There are great laws that govern all thought, just as there are fundamental laws in chemistry, physics and mechanics, for example.

We know that the control of thought is the Key to Destiny, and to learn to control thought we must know and understand these laws, just as the chemist must understand the laws of chemistry and the electrician must know the laws of electricity.

One of the great mental laws is the Law ofSubstitution. That law means that the only way to get rid of a certain thought is to substitute another thought. You cannot directly discard a thought. That can only be done by substituting another. On the physical plane this is not the case. You can drop a book or a stone by simply opening your hand and letting go of the object, but in negative thinking, the only way to get rid of it is to think of something positive and constructive. It is as if, say, to drop a pencil, it were necessary to put a pen, a book or a stone in your hand when the pencil falls.

If I tell you,"Don't think of the Statue of Liberty," you, of course, immediately think of her. you, of course, immediately think of her. If you say,"I'm not going to think about the Statue of Liberty," you are thinking about it. But after thinking about the statue, if you become interested in something else, say, turning on the radio, you forget about the Statue of Liberty. That's the case of a substitution. When you are invaded by negative thoughts, do not fight them, but think of something positive. Preferably think of God, but if you find that difficult at the time, think of some positive or constructive idea, and then the negative thought dissipates.

Sometimes it happens that negative thoughts seem to besiege you so strongly that you cannot overcome them. This is what is called an attack of depression, or worry, or perhaps even an outburst of anger. In that case, the best thing to do is to find someone to talk to on any subject, or go to the movies, or the theater, or read an interesting book, a good novel, a biography or travelogue, something like that. If you sit down to fight the negative tide, the only result you will probably get is to increase it.

Pay attention to something quite different , resolutely refusing to dwell on the difficulty or recreate it, and later, after you have completely removed yourself from the problem, you can return with confidence and face it by spiritual treatment."But I say unto you, Resist not him that is evil."-Matthew 5 39.

Another of the great mental laws is the Law of Relaxation. In all mental work, effort defeats itself. The more effort you exert, the less results you will get. This, of course, is the opposite of what we find on the physical plane, but it will not surprise us because we know that, in many cases, the laws of mind are the revers