The Science of Being Well (Modern, Updated Translation)

Book Summary

Wallace D. Wattles' "The Science of Being Well" (1910) presents a systematic approach to health and wellness that combines practical health principles with the power of positive thinking and constructive mental attitude. Following his earlier work "The Science of Getting Rich," this book applies similar principles of focused thought and action to achieving and maintaining physical health.

The work begins by establishing its foundational principle: that perfect health is natural and achievable through alignment with natural law. Wattles argues that health is not merely the absence of disease but a positive state of being that can be cultivated through proper thought and action.

Central to the book's philosophy is the concept of the "Principle of Health" - a natural force that Wattles believes is constantly working to maintain and restore health in every person. He argues that this principle operates perfectly when not interfered with by incorrect thinking or living habits.

The text provides detailed guidance on practical matters of health, including breathing, eating, drinking, and sleeping. Wattles advocates for mindful eating, proper chewing, eating only when hungry, and stopping before fullness. He emphasizes the importance of eating wholesome foods but argues against complicated dietary theories.

Wattles devotes significant attention to the mental aspects of health, arguing that constructive thinking patterns are essential for physical well-being. He provides specific techniques for maintaining a health-conscious mental attitude, including visualization exercises and positive affirmations.

The book addresses the relationship between health and activity, emphasizing the importance of both rest and exercise. Wattles argues for moderate, natural forms of exercise and the importance of adequate sleep and relaxation.

A unique aspect of the work is its emphasis on the unity of body and mind in achieving health. Wattles argues that physical health cannot be separated from mental and spiritual well-being, presenting a holistic approach to wellness that was ahead of its time.

The Science of Being Well (Modern, Updated Translation)

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In applying the principles of the Science of Being Well to your life, just like in the Science of Getting Rich, there are some basic truths you need to understand and accept right from the start. Here are some of those truths:

The completely natural functioning of our bodies leads to good health, and this natural functioning comes from the natural action of the Life Principle. There is a Life Principle in the universe; it is the One Living Substance from which everything is made. This Living Substance spreads throughout the universe, filling every space; it is in and through everything, like a very fine and spreadable ether. All life comes from it; its life is the only life there is.

Humans are a form of this living substance and have within them a source of health. (The word "source" means origin.) When the source of health in a person is fully active, it ensures that all the voluntary functions of their life are performed perfectly.

It is the principle of health in a person that truly facilitates all healing, regardless of the "system" or "remedy" used; and this principle of health is activated by thinking in a specific way.

I will now prove this last statement. We all know that cures are achieved through different, and often opposite, methods used in various branches of medicine. The allopath, who gives a strong dose of a counter-poison, cures their patient; and the homeopath, who gives a tiny dose of the poison most similar to that of the disease, also cures it. If allopathy ever cured a specific disease, it is certain that homeopathy never cured that disease; and if homeopathy ever cured an ailment, allopathy could not possibly cure that ailment. The two systems are fundamentally opposite in theory and practice; yet both "cure" most diseases. Even the remedies used by doctors within the same school are not the same. Take a case of indigestion to half a dozen doctors and compare their prescriptions; it is likely that none of the ingredients in any one of them will be in the others. Must we not conclude that their patients are healed by a Principle of Health within themselves, and not by something in the varying "remedies"?

Not only that, but we see the same illnesses being cured by different methods: the osteopath uses spine manipulations, the faith healer uses prayer, the nutritionist uses meal plans, the Christian Scientist uses a specific creed, the mental scientist uses affirmations, and the hygienists use various lifestyle plans. What conclusion can we draw from all these facts except that there is a Principle of Health common to everyone, which actually brings about all the cures? It seems that each of these "systems," when conditions are right, activates this Principle of Health. In other words, medicines, manipulations, prayers, meal plans, affirmations, and healthy practices work when they activate the Principle of Health and fail when they don't. Doesn't all this suggest that the results depend more on how the patient thinks about the remedy rather than the actual ingredients in the treatment?

There's an old story that perfectly illustrates this point, so I'll share it here. It's said that during the Middle Ages, the bones of a saint, kept in a monastery, were performing healing miracles. On certain days, a large crowd of sick people would gather to touch the relics, and everyone who did so was healed. The night before one of these events, a thief managed to sneak in and steal the bones. The next morning, with the usual crowd of sufferers waiting at the gates, the monks discovered that their source of miracle-working power was gone. They decided to keep it a secret, hoping to catch the thief and recover the bones. In the meantime, they went to the convent's cellar and dug up the bones of a murderer who had been buried there many years earlier. They placed these bones in the case, planning to come up with an excuse if the saint failed to perform miracles that day. Then they let in the waiting crowd of sick and infirm people. To the great surprise of those in the know, the bones of the criminal worked just as well as those of the saint, and the healing continued as before. One of the monks reportedly wrote an account of the event, admitting that, in his opinion, the healing power had always been within the people themselves, not in the bones at all.

Whether the story is true or not, the conclusion applies to all the cures achieved by all the methods. The power that heals is within the patient themselves; and whether it becomes active or not doesn't depend on the physical or mental methods used, but on how the patient thinks about these methods. There is a universal principle of life, as Jesus taught; a great spiritual healing power; and there is a principle of health in humans that is connected to this healing power. This is either dormant or active, depending on how a person thinks. They can always activate it by thinking in a certain way.

Your recovery doesn't depend on following a specific system or finding a particular remedy; people with the same conditions as yours have been healed using all sorts of systems and remedies. It doesn't depend on the climate; some people are healthy and others are sick in every climate. It doesn't depend on your job, unless you work in harmful conditions; people are healthy in all kinds of trades and professions. Your recovery depends on starting to think—and act—in a certain way.

The way a person thinks about things is shaped by what they believe about them. Their thoughts are influenced by their beliefs, and the outcomes depend on how they personally apply those beliefs. If someone believes in the effectiveness of a medicine and can apply that belief to themselves, that medicine will likely heal them. However, no matter how strong their belief is, they won't be healed unless they apply it to themselves. Many sick people have faith for others but not for themselves. Similarly, if someone believes in a particular diet and can personally apply that belief, it will help them. If they have faith in prayers and affirmations and personally apply that faith, those prayers and affirmations will help them. Faith, when personally applied, heals; no matter how strong the belief or persistent the thought, it won't heal without personal application. The Science of Being Well involves both thought and action. To be well, it's not enough for a person to just think in a certain way; they must apply their thoughts to themselves and express them in their everyday life by acting in the same way they think.

The Foundations of Faith

Before a person can think in the specific way that will lead to healing their diseases, they must believe in certain truths that are stated here:

Everything is made from one Living Substance, which, in its original state, spreads throughout and fills the gaps of the universe. While all visible things are made from this Substance, in its initial formless state, it exists in and through all the visible forms it has created. Its life is in everything, and its intelligence is in everything.

This substance creates through thought, and it works by taking the shape of whatever it thinks about. When this substance holds the thought of a form, it takes on that form; when it thinks of a motion, it starts that motion. Forms are created by this substance moving itself into specific positions. When original substance wants to create a certain form, it thinks about the movements needed to produce that form. If it wants to create a world, it thinks about the movements, possibly over long periods, that will lead to the world taking shape; and these movements happen. If it wants to create an oak tree, it thinks about the series of movements, possibly over long periods, that will result in the form of an oak tree; and these movements happen. The specific sequences of motion needed to produce different forms were set in the beginning; they do not change. Certain movements started in the formless substance will always produce certain forms.

A person's body is made from the Original Substance and is the result of certain movements, which first existed as thoughts of the Original Substance. The movements that create, renew, and repair the human body are called functions, and these functions are divided into two categories: voluntary and involuntary. The involuntary functions are controlled by the Principle of Health within a person and are carried out in a perfectly healthy manner as long as the person thinks in a certain way. The voluntary functions of life include eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. These are entirely or partially under the control of a person's conscious mind, and they can be done in a perfectly healthy way if the person chooses to do so. If these functions are not performed in a healthy way, the person cannot remain healthy for long. Therefore, if a person thinks in a certain way and eats, drinks, breathes, and sleeps accordingly, they will be healthy.

The automatic functions of a person's life are directly controlled by the principle of health. As long as a person thinks in a completely healthy way, these functions work perfectly. This is because the principle of health is greatly influenced by a person's conscious thoughts, which impact their subconscious mind.

Humans are capable of thinking and creating new ideas. Since we don't know everything, we sometimes make mistakes and believe things that aren't true. We often think about illness and abnormal conditions, which can disrupt the natural health processes in our bodies, leading to sickness and dysfunction. In the original state of existence, there are only thoughts of perfect movement, healthy function, and full life. God never thinks about disease or imperfection. However, for countless ages, people have thought about illness, abnormality, aging, and death. These thoughts have led to dysfunctional processes that have become part of our human heritage. For many generations, our ancestors have had flawed ideas about the human body and its functions, and we start life with inherited subconscious impressions of imperfection and disease.

This isn't natural or part of nature's plan. Nature's purpose can only be the perfection of life. We see this from the very essence of life itself. It's in life's nature to constantly move towards more perfect living; progress is the inevitable result of living. Growth always comes from active living; whatever is alive must continue to live more and more. A seed lying in storage has life, but it isn't living. Plant it in the soil, and it becomes active, immediately starting to draw from the surrounding materials to build a plant. This will lead to such growth that a seed head will form, containing thirty, sixty, or even a hundred seeds, each with as much life as the first.

Life grows by living.

Life cannot exist without growth, and the basic drive of life is to live. It is in response to this basic drive that original substance acts and creates. God must live, and He can only live by creating and expanding. By multiplying forms, He is moving forward to live more fully.

The universe is a great advancing life, and the purpose of nature is the advancement of life toward perfection; toward perfect functioning. The purpose of nature is perfect health.

The goal of nature, as it relates to humans, is for us to keep moving forward into a fuller life and to strive for a perfect life. We should aim to live the most fulfilling life possible in our current situation.

This must be true because what lives within a person is always seeking more life.

Give a young child a pencil and paper, and they'll start drawing simple shapes; the creativity inside them is trying to express itself through art. Give them a set of blocks, and they'll try to build something; the creativity inside them is seeking expression through architecture. Sit them at a piano, and they'll try to create harmony with the keys; the creativity inside them is trying to express itself through music. The drive within people is always seeking to live more fully; and since people live best when they are healthy, the natural instinct within them can only seek health. The natural state of a person is one of perfect health; and everything within them, and in nature, moves toward health.

Sickness cannot exist in the mind of Original Substance because, by its very nature, it is always driven toward the fullest and most perfect life; therefore, it is driven toward health. In the mind of the Formless Substance, humans have perfect health. Disease, which is an abnormal or distorted function—movement that is imperfectly executed or directed toward an imperfect life—has no place in the mind of the Thinking Stuff.

The Supreme Mind never thinks about disease. Disease wasn't created or ordered by God, nor was it sent by Him. It's entirely a result of separate consciousness; it's from the individual thoughts of people. God, the Formless Substance, doesn't see disease, think about disease, know disease, or acknowledge disease. Disease is only recognized by human thought; God only thinks about health.

From everything mentioned above, we understand that health is a fact or truth in the original substance from which we are all made; and that disease is the result of imperfect functioning, caused by the imperfect thoughts of people, both past and present. If people had always thought of themselves as perfectly healthy, then it would be impossible for anyone to be anything other than perfectly healthy now.

A man in perfect health reflects the idea of Original Substance, while a man in imperfect health results from his own inability to think of perfect health and to carry out the voluntary actions of life in a healthy manner. Here, we will outline the fundamental truths of the Science of Being Well:

There is a Thinking Substance from which everything is made. In its original form, it spreads throughout and fills the spaces of the universe. It is the life of everything.

When you think of a shape in this Substance, it creates the shape; when you think of a movement, it causes the movement. For humans, the thoughts of this Substance are always about perfect functioning and perfect health.

Humans are thinking beings, capable of original thoughts; and their thoughts influence how their bodies function. By thinking negative or flawed thoughts, they have caused their bodies to function imperfectly and abnormally. By carrying out the voluntary actions of life in a distorted way, they have contributed to the development of disease.

If a person focuses only on thoughts of perfect health, they can create a state of perfect health within themselves; all the power of life will work to help them. However, this healthy state won't last unless the person also lives in a healthy way through their actions.

A person's first step should be to learn how to think about perfect health; and their second step should be to learn how to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep in a perfectly healthy way. If a person takes these two steps, they will definitely become healthy and stay that way.

Life and Its Organisms

The human body is the home of an energy that renews it when it's worn out, removes waste or toxins, and repairs it when it's damaged or injured. We call this energy life. Life isn't created or produced inside the body; it creates the body.

The seed that has been stored for years will grow when planted in the soil; it will become a plant. But the life in the plant isn't created by its growth; it's the life that causes the plant to grow.

The performance of a function doesn't create life; it's life that causes the function to happen. Life comes first; function follows.

Life is what sets organic matter apart from inorganic matter, but it doesn't come into existence after matter is organized.

Life is the force or principle that creates organization; it builds living things.

It is a principle or force inherent in the original substance; all life is connected as one.

This Life Principle of the Universe is the Principle of Health in humans, and it becomes positively active whenever a person thinks in a specific way. Therefore, anyone who thinks in this specific way will definitely have perfect health if their actions align with their thoughts. However, their actions must match their thoughts; a person cannot expect to be healthy by just thinking about health if they eat, drink, breathe, and sleep like someone who is unwell.

The universal Life Principle is essentially the Principle of Health in humans. It is connected to the original substance. There is one Original Substance from which everything is made; this substance is alive, and its life is the Life Principle of the universe. This Substance has created all forms of organic life from itself by imagining them, or by imagining the movements and functions that bring them into being.

The Original Substance focuses solely on health because it knows all truth; there is no truth that the Formless, which is everything and in everything, does not know. It not only knows all truth but also possesses all power; its vital energy is the source of all energy that exists. A conscious life that knows all truth and has all power cannot make mistakes or perform functions imperfectly; knowing everything means it knows too much to make mistakes, and so the Formless cannot be diseased or even think about disease.

Humans are made from this original substance and have their own separate consciousness, but this consciousness is limited and therefore imperfect. Because of this limited knowledge, people can and do think incorrectly, which leads to distorted and imperfect functioning in their own bodies. People haven't known enough to avoid making mistakes. The diseased or imperfect functioning might not happen immediately from a wrong thought, but it will eventually occur if the thought becomes a habit. Any thought that a person holds onto continuously tends to create the corresponding condition in their body.

Additionally, people have not learned how to carry out the essential functions of their lives in a healthy way. They don't know when, what, or how to eat; they know little about breathing, and even less about sleep. They do all these things incorrectly and under the wrong conditions because they have ignored the only reliable guide to understanding life. They have tried to live by logic instead of instinct; they have turned living into an art rather than a natural process. And they have gone astray.

The only solution for him is to start doing the right thing, and he can definitely do this. The purpose of this book is to teach the complete truth, so that the person who reads it will know too much to make mistakes.

The thoughts of illness create the forms of illness. People need to learn to think about health; and since they are original substance that takes the shape of their thoughts, they will become the form of health and show perfect health in all their actions. The people who were healed by touching the bones of the saint were actually healed by thinking in a certain way, not by any power coming from the relics. There is no healing power in the bones of dead people, whether they were saints or sinners.

The people who got better from taking either allopathic or homeopathic medicine were actually healed by thinking in a certain way; there is no medicine that has the power to cure disease on its own.

People who have been healed through prayers and affirmations were also healed by thinking in a specific way; there is no healing power in just a bunch of words.

All the sick people who have been healed, no matter the "method," have thought in a certain way; and a little examination will show us what this way is.

The two key elements of the Path are Faith and a Personal Application of that Faith.

The people who touched the saint's bones had faith; and their faith was so strong that the moment they touched the relics, they completely disconnected their minds from disease and mentally connected themselves with health.

This change of mind came with a strong devotional feeling that reached the deepest parts of their souls, stirring the principle of health into powerful action. With faith, they believed they were healed, or embraced health for themselves; and with complete faith, they stopped associating themselves with disease and only thought of themselves in terms of health.

These are the two key steps to thinking in a certain way that will make you healthy: first, claim or embrace health with faith; and second, cut all mental ties with illness and connect mentally with health. What we create in our minds, we become physically; and what we mentally connect with, we become physically unified with. If your thoughts always link you to illness, then your thoughts become a constant force causing illness within you; and if your thoughts always link you to health, then your thoughts become a constant force working to keep you well.

When it comes to people who are healed by medicines, the outcome happens in a similar way. They have, either knowingly or unknowingly, enough faith in the methods used to help them break their mental connection with illness and form a mental connection with health. Faith can be unconscious. We might have a subconscious or ingrained belief in things like medicine, even if we don't consciously believe in them much; and this subconscious faith can be enough to activate the Principle of Health into positive action. Many people with little conscious faith are healed this way, while others with strong faith in the methods are not healed because they don't apply it personally to themselves; their faith is general but not specific to their own situations.

In the Science of Being Well, we have two main points to focus on: first, how to think with faith; and second, how to apply this thinking to ourselves in a way that activates the principle of health into positive action. We start by learning what to think.

What to Think

To completely disconnect your mind from illness, you need to focus your thoughts on health, making the process positive rather than negative; it's about embracing health, not rejecting illness. Instead of denying illness, you should welcome and adopt health. Simply denying illness achieves very little; it's like getting rid of a problem but leaving space for it to come back even worse. When you fully and consistently focus your mind on health, you naturally stop thinking about illness. So, the first step in the Science of Being Well is to fully connect your thoughts with health.

The best way to do this is to create a mental picture of yourself being healthy, imagining a perfectly strong and fit body. Spend enough time focusing on this image so that it becomes your usual way of thinking about yourself.

This isn't as easy as it sounds; it requires taking a good amount of time for thinking, and not everyone has the imagination developed enough to clearly picture themselves in a perfect or ideal body. It's much easier, like in "The Science of Getting Rich," to imagine the things we want to have because we've seen these things or similar ones and know what they look like; we can easily picture them from memory. But we've never seen ourselves in a perfect body, so forming a clear mental image is difficult.

It's not necessary to have a clear mental picture of yourself as you want to be; what's important is to form an idea of perfect health and connect yourself to it. This idea of health isn't a mental image of something specific; it's an understanding of health that includes the concept of everything in your body working perfectly.

Try to imagine yourself as having a perfect physique; that helps. You must think of yourself as doing everything like a perfectly strong and healthy person. Picture yourself walking down the street with a straight posture and a strong stride. Imagine yourself doing your daily tasks easily and with extra energy, never feeling tired or weak. Visualize how a person full of health and power would do everything, and make yourself the main character in that picture, doing things just like that. Never think about how weak or sickly people do things; always think about how strong people do things. Spend your free time thinking about the Strong Way until you have a clear understanding of it, and always see yourself connected to the Strong Way of Doing Things. That's what I mean by having a Conception of Health.

To ensure everything in the body works perfectly, a person doesn't need to study anatomy or physiology to visualize each organ and focus on it individually. They don't need to "treat" their liver, kidneys, stomach, or heart separately. There is one health principle within a person that manages all the involuntary functions of life. When the idea of perfect health is impressed upon this principle, it will affect every part and organ. A person's liver isn't controlled by a separate liver principle, nor is the stomach controlled by a separate digestive principle; the health principle is unified.

The less you dive into the detailed study of physiology, the better it is for you. Our understanding of this science is very incomplete, and it leads to incomplete thinking. Incomplete thinking causes improper functioning, which results in disease. Let me explain: Until recently, physiology stated that ten days was the maximum limit of human endurance without food; it was believed that only in rare cases could someone survive a longer fast. This idea spread widely, and many people thought that if someone was deprived of food, they would die within five to ten days. Consequently, many people who were cut off from food due to shipwreck, accident, or famine did die within this timeframe. However, the experiences of Dr. Tanner, who fasted for forty days, and the writings of Dr. Dewey and others on fasting, along with the experiments of countless people who have fasted from forty to sixty days, have shown that humans can survive without food for much longer than previously thought. Anyone who is properly informed can fast from twenty to forty days with little weight loss and often without any noticeable loss of strength. The people who starved to death in ten days or less did so because they believed death was unavoidable; incorrect physiological beliefs gave them the wrong idea about their own capabilities. When someone is deprived of food, they will die in ten to fifty days, depending on what they have been taught or, in other words, how they think about it. So you see, incorrect physiological beliefs can lead to very harmful outcomes.

No science of being well can be based on current physiology because it isn't precise enough in its understanding. Despite its claims, we actually know very little about how the body works internally. We don't fully understand how food is digested or what role, if any, food plays in generating energy. We also don't know exactly what the liver, spleen, and pancreas do, or how their secretions contribute to the body's processes. On these and many other topics, we have theories, but we don't truly know. When someone starts studying physiology, they enter a world of theories and debates, encountering conflicting opinions that can lead to misunderstandings about themselves. These misunderstandings can result in incorrect thoughts, which can lead to improper functioning and illness. Even the most complete knowledge of physiology would only help a person think healthy thoughts and eat, drink, breathe, and sleep in a healthy way. However, as we will show, one can achieve this without studying physiology at all.

This is mostly true for all aspects of hygiene. There are some basic principles we should understand, and these will be explained in later chapters. But aside from these principles, don't focus too much on physiology and hygiene. They often fill your mind with thoughts of unhealthy conditions, and these thoughts can actually create those unhealthy conditions in your own body. You can't study any "science" that acknowledges disease if you want to think only about health.

Stop worrying about your current condition, its causes, or potential outcomes, and focus on developing an idea of what health looks like.

Consider health and the potential it brings; the work you can accomplish and the pleasures you can enjoy when you're in perfect health. Let this idea guide how you think about yourself; don't allow any thoughts about yourself that don't align with it. If any thoughts of illness or poor functioning come to mind, immediately dismiss them by focusing on a thought that aligns with the idea of health.

Always think of yourself as someone who is achieving your goals; as being a strong and perfectly healthy person. Don't entertain any thoughts that suggest otherwise.

Know that as you see yourself connected with this idea, the Original Substance that fills and surrounds the tissues of your body is shaping itself according to your thoughts. Understand that this Intelligent Substance, or mind material, will make your body function in a way that rebuilds it with perfectly healthy cells.

The intelligent substance, which everything is made from, fills and goes through everything, including your body. It moves based on its thoughts. So, if you only think about perfect health, it will make your body function perfectly healthy.

Keep firmly believing in the idea of perfect health for yourself; don't allow yourself to think otherwise. Hold onto this belief with complete confidence that it is true. It is true as far as your mental self is concerned. You have a mental self and a physical self; the mental self shapes itself based on how you think of yourself, and any thought you hold onto consistently will eventually be reflected in your physical self. By planting the idea of perfect functioning in your mental self, it will, over time, lead to perfect functioning in your physical self.

Changing our physical body to match the ideal image we have in our mind isn't something that happens instantly; unlike Jesus, we can't change our bodies at will. When creating and recreating forms, substance follows established growth patterns. The influence of healthy thoughts gradually builds a healthy body, cell by cell. Consistently thinking about perfect health will eventually lead to perfect functioning, and perfect functioning will, in time, result in a perfectly healthy body. To summarize this chapter:

Your physical body is filled and connected with an Intelligent Substance, which forms a body of mind-material. This mind-material controls how your physical body works. A thought of illness or improper function, impressed upon the mind-material, causes illness or improper functioning in the physical body. If you are ill, it is because wrong thoughts have made impressions on this mind-material; these may have been either your own thoughts or those of your parents. We start life with many subconscious impressions, both right and wrong. However, the natural tendency of all minds is toward health, and if only thoughts of health are held in the conscious mind, all internal functioning will eventually be performed in a perfectly healthy way.

The natural power within you is enough to overcome all inherited traits, and if you learn to control your thoughts to focus only on health, and if you carry out the voluntary activities of life in a completely healthy manner, you can definitely be well.

Faith

The principle of health is activated by faith; nothing else can trigger it, and only faith can help you connect with health and disconnect from disease in your thoughts.

You will keep thinking about illness unless you believe in health. If you don't have belief, you'll doubt; if you doubt, you'll feel afraid; and if you're afraid, you'll mentally connect yourself to what you fear.

If you're afraid of getting sick, you'll start thinking about yourself in relation to illness, and that will create the symptoms and feelings of sickness within you. Just like the original substance creates things from its thoughts, your mind and body, which are made of original substance, will take on the form and actions of whatever you're thinking about. If you fear illness, worry about it, doubt your safety from it, or even just think about it, you'll link yourself to it and create its symptoms and actions within you.

Let me expand a bit on this point. The strength or creative power of a thought comes from the faith that is within it.

Thoughts without faith create nothing.

The Formless Substance, which understands all truth and therefore only thinks truth, has complete faith in every thought because it only thinks truth; and so all its thoughts create.

But if you imagine a thought in formless substance without any faith, you'll see that such a thought couldn't make the substance move or take shape.

Remember that only thoughts conceived with faith have creative energy. Only thoughts accompanied by faith can change function or activate the principle of health.

If you don't believe in health, you'll definitely believe in illness. Without faith in health, thinking about it won't help you, because your thoughts won't be strong enough to improve your situation. I repeat, if you lack faith in health, you'll end up having faith in illness. Even if you think about health for ten hours a day and only think about illness for a few minutes, the illness thoughts will dominate your condition because they carry the power of belief, while the health thoughts do not. Your mind and body will adopt the patterns and behaviors of illness and keep them, because your health thoughts won't have enough strength to bring about change.

To practice the Science of Being Well, you need to have complete faith in health.

Faith starts with belief, and now we come to the question: What do you need to believe in to have faith in health?

You need to believe that there is more health power than disease power in both yourself and your surroundings. You can't help but believe this if you look at the facts. Here are the facts:

There is a conscious substance from which everything is created, and in its original form, it spreads throughout, penetrates, and fills the gaps in the universe.

When you think of a shape, this Substance creates the shape; when you think of a movement, it starts the movement. For humans, the thoughts of Original Substance are always about perfect health and perfect functioning. This Substance, both inside and outside of us, always works towards health.

Humans are thinking beings, capable of original thoughts. They have a mind-body made of Original Substance that permeates their physical body. The way their physical body functions is determined by the faith of their mind-body. If a person believes in the functioning of health, they will promote healthy internal functions, as long as they also act in a healthy way externally. However, if a person believes in illness or the power of illness, they will cause their internal functions to align with disease.

The Original Intelligent Substance is within people, moving toward health; and it surrounds them from every side. People live, move, and exist in an endless ocean of health-power; and they use this power according to their belief. If they accept it and apply it to themselves, it becomes entirely theirs; and if they connect with it through unwavering belief, they cannot fail to achieve health, because the power of this Substance is the only power there is.

Believing in the statements above is the foundation for having faith in health. If you believe them, you believe that health is the natural state for humans, and that we live surrounded by Universal Health; that all the forces of nature support health, and that health is possible for everyone and can definitely be achieved by everyone. You will believe that the power of health in the universe is far greater than that of disease; in fact, that disease has no real power, being only the result of distorted thoughts and beliefs. And if you believe that health is possible for you, that you can definitely achieve it, and that you know exactly what to do to attain it, you will have faith in health. You will have this faith and knowledge if you read this book carefully and decide to believe in and practice its teachings.

It's not just about having faith; it's about personally applying that faith to achieve healing. From the start, you need to believe in your health, imagine yourself as completely healthy, and then, with faith, claim that you are becoming this healthy version of yourself.

Don't just believe you'll get better; confidently affirm that you are already well.

Believing in your health and applying it to yourself means having confidence that you are healthy; and the first step in this is to assert that it is true.

Mentally adopt the mindset of being well, and avoid saying or doing anything that contradicts this mindset. Never speak or act in a way that doesn't align with the belief: "I am perfectly well." When you walk, do so with a brisk pace, keeping your chest out and your head held high; always ensure your physical actions and posture reflect those of a healthy person. If you notice you've slipped back into a mindset of weakness or illness, change immediately; straighten up and focus on health and strength. Refuse to see yourself as anything other than a perfectly healthy person.

One of the best ways—possibly the best way—to strengthen your faith is by practicing gratitude.

Whenever you think about yourself or your progress, be sure to thank the Great Intelligent Substance for the perfect health you have.

Remember that, as Swedenborg taught, there is a constant flow of life from the Supreme, which is received by all created things according to their forms; and by humans according to their faith. Health from God is always being offered to you; and when you think of this, lift your mind reverently to Him, and give thanks for being guided to the truth and into perfect health of mind and body. Always maintain a grateful mindset, and let your gratitude show in your words.

Gratitude will help you take charge of your own thoughts.

Whenever you think about illness, immediately focus on your health and thank God for the perfect health you have. Do this to ensure there's no space in your mind for thoughts of sickness. Any thought related to poor health is unwelcome, and you can shut it out by affirming that you are healthy and by sincerely thanking God for it. Soon, those old thoughts will stop coming back.

Gratitude has a double benefit; it strengthens your own faith and brings you into close and harmonious connection with the Supreme. You believe there is one Intelligent Substance from which all life and power come; you believe you receive your own life from this substance, and you connect yourself closely to it by feeling continuous gratitude. It's easy to see that the closer you connect yourself to the Source of Life, the more easily you can receive life from it; and it's also easy to see that your connection to it is a matter of mental attitude. We cannot have a physical relationship with God, because God is made of mind-stuff, and we are also made of mind-stuff; our relationship with Him must therefore be a mental one. It's clear, then, that the person who feels deep and sincere gratitude will live in closer touch with God than the person who never looks up to Him in thankfulness. The ungrateful or unthankful mind essentially denies that it receives anything at all, and so cuts its connection with the Supreme. The grateful mind is always looking toward the Supreme and is always open to receive from it; and it will receive continually.

The essence of health in a person gets its energy from the life force in the universe. A person connects to this life force through belief in their health and by being thankful for the health they have.

A person can develop both faith and gratitude by using their willpower effectively.