Poise and Power by Christian D. Larson

Whatever we wish to attain or accomplish, a continuous increase of power is required. Advancement is progressive; to attain much is to attain more, and the higher we rise in the scale the more power we require to go higher still.

The path to the perpetual increase of power is first, to save and constructively use what we already possess, and second to train the mind to penetrate deeper and deeper into the vastness of subconscious power, thus giving the system an ever growing capacity to appropriate, generate and accumulate more. And to accomplish this the attainment of POISE in the real sense becomes absolutely necessary.

When we attain POISE we save all the energy generated in the system; all the loss of power is prevented because it is the nature of POISE to hold in the system all the power that the system may contain.

This fact alone gives POISE a value that cannot be measured, and we shall begin to form some conception of that value when we learn that the average person loses from three-fourths to nine-tenths of the power generated in his system. If he had POISE he would hold in his system all his power, and, in consequence, his personality would become from three to ten times as strong.

The same is true of the mental giants of the world; most of them lose from one-fourth to three-fourths of their energies; what is saved makes them great; then what might they not become if they saved it all?
The human personality may well be termed a living dynamo because the amount of energy generated in the average healthy person is simply enormous. We may therefore predict great things for the race when the art of saving and using all this power is learned.

The importance of the subject, however, is not confined to the worlds of attainment and achievement; the art of saving all the power generated in the human system has exceptional value in every form of activity, physical or metaphysical.

Modern physiological research has demonstrated conclusively that it is practically impossible for any one to become sick so long as the system is full of energy, and the majority of ordinary human ills have been traced to the lack of vital force. But this lack comes from waste, not from any failure of the system to generate the adequate supply.

That sickness could be wholly prevented if this waste was discontinued is therefore evident; there is enough energy generated in the average person to perform several times as much physical or mental labour as any person usually does perform, thus giving every one the power to do all that he wants to do and yet have more than enough remaining to keep the entire personality full to the brim at all times.
These are great facts, and since POISE will prevent all waste and all loss of energy, nothing can be more important than the attainment of POISE.

When we enter the industrial world and witness the numerous failures on every hand, we find more evidence to prove that our subject deserves the very largest measure of attention. The majority of these failures are due to a lack of mental capacity, and a lack of energy is one of the chief causes of mental incapacity.

When the system is full of energy there will be a continuous increase in physical endurance and mental capacity, because a full supply of power develops everything in the sphere of that power. The mind, with all its faculties and talents, will constantly advance in scope, ability and efficiency, and a growing success must necessarily follow.

The energy generated in the human system, when saved and caused to accumulate, will push the individual forward into higher attainments, greater achievements and superior states of existence, even though nothing else be done to promote his progress.

We are all aware of the great fact that nothing can hold down the person that is actually charged with enormous energies, and we are all being charged every hour with such energies, but we do not retain them. We permit the greater part of this power to slip away because we have not acquired POISE.

Power simply must press on to greater things; and it is only the mind that is ever full of power that can enjoy the privilege of continuous advancement. Then add to the possession of power the constructive use of power and we have the secret of greatness.