The Washington herald., 1910-06-19
HUMOR CURES WORRY

IHUMOR CURES WORRY
William Byron Fozbush. In the consregationalist.
A sane knowledge OF ones self. or, In
other words. a sense of bumor, win cure
any ordinary case Of worry If you look
at houseHy in tho microscope it win
assume horrible proportions. and II you
magnify your troubles they will appear
Ike monsters. But suppose you try to
see them no more than iifeslze.
Take worries about the past. Some one
has said that there are two kinds Of past
troubles-those that can be helped and
those that can't. Neither of these Is
helped by worry Those that can be
helped let us get up and help. those that
cannot be helped let US forget. And let us
see both of them just as they are, and no
worse. Don't cry over split milk-just
milk another cow" Is a proyerb that has
helped me turn away from the past TO
the present. A happier turn has been
given to Whittier's pathetic lines:
OF ali sad words Of tongue or pen
The saddsst are these. 1T might have BEEN"
by continuing:
Add this suggestion to the verse,
II might have been little worse.
And so as to the present. It helps a
strenuous emergency a little to recollect
that there is almost always something
funny in every serious situation, and that
this present trial VIII probably afford
sources for future laughter. II all newly
wed people could realize that honey
moons would be prolonged. Ny sister
sent me the following lines the other
day, which she guaranteed, repeated three
times and heartily, would conquer any
domestic difficulty:
The dog is in the pantry,
The cat Is In the lake,
The COW is in The hsmmOck-
What difference does it makei
And so. too, with the future. How SEN
sible was the Masters word. 10 "let the
future worry about itself!' This cannot
be attained all at once, but I know OF
one man who made and kept the rule,
never to worry about anything after 10
o'clock at night, and OF another who kept
record of the hours he had succeeded in
not worrying. But worry Is best attacked
indirectly. You know of the young wO-
man whose experience was as follows:
Joined the new Don't Worry Club,
And now I hold my breath:
I'm 30 scared for fear I'll woEry
That I'm worried most 20 death.
Worry about the future is best con-
quered by displacement. You can't stop
worrying, but you can put in thoughts
that Will crowd worry out. This leads
me to speak OF another way 10 cure
worry. by fads, by hobbies, by enjoy
ment OF little things
have read this suggestive definition OF
happiness: Happiness IS the faculty OF
hDtng ~ufu
the exuberanee OF Mr. Roosevelt has
said that his bubbllng animation consists
chiefly OF the ability TO enjoy every ex-
perience as If 1t were a fresh one. II
there are little things you like. never be
ashamed OF them. keep on cherishing
them. for they are sources OF happiness
and enemies of worry. I don't care
what they are-fried onions. the Elsie
books, old slippers. Let others scorn
them-what do you care? ITO be rich
in consciousness" and ito be interested
is TO be happy"
II you are not happy now when do you
ever expect TO be? Life VIII always con-
sist OF little things. and you might as
well begin TO like some Of them II you
are not happy now, you will not be in
heaven. for happiness is a faculty of the
soul, not series of possessions. Who
was II who remarked when Matthew Ar
mold died: He WON'T Ike God" Who
ever II was summed up a character which
had won discrimination at the cost OF
joy Probably heaven consists Of little
things I hope so, for l have always feli
that the tWenty-frst OF Revelation was
too big and public
E, p. Powell once said. Every one
wonders, and is carried out OF himself
when once he has discovered morning"
] started once "A Year OF Sunrises.
Seeing a sunrise once, entirely by acct
dent, l made up my mind that the two
most beautiful things IN a day were sun
rise and sunset. and had been missing
one OF them all my life. Il was New
Years when I made my resolve, and
was amazed 10 discover how varied was
this pageant which is free TO all. and
which | did not have 20 go abroad to
visit. How many of US enjoy the sky or
really ever see the changing clouds? Do
We have as much fun with children as
We might? Might not even gossip, that
universal sacrament, be made vastly
more amusing?
/ once read, in the Wellspring of a
young girl who explained her happy face
by saying 81 always go glad 10 my days
work" by which I understand that she
meant that she went either reeollecting
something pleasant IN the past or In the
attitude OF expecting something pleasant
in the day.
The trouble with many mind cures is
that the cure affiiets the patient with the
disease OF self-importanee heard of a
nervous invalid who met the assurance
of young physician that there was not
very much the matter with him with the
irritated answer: What does all a young
doctor like you knows amount 10 beside
what an old and experienced invalid like !
me understands ] spoke OF knowing /
sanely-that is. getting outside /
ourselves and seeing ourselves as others /
do. But still better way is TO think Of 1
ourselves as little as possible and think |
or God. He knows US, whether we worry |
because We like to or because we can't |
help it. He has provided for us, whether |
we know how or not We must learn 10 |
live with ourselves as we are, not hirt |
with our feelings. not read many new /
thought books or medical treatises, laugh /
more. whether we feel like II or not. and |
act as IL We trusted God, even II We do /
not The attitude OF cheer viii soon make /
~6. -, Il Al