The Washington herald., 1916-02-15

iidS nc Dcen pretty regular IN MS HaDlS!
SO far as | know he had
Then the chances arc he will get WELL" the
doctor remarked. "Its the fellows that burn the
| candle at both ends and rely on stmulants who
are in danger Of going out in an emergency. They
haven't any reserve. The moderate fellows
always piling up reserve. They're like the people
with good account in the bank. When they have
to meet big draft, it doesn't mean that their
sources exhausted"
asked man of large affairs day how he
managed to keep his poise under many trying
circumstances He said: 81 don't dare to lose it."
When | asked him what he meant, he went
"lf | got into the habit OF losing my head over
these everyday vcxations, what should do when
meet the big trials? I'd probably collapse. AS a
matter OF fact, about once year SO, something
happens that puts heavy strain my nerves.
try to keep in condition to meet it If weren't
in condition, the effect might be DISASTROUS both to
me and to the interests have to take care of"
Napoleon had a saying, Turn every defeat into
victory" What does it mean | suppose it means
that if VIC learn something from defeat we arc
better off than before it happened. We have a
larger fund OF experience We are stronger. We
practice. But, OF course. an even better way would
be to be practccd that when the test comes it
is successfully met. with practice giving more
strength and adrotncss.
There are times, though, when defeat is the
best thing that could happen, when success would
be the real disaster To a.defcat in this aspect
to realize it in ail'its implications, is to acquire
one Of the best kinds OF wisdom, and TO open up a
new source OF power.
recently heard OF a very clever woman who
had just sustained fearful nervous breakdown
When | asked one Of her friends what the cause
could have been, she shrugged her shoulders and
replied: 81 don't know 1t may have been some
riile She had worked herself into the state where
almost any cause would have done the mischief"
Now was curious. | the trail OF some
thing. My questions brought out the information
that the case had developed from long habit oil
yielding to- petty irritations and TO childish resent
tears. An unkind word from relative friend
an infection look interpreted as unkird
would be followed by hours of depression. Nat
uraly; the nerves were kept on the down grade.
The plunge over the prccipicc mere incident.
The doctors say it W III take her months to re-
cover, and she is now in sanitarun,, going
through course OF ovcrieCding"
In order words, the body has been rcsortcd to
in order to the mind, lift it out of the
depths. But what obviously most needed was
complete rc-education. the kind that should en-
able that woman to deal with herself in healthy
way.
There arc many people exactly like that
woman. They are on the down grade Some OF
associated with drugs, or drink, gross i'm
morality. Others less easy to understand on
account of being hidden subtle But because
forces subtle hidden, they arc none the less
real, and because they subtle or hidden they
may be all the more insidous and all the more
persistent.
!
selves to consciousness that is steadily breeding
disease. We are harborng cgotistcal ungcncrous.
rescntful thoughts seemingly directed against 9TH
crs, but really directed against ourselves Though
the day OF reckoning may be postponed for a long
time, ii we persist, it is almost certain come.
Often our maladIes arc mysterious simply be-
cause cannot find any special incident to refer
to as causes. And yet the causes with us all
the time, seeking for recognition and relief
There arc millions OF people who could instant
ly cure themselves if they would only stop and
become, if they could only view themselves with
the calm, impcrsona detachment, the frank scru-
tiny, that charactcrzes their view of others
/ always be ready to meet crsis' is rule
that business man Of my acquaintance keeps in
mind. 1t causes him to make many decision that
| surprises his associates. And yet he is not tho
| kind that would be described as conservatives The
! very poisc and strength that he secures by his
healthy way OF doing business gives him zcst for
an occasional venture where he apparently takes
chances
! In there is such thing in ic as Il
| crisis. Every crisis is merely accumulation Of
small incidents. some OF them not important
enough to be described emergencies. In an
| other sense, every incident in life is crisis. Our
reaction from trhc may be an expression of the
weakness the strength that is revealed i'll our
way of meeting crisis and that is formed by our
daily practice.
! What is most important for every one Of u.s.
however is not to prepare for what cali crises,
but for the mere daily incidents the small change
OF living. 1t is this philosophy that the realsts in
literature arc continually preaching the less
valuable because 1t seems commonplace. As a
| matter of fact. il is CO-nu,onDlacr at all On