the average persons. To these people, therefore, the inspiring lectures which Mr Binks has been delivering from the platform of the Town Hall Council Chamber should come as a stimulant, as messages of hope, as an incentive to really and truly rise this time above those “ average ” circumstances and dare to bo themselves. To act thus would indeed be to be transported to a new world, to become one of the efficient, as well as one of the happy warriors in the battle of life.

Mr Binks took as the subject of yesterday afternoon’s lecture, ‘ Increasing Your Personal Efficiency,’ and in the evening his subject was ' Dare to be Yourself.’ In spite of the fact that the weather was not particularly promising just prior to each session, and that the threatened rain descended heavily while the lectures were in progress, the attendances were very large, many disappointed people being turned away in the evening. To be efficient, said Mr Binks, was to conquer fate, for efficiency _ was -the science of self-management; it was the difference between success and failure; health and disease, _ hope and despair, growth and stagnation, life and death. Yet hoW little this Was realised! What a waste there was in unused perceptions, unused mental powers, unused emotions, and unused faculties. , To see what should bo done and to do it irrespective of what others might say was the act of the man of courage, initiative, originality. This man acted upon his convictions or by inspiration, and even if he made a mistake he would be the gainer, for he had, by taking such a step, opened a new track in his mind, .the track of perception. The average person’s brain, said the lecturer, was composed of some 1,100 million cells, and never more than onetenth of this capacity was ever used. What scope there was, therefore, for those who rose above the average by taking the troubje to learn the laws of Nature, Jaws which would enable them to develop wonderful possibilities and turn critics into admirers. As to the emotions, Mr Binks considered it wrong to repress them. A man was not supposed to show deep feeling, let alone cry, he said, and this convention was one of many Which affected his physical welfare. However, a woman would do well, whenever her emotions were aroused, to “ have a good cry.” In regard to unused faculties, an analysis of character by a competent psychologist would remedy this. The fascinating subject of the ductless glands was also touched upon by the lecturer, who pointed out the enormously important part these centres played on our lives. • Yet how few knew anything about them; how many depleted them through ''ignorance, thus causing fatigue, malnutrition, mental lassitude, and many other evils.

In exhorting his hearers, at the evening session, to “ dare to be themselves, ’ Mr Binks quoted from the lives of a number of men of world-wide renown, such as Galileo, Emerson, George Stephenson, and Columbus, men who had brought new ideas into the lives of humanity, had been subjected to storms of _abuse,_ ridicule, suffered pain and even punishment for their temerity in “ doing something different. ” These men, however, had had the brain capacity and the courage and knowledge necessary to exploit it. This knowledge was now accessible to all, and with the development of the courage, which was one of the things which the science of the mind brought about, success in any chosen field was assured.

But there was an arch-enemy with which mankind had to cope, said the lecturer. This was not poverty, or disease, or drink, or war; it was fear, This enemy, however, could also be banished once the laws of Nature were understood. The person ignorant of these laws remained in the rut, aped other people instead of finding selfexpression; let . other people do his thinking followed the crowd, and was to all intents and purposes an automaton, because he feared to do otherwise. On the other hand, the enlightened person, the one whose perception had been aroused, who had the earnestness and enthusiasm necessary to make the attempt at self-advance-ment, possessed the courage to laugh at those who laughed at him; to take little notice of criticism unless there was truth in it; to bring harmony into his social, business, and domestic life, and to feel that he was the centre of the universe, as indeed he was. “Why be a chameleon?” asked the lecturer. “ Why take on the colour of your surroundings just in order to be like everyone else? Remember that those whom you fear arc very likely fearing you, and those who sneer at you outwardly, honour you, or at any rate envy you, in their hearts.” There was a strong vibration in affirmations continually repeated. The declaration: “ I can and I will ” made earnestly and freqently set up vibrations which very soon brought a response from the sub-conscious mind, and _ when that happened lots of other desirable things happened. To be one’s self, therefore, no matter what that self might be, was something to be aimed at. Once knowledge of self had been obtained there was no need to fear anything or anybody in the world; and once fear had been abolished from our lives the world was ours. Mr Binks will deliver his final lectures to-day, the subject in the afternoon being ‘ Steering Toward a Definite Goal —or Drifting? ' and in the evening ‘ Changing Your Life.’