Text of the meditation
Energy to be productive must not only be directed toward good ends; it must be carefully controlled and conserved. The advice of one of the Great Teachers to his disciples, "Keep wide awake," tersely expresses the necessity for tireless energy if one's purpose is to be accomplished, and is equally good advice to the salesperson and the saint. "Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty," and liberty is the reaching of one's fixed ends.
It was the same Teacher who said, "If anything is to be done, let a person do it at once; let them attack it vigorously!" The wisdom of this advice is seen when it is remembered that action is creative, that increase and development follow upon legitimate use. To get more energy, we must use to the full what we already possess.
Only to one who puts their hand vigorously to some task do power and freedom come. Noise and hurry are so much energy running to waste.
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.
