The San Francisco call., 1906-04-05

efrrOW do you feel today?
~ "Oh, 1 don't feel at all wei
i lately. 1 seem to have such
terr,b,a cold and such a heayiness and
du,Iness in my head No. 1 don't feel
bit Well. 1 can't sleep nowadays, soihs-
how, and 1 get depressed anu eu
/ m nervous, too-terribly nervous IN
sure 1 don't know what can De tne mat
ter. 1 suppose I'm run down.
"Dear, dear. Too bad. A change Is
what you need
yes, 1 suppose so (heayy sigh. And
how are you feeling yourself lately
.Oh lust fairly well. You know nave
,a,,ar o,,ite recovered from the last at
tack I had"-and so on, ad intinitum-
The above dialogue mas a sound only too
familiar to US all. Every day we near
such statements made repeatedly on All
sides of U.S. Every day, perhaps. we take
mart in such conversation ourselves IL
has grown to be such. habit Win most
of MS that we do it unwittingy.
The mere utteranee of the words, How
do Won feel?' or How do you dog has
oo,a 70 he the signal for an outpouring
of comnlaints and woes; free and ready
exchange of intelligence between frlends
or acquaintanees concerning persohal ieel-
ings and ailments, both physieai ana
mental.
This saiutation, which we certainly nave
reason to believe was designed as means
| of communicating cheer and blessedness
,s ruthlessly misused as an opportunity
to air ones ills and distresses. How do
| Won feel?, is. the signal which only too
| frequently opens a veritable Pandora
box of mysteries.
| This. surely. is all wrong. We commit
a grieyous offense against ourselves. our
friends and society at large when We in
dulge the habit Of making known our
..feeIingsv if they are calculated to en-
nhasize impressions of i'll health, discOm-
fort and gloom.
| great deal is said today about the ne
cessity of protecting ourselves against
disease germs. Not enough is said about
the danger there is in thinking and talk
ing disease. Human beings. by repeated
ly dwelling upon adverse physical cOndi-
tions; by describing these conditions 20
others and listening to similar accounts,
are daily and hourly assisting in the
spread of disease.
| Talking ABOUT Ill nedlJn produces NEIL
tai Impressions of i'll health just as def
mite as the impressions recorded on the
cylinder of a phonograph. We intensity
and multiply our ills when we talk about
| them TO others.
Now, if this is true. how about the re-
verse side of the proposition? If talking
disease disseminates disease. why may not
talking health promote health? / sim
cerely believe it does.
1 have not one particle of doubt that
if we asserted our health with the same
dynamic energy we employ in complain
ing of our miseries, the Improvement in
our physical condition would be aston
ishing.
Why don't we go about telling our
friends how well we are; how happy we
feel; how vigorous and young and buoy
ant we are growing day by day?''
But" objects somebody. .how can we
say we feel well when we don't? How can
we say we're happy when we feel blue and
Respondent? We can't deny our feel
ings."
Feelingsl That's what's the matter with
us all. Feelingsl 1t Is mans province
to dictate to his feelings. not to let them
dictate to him.
The moment we pause to consult our
feelings we abdicate the authority that
is given to US as self-eonseious beings