Text of the meditation
Do not look outside yourself or behind you for the light and blessedness of Truth, but look within. We advance by a series of efforts. We gather strength, whether mental or physical, by a succession of strivings in given directions. Exertion, often repeated, leads to power.
It is by obeying this law that the athlete trains to accomplish wonderful feats of speed or endurance. When the exertion is along intellectual lines, it leads to unusual talent, or genius; and when in spiritual channels, it leads to wisdom, or transcendent greatness.
We should not mourn when circumstances are driving us to greater efforts and more protracted exertion. Events are evil only to the mind that makes them so. They are good to the one who accepts their discipline as salutary. You will find Truth within the narrow sphere of your duty, even in the humble and hidden sacrifices of your own heart.
James Allen (1864–1912), Book of Meditations for Every Day in the Year (1913) – public-domain text, gently modernised.
The original 1913 text is in the public domain.
