than to apply
The remedy for this diseased type of will is much easier to prescribe
than to apply. It is simply to refuse to attend to the contrary thoughts
which are blocking action, and to cultivate and encourage those which
lead to action of the right kind. It is seeking to vitalize our good
impulses and render them effective by acting on them whenever
opportunity offers. Nothing can be accomplished by moodily dwelling on
the disgrace of harboring the obstructing ideas. Thus brooding over them
only encourages them. What we need is to get entirely away from the line
of thought in which we have met our obstruction, and approach the matter
from a different direction. The child who is in a fit of sulks does not
so much need a lecture on the disagreeable habit he is forming as to
have his thoughts led into lines not connected with the grievance which
is causing him the trouble. The stubborn child does not need to have his
will 'broken,' but rather to have it strengthened. He may be compelled
to do what he does not want to do; but if this is accomplished through
physical force instead of by leading to thoughts connected with the
performance of the act, it may be doubted whether the will has in any
degree been strengthened. Indeed it may rather be depended upon that the
will has been weakened; for an opportunity for self-control, through
which alone the will develops, has been lost. The ultimate remedy for
rebellion often lies in greater freedom at the proper time. This does
not mean that the child should not obey rightful authority promptly and
explicitly, but that just as little external authority as possible
should intervene to take from the child the opportunity for
_self_-compulsion.
title=new mixed income housing units plus commercial space on housing