Have you ever realized that all around us there lies a realm of infinite power which we can train ourselves at any time to tap for our own use? This power surrounds us as the atmosphere does, and, like the atmosphere, it belongs to everyone, and is at the disposal of anyone, for any good purpose. This Power, which is the real source of all things that exist, needs only to be consciously contacted in order to flow into your being, and transform itself into health, into true prosperity, into inspiration, or into anything else that you may be needing. This Power is quite impersonal in itself, but it is always seeking a chance to express itself through particular personalities, through you or through me, if only we will let it.

We all do let it do so at times, but only very rarely in most cases. Without in the least understanding what we are doing, we—once in a blue moon at least—give that power a chance to “come through,” and then we say that we have a splendid idea, we do not know from where; or that we are feeling so wonderfully well today, we do not know why, but we have gotten through about three times as much work as usual; or everything seems to be going right just now; or we have had such a wonderful piece of “luck.” Now what has really happened in these cases is that, for one reason or another, we have happened to contact the Universal Power for a short time.

But there is really no reason at all why we should not learn to contact this Power at any time, whenever we want to, and not just very occasionally and by chance. There is no reason why we should not train ourselves to allow it to work for us—or rather through us—every day in the week. There is no reason why we should not allow it to build up strong, healthy, and beautiful bodies for us. There is no reason why we should not allow it to overcome our difficulties, wipe out our mistakes—because it can do that too—furnish us with new and original ideas for our work or our home; why, in fact, we should not make it possible for that Power to make our lives into the beautiful and joyous things that Providence intended them to be.

In other words, there is no reason why every man and woman should not become what is usually called a genius—a genius of any kind, either in natural science, or literature, or art, or music, or engineering, or business. Make no mistake about business. Business needs genius just as much as do any of the arts. A man who obtains new and practical ideas, and builds up a great successful business organization, serving the public, and finding employment for many people, is just as much a national asset as is a genius in any other walk of life.

What we have usually been accustomed to call a genius is a man or woman who happens to have this faculty of contacting the “Great Universal Power.” My point, however, is that it is possible, and not even very difficult, for the ordinary person, once he has become aware of the possibility, to begin to contact that Power consciously, and gradually to transform himself into a genius.

Many people have always felt in a vague sort of way that something of this kind might be possible in the Fine Arts, but now I want to stress the fact that the great Life Power is just as ready to help us in what we are pleased to call the prosaic, everyday affairs of our lives. The reason for this is that from the point of view of that Universal Power, nothing is prosaic, or pretty, or mean, so long as it concerns the lives of men and women. Emerson said, “Man’s welfare is dear to the heart of Being,” and that is quite true. The great Universal Power is always ready to come into your life—if you will invite it—to solve whatever problem may be important to you; to overcome for you the difficulty that is worrying you, even if that difficulty should seem to be rather a trifling thing to someone who is not concerned with your welfare.

Right now I have a case in mind of a woman who has for some time been making a handsome income as a dress designer. Her ideas are so original and so good that she has no trouble at all in commanding very high fees. She loves her work, and she would not change places, she says, with any man or woman on earth. Yet, only a few years ago she was in great poverty and, apparently, there was no way for her to provide for herself and her mother who was dependent upon her. Then she began each day to set aside a certain time for becoming quiet—withdrawing her attention from outer things and inviting the Power to lead and inspire her with the necessary guidance, out of what seemed to be a hopeless blindalley.

She told me that she did not find this an easy thing to do for the first few days; because she was so worried by the creditors who were pressing her that it seemed very difficult to stop thinking about her troubles, even for a few minutes. She knew that it was absolutely necessary to do so, however, and she succeeded after the first few attempts, with the result that she first of all experienced a remarkable change in feeling. The worry and fear went first, and then she became aware of a sense of power and adequacy to cope with her problems. The day after this happened, when she was thinking of something quite different, the thought of a certain business acquaintance suddenly flew into her mind as though, she says, someone had thrown it at her, like a snowball. She felt satisfied that this inspiration had come, not from “herself but from “It,” meaning the Great Universal Power of intelligence and wisdom. She went straight off to the person in question, and to her intense surprise, received an offer, there and then, which, at that time, was a very attractive one for her. She thought she knew very little about dress designing, but she decided to put that problem, too, up to the Universal Power. She continued each day to contact the Power in the same way, and day by day the difficulties as they arose were easily overcome. Then she began to go to the same Source for original ideas to use in her work. Remember that with her all this had been very much of an experiment—and when original ideas began to arrive, too, her career was made.

A certain architect, a very successful man, noted for the originality and brilliance of his work, is in the habit of working in very much the same way. In his case it was an original discovery. No one told him about it—he stumbled upon it for himself.

There is another case of a well-known lawyer, famous for his brilliant work in court, who owes his success, he says, almost entirely to contacting the Great Power in very much this way. He has said that he not only got some “hunches” of vital importance in this way, enabling him to handle very difficult cases, but his health, which had seemed to be the principal obstacle to a successful career, was completely restored by the influx of power which he received during these contacts with the Great Universal Energy. This is his firm opinion, and I suppose that he ought to know.

This Power, this Energy is there. It is universal, which means that it is present everywhere. It belongs to nobody in particular because it belongs to all. It is waiting at all times for men and women to call it out into use for any good purpose in life. The fact that most people do not suspect its existence does not change the fact that it is there. Remember that hardly anyone except one or two philosophers suspected the existence of the atmosphere, or of electricity, or of the power of steam, until a few generations ago; and now these things have been brought into the service of man and have transformed the world. The wonderful things they have given us, such as the telephone, the airplane, the automobile, could have been had hundreds or thousands of years ago just as well, because the laws of Nature were just the same then as they are now; only people did not know that such forces existed and so they had to go without. Today the knowledge of the existence of this supreme force is being given to the people, and before very long, I believe, many of the limitations and difficulties that people take for granted at present, will be things of the past.

Now I am going to suggest that those of you who are interested in this article should make an experiment for yourselves. Do not waste any time in arguing about whether the thing sounds reasonable or not, but try it out for yourself. Get by yourself for a few minutes once a day for several days—if you can choose about the same time each day, so much the better, but this is not essential—drop all your worries for the time being—this is absolutely essential—relax the body, and quietly invite the Great Universal Power to come into your mind and endow you with whatever thing you are most needing; whether that be health, or guidance, or some information concerning a particular matter, or a job, or even money, or what not. But on no account must you give instructions to that Power, because it will not take them; and if you try to compel it, nothing will happen. Be receptive. Be open-minded. Be humble. Do not be impatient; and you will see what you will see. Something remarkable will happen.

EMMET FOX