Mind Power

The last time I was at the grocery store, I bought a box of Jimmy Dean sausage, egg, and cheese croissants. I recall thinking, as I grabbed the box out of the store’s freezer, “Too bad they don’t sell these without cheese. I’d really prefer a sausage and egg croissant. No cheese.”

This morning I opened the box and removed a croissant from the box. I placed the croissant inside the microwave oven for heating. Then I removed the top bun in order to sprinkle salt and pepper on the egg, and that’s when I noticed there was no cheese. Wow, the folks at Jimmy Dean have read my mind. That’s impressive!

I pulled the box out of the fridge again and examined the remaining croissants. Each croissant was sealed in a plastic wrapper, but I could easily see that each croissant was equipped with a slice of cheese.

I think what happened was that the intensity of my mind as I wished for a croissant without cheese, actually warped reality and gave me a croissant without cheese. It’s called mind power. Don’t laugh yet.

Mind power is something I’ve studied. I started many years ago when I bought a book called Secrets of Mind Power by Harry Lorayne.

This article in Wikipedia describes Harry Lorayne as a magician and a memory-training specialist and writer who was called "The Yoda of Memory Training" and "The World's Foremost Memory-Training Specialist" by Time magazine. At this date, Lorayne is still alive and is 94 years old.

Keep in mind that I read this book many years ago. I’ve forgotten most of its secrets. But I’ll tell you a story that might explain by example just how effective these secrets can be.

At the time I was reading the book, my mother was working at the business office of a local utility company. The company was planning a contest for its employees. Each employee was asked to memorize a list of 25 reasons for using natural gas for home heating. The next day, each employee would be asked to jot down those 25 reasons from memory. The employee who was able to remember the most reasons for natural gas heat would win a small prize.

My mother wanted to win the prize, but her memory was no better than the average person’s memory. Did she have a chance, she wondered. I had just finished reading Lorayne’s book. So I told her, “Come with me,” and we walked to the “den”—a small room on the end of the house. We sat down and I taught her some of the memory techniques I learned from the book. We reviewed the 25 reasons for using natural gas and I gave her a memory tip for each reason. The next day, the office held its contest and my mother won. She remembered 24 of the 25 reasons. She was so proud!

I said Lorayne’s book was where it started for me. You can’t change the contents of a croissant by reading a book. But the frozen croissant offers an example of what might happen if you follow that path. Mind power is hard to control. You must be heedful that it’s there and be careful what you wish for. A simple, transient thought might change your reality.

Now you may feel free to laugh or scoff. But if you do, I’ll know about it. That’s right—I will know. I will know! Bwa-hahahaha!

Uh, sorry. Sometimes that mind power goes to my head.