I want to reach you right there alone in the room where you are reading
this, and I want the suggestions, the good, the help, to soak in, and I
want you to pass the good you get to your brother; you won't lose a bit
by doing so.
7.
"She is all right--her only trouble is her NERVES." How often we hear
that and how little does the person with steady nerves appreciate the
tortures of "nerves."
[Sidenote: About Nerves.]
A cut, a bruise, a headache, or any of the physical ailments can be
quickly cured. Nature will mend the break, but tired, worn, stretched,
abused nerves take time to restore. These nerve ailments call for most
vigorous mental treatment.
Neurasthenia means debilitated or prostrated nerves and it shows itself
first of all by worry. Worry means the inability to relax the attention
from a definite fear or fancied hard luck. Worry leads to many physical
and mental disorders.
Left alone this worry stage develops into an acute state and brings with
it nervous prostration, and sometimes a complete collapse of the will
power.
Before the acute stage of neurasthenia is reached, there is noticed
"brain fag," and brain fag is nature's warning signal calling upon you
to take notice and change your mental habits.
Worry sometimes develops into hysteria; again it takes the form of
hypochondria or chronic blues. The hypochondriac has a chronic, morbid
anxiety about personal health and personal welfare. Frequently this
state is accompanied by melancholia.
Melancholia is the fork in the road. One turning leads to incurable
insanity, the other to curable melancholia.
Right here is where heroic action is needed by the sufferer.
[Sidenote: Cure the Worry Habit.]
Here is where the sufferer must exert his maximum will power, and change
completely his mental and physical habits and his surroundings.
Occupation, changed habits, taking in of confidence, faith and courage
thoughts--these changes are necessary to the victim of melancholia, or
he will shatter his health on the danger rocks and go to pieces.
Melancholia is an ailment that offers a good chance for Christian
Science. Mental suggestion, the powerful personality of a friend, and
the personal help such a friend can give by counsel, example and
suggestion, are all helps.
I have abundant evidence that melancholia sufferers can be restored to
peace, efficiency and poise, by proper thought direction, and by proper
physical employment.
"Pep," which has principally to do with mental efficiency, definitely
lays down rules and practical suggestions for the employment of the mind
and body. I have letters and verbal proofs in quantity proving the
efficiency of those rules and suggestions.
So wonderful have been the results, so numerous the recoveries, that the
testimonials, if published, would make the fake nerve tonic manufacturer
die of envy.
[Sidenote: The Importance of Nerves.]
"Only your nerves." I cannot understand why the word, only, is used. It
makes it appear that nerves are of minor importance. Nerves are less
understood than anything in the human anatomy and they are harder to
understand.
Experience has proved that nerves cannot be restored by dope, patent
medicines, tonics or prescriptions.
The cure must come by and through the individual possessing the nerves,
and by and through the individual's power of will and mastery of the
mind.
Get the mental equipment right. Let the mind master the body. Let the
nerve sufferer get hold of himself and fill his brain with
faith-thought instead of fear-thought, with courage instead of
cowardice, with strength instead of weakness, with hope instead of
despair, with smiles instead of frowns, with occupation instead of
sluggishness, and wonders will appear.
The little shredded, tingling nerve-ends will then commence to
synchronize instead of fight, to harmonize instead of breaking into
discord, to build instead of destroy.
[Sidenote: You Can "Come Back."]
The building, or coming back to a normal state, is slow; it takes time,
patience and will power, but it can be done. I know. I have been through
the mill, and I pass the word to you and try to stir you to be up and
doing, even as I did.
Your nerves can be steadied, your thoughts uplifted, your health
restored, your ambition re-established, your normality fixed.
Smiles, love and content are to be yours. Poise, efficiency, peace, your
blessings. Health, happiness and hope your dividends. All these I
promise you if you will read this book from cover to cover, _think_, and
follow its plain, practical teachings.
The curriculum is not hard; it is not my discovery. I am merely the
purveyor of facts, the gleaner of truth, and the selector of helpful
experiences, first of all for my own benefit, and having proved the
truth in my own case, for friends to whom I pass the truths and rules.
I made bold to write books, but the writing has paid me well, not alone
in dollars, but from having done a helpful thing in writing for other
humans who have had problems, worries and nerves.
The big books on nerves are discouraging and forbidding by their
immensity and the labyrinth of technical, scientific terms. There are
fine for teachers, but discouraging for the layman.
The great everyday crowd is the class I want to talk to, and so I
endeavor to write in plain human, sincere style from heart to heart,
with understanding, feeling, charity and sympathy.
I have felt the things you feel, and if I can by example, emphasis,
suggestion, rule or good intent, be a help to you, then I have done a
service.
8.
There are men who cannot be kept down by circumstances or obstacles.
[Sidenote: The Men Who Do Things.]
These men "carry on" with confidence in their hearts and smiles on their
faces. They do not lie in wait for the band wagon or favorable winds;
they make things happen. They are alert and alive to every favorable
opportunity and helpful influence that comes their way.
These men are men of good health. They are out of doors much; they carry
their heads high and breathe in good air deeply. They greet friends with
a smile and put meaning and feeling into every hand clasp.
Let's you and I follow their trail, for it leads out on to the big road.
Do not fear being misunderstood; right will finally come into its own.
We will keep our minds off our enemies, and keep our thoughts on our
purpose; we will make up our minds what we want to do. We will mark a
straight line on the log and hew to that line.
Fear is the dope drug that kills initiative; hate the poison that
shatters clear thinking.
Hate and fear are the iron ore in our life's vessel; they deflect the
compass and prevent us from holding to the course.
[Sidenote: Grasp Present Opportunities.]
There are splendid worth-while things for us to do, and with continuity
of action and singleness of purpose on our part the days will pass by as
we are seizing opportunity and making use of the things required for the
fulfillment of our desires. We are like the coral insect that takes from
the running tide the material to build a solid fortress. Our running
tide is made up of the gliding golden days.
Let's waste no time in trying to make friends or in seeking to attach
ourselves to others. True friends are not caught by pursuit; they come
to us; they happen through circumstances we do not create.
Self-reliance is ours, and we must first use it for our own betterment.
We will then have a surplus of energy to allow us to help others.
Our energy hours must be devoted to our purposes and ideals. Atween
times, we must rest and relax, and repair the waste that strenuosity
makes.
Breathe good air, bask in the sunshine, see nature, and say to yourself:
"All these treasures are for me; all these things I am part of."
[Sidenote: The Joy of Living.]
Do not prepare for death; prepare for life. Preparing for death brings
the end before your allotted time. Like Job of old, that which we fear
will come to us. We must not think of death, or waste time preparing for
it. It makes us miserable to-day. It makes us weak and fills us with
fear, and it draws the day of our departure nearer.
To-day is ours. Live freely, fully to-day. Be unafraid, unhurried, and
undisturbed.
We are building character, and the way we build it is by mental
attitude, by our acts, and by the way we employ the precious moments of
to-day.
Put yourself in harmony with nature--realize the wonderful power of the
will--and you will be strong, a veritable king among men.
9.
[Sidenote: The Pessimist.]
The calamity howler is found everywhere. In times of peace or war he is
with us. This pessimist sows seeds of discord, plants envy, generates
the anarchist spirit, and is an all-around nuisance.
A man may spend years erecting a building; a fiend can demolish it in a
minute with a stick of dynamite.
The calamity howler is a destroyer; he doesn't think, he spurts out
words. His words and arguments are simply parrot mimicry and void of
intellectual impulse, as are the movements of an angle worm.
These gloom merchants talk of their rights, and they expect and demand
the same privileges and benefits that are earned by the man who uses his
head.
The pessimist sees good in nobody. Human nature to him is a cesspool of
villainy and corruption. He will not tolerate a word of praise for a
thing well done. Disparagement is his favorite weapon. He ascribes mean
and selfish motives to public-spirited men. Every deed of kindness,
every act of generosity, is given a sinister meaning when seen in the
light of his own base soul.
At home he is a grumbler and a grouch. His presence depresses, and
happiness fades away at his approach.
In the community, he never reaches high office because he lacks civic
spirit and the forward-looking view. He obstructs progress instead of
promoting it.
At his work, he lags behind where others achieve. He rails at conditions
instead of changing them, and eventually he finds himself shelfed and
shunned as a back number.
These purveyors of panic eat into the vitals of the nation. They breed
discontent, undermine morale, and sow suspicion and distrust where
previously there had been friendliness, co-operation and the
pull-together spirit.
Wherever men gather, you will find these ghoulish spirits. They are in
evidence in times of peace and plenty, as well as in times of war and
peril.
It matters not that our farmers are seeing to it that our granaries are
filled to-day as never before, and that every man has a job. These
prophets of disaster have only one string to their harp, and they will
twang on that and no other.
[Sidenote: The Danger of Pessimism.]
In times of war, the pessimist is doubly dangerous, for he spreads his
iniquitous propaganda among people who are already under a great
emotional strain. Always a menace, when a people are in the throes of a
great life-and-death struggle, it is doubly necessary to stamp out this
destroyer of morale, with his insidious campaign of gloom and despair
and his veiled innuendos of panic and destruction.
It is up to you and to me to denounce these breeders of discord; to hold
them up to the scorn of intelligent, thinking people. They are neither
doers nor thinkers, and the world has no need of them in these trying
times.
10.
This evening I rode home in a crowded street car. What an interesting
study it was to watch the faces in that car.
Discontent, discomfort, worry, gloominess on nearly every face. Tired
faces, tired bodies drooped over from a hard day's work, mouth corners
depressed. Hopelessness stamped on the countenances.
[Sidenote: Gloom and Cheer.]
As the people came in the car, some of them had smiles or at least
passable expressions, but when they got crowded together and saw the
gloomy faces, the gloom spread to their faces, too. At a picnic, all are
smiling and laughing. In the street car at six o'clock, the long
procession of workers is a stream of solemn faces. Contagion, example,
surroundings, yes, that's it--contagion and example.
At six o'clock in the cars, all is gloom, blueness and sorrow faces. At
eight o'clock many of these faces will be changed; there will be joy,
smiles, rosiness, singing and dancing. Yet the actual conditions of
finance, health, hope or prospects haven't changed since these people
were in the car at six o'clock.
Why, then, such a change in two hours?
[Sidenote: Good Cheer Contagious.]
It is this: At seven o'clock these workers sat down to supper; they were
out of that gloom-reflected street car atmosphere. Now they are talking;
they are rounding-up the day's activities; they are HOME with mother,
sister, brother and the kiddies. The home ones greet them with smiles,
the appetizing supper pleases the palate, good cheer permeates, and all
around them is smiles and joy.
Gloom spreads gloom. Joy spreads joy. Gloom is black; joy is white. One
darkens, the other brightens.
Well, then, where's the moral? What's the benefit from this little study
of the street car passengers?
The lesson is plain: It is that you and I are ferments of joy, or acids
of gloom. We are influences to help or to hurt. To hurt others by our
example hurts us. To help others by our example helps us. We become
happier than ever.
In the street car, life was not worth living if you judged by the pained
faces. In two hours, by changed thought, the example of life was worth
while.
What changes mental attitude makes!
"When a man has spent
His very last cent,
The world looks blue, you bet;
But give him a dollar,
And loud he will holler
There's life in the old world yet."
Next time we get on the street car, let's plant some smiles. Let's give
that lady a seat and smile when we do it.
We can spread cheer by merely wearing a cheery face. Costs little, pays
big. Let's do it.
11.
Some of our richest blessings are gained by not striving for them
directly. This is so true that we accept the blessings without thinking
about how we came to get them.
[Sidenote: Be Happy.]
Particularly true is this in the matter of happiness. Everyone wants to
be happy, but few know how to secure this blessing. Most people have the
idea that the possession of material things is necessary to happiness,
and that idea is what keeps architects, automobile makers, jewelers,
tailors, hotels, railroads, steamships and golf courses busy.
Do your duty well, have a worth-while ambition, be a dreamer, have an
ideal, keep your duty in mind, be occupied sincerely with your work,
keep on the road to your ideal, and happiness will cross your path all
the while.
Happiness is an elusive prize; it's wary, timid, alert and cannot be
caught. Chase it and it escapes your grasp.
[Sidenote: One Man's Story.]
I read today of a friend who walked home with a workman. This is the
workman's story: He had a son who was making a record in school. He had
two daughters who helped their mother; he had a cottage, a little yard,
a few flowers, a garden. He worked hard in a garage by day, and in the
evening he cultivated his flowers, his garden, and his family. He had
health, plus contentment a-plenty. His possessions were few and the care
of them consequently a negligible effort.
Happiness flowed in the cracks of his door. Smiles were on his lips, joy
in his heart, love in his bosom; that's the story my friend heard.
Then came a friend in an automobile on his way home from the club. He
picked up my friend, and unfolded to him a tale of woe, misery and
discontent.
This club man had money, automobiles, social standing, possessions, and
all the objects and material things envious persons covet--yet he was
unhappy. His whole life was spent chasing happiness, but his sixty
horsepower auto wasn't fast enough to catch it.
The poor man I have told you about was the man who washed the club man's
auto.
The strenuous pleasure seeker fails to get happiness; that is an
inexorable law. He develops into a pessimist with an acrid, satirical
disgust at all the simple, wholesome, worth-while, real things in life.
This is not a new discovery of mine; it's an old truth. Read
Ecclesiastes, the pessimistic chronicle of the Bible, and you'll learn
what comes to the pleasure-chaser, and you will know about "vanity and
vexation of spirit."
[Sidenote: Making Others Happy.]
Do something for somebody. Engage in moves and enterprises that will be
of service to the community and help the uplift of mankind. This making
others happy is a positive insurance and guarantee of your own
happiness.
You must keep a stiff upper lip, a stiff backbone; you must forget the
wishbone and the envious heart.
Paul had trials, setbacks, hardships and hard labors; he had defeats and
discouragements and still the record shows he was "always rejoicing."
Paul was a man of Pep. In the dungeon, with his feet in stocks, he sang
songs and rejoiced. Paul was happy, ever and always, not because he
strove to get happiness, but because he had dedicated his life to the
service of mankind.
The real hero, the real man of fame, the real man of popularity, doesn't
arrive by setting out on a quest for any of these things; the result is
incidental.
The real hero forgets self first of all; that is the essential step to
greatness.
Washington at Valley Forge had no thought that his acts there would
furnish inspiration for a picture that would endure for generations.
Lincoln, the care-worn, tired, noble man, in his speech at Gettysburg,
never dreamed that that speech would stamp him as a master of words and
thought, in the hearts of his country-men. He thought not of self. He
was trying to soothe wounds, cheer troubled spirits, and give courage to
those who had been so long in shadowland.
Ever has it been that fame, glory, happiness came as rewards, not to
those who strive to capture, but to those who strive to free others from
their troubles, burdens and problems.
12.