AT THE MERCY OF OUR ASSOCIATIONS.--Through the law thus operating we are
in a sense at the mercy of our associations, which may be bad as well as
good. We may form certain lines of interest to guide our thought, and
attention may in some degree direct it, but one"s mental make-up is,
after all, largely dependent on the character of his associations. Evil
thoughts, evil memories, evil imaginations--these all come about through
the association of unworthy or impure images along with the good in our
stream of thought. We may try to forget the base deed and banish it
forever from our thinking, but lo! in an unguarded moment the nerve
current shoots into the old path, and the impure thought flashes into
the mind, unsought and unwelcomed. Every young man who thinks he must
indulge in a little sowing of wild oats before he settles down to a
correct life, and so deals in unworthy thoughts and deeds, is putting a
mortgage on his future; for he will find the inexorable machinery of his
nervous system grinding the hated images of such things back into his
mind as surely as the mill returns to the sack of the miller what he
feeds into the hopper. He may refuse to harbor these thoughts, but he
can no more hinder their seeking admission to his mind than he can
prevent the tramp from knocking at his door. He may drive such images
from his mind the moment they are discovered, and indeed is guilty if he
does not; but not taking offense at this rebuff, the unwelcome thought
again seeks admission.
bachelorsinpsychdegonlprog
