The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-07-08
Frederick Haskin's Letter
HEALTH THROUGH OPTIMISM

ants he stepped toward her and
ssid;
Why DO yop NOT walk! | IN
certain, absolutely certain, tina; ron /.
can walk. Try 1t, madam, and ses
IL / am not right" =.
The woman Vas lowered gently
to the door; she made a tremen.
dpps effort, exerting all her viii
power, and, while the on.ookera
held their breath, she walked. Altar
taking q few steps, she sat down
then rose and walked again. .Crs.
cious,H she exclaimed, "this man ia
. god"
But Professor Coue modestly de-.
mics the allegation. He declares
that he Is merely a professor OF on.
timism and that the patients them.
selves are their own miracle work.
ers.
"The explanation is very simple.
he says. There are two beings in
us, the conscious being who is the
master Of our will and the Due IN.
scious one who rules our imagjna.
ton. Well, there is an antagonism
between these two forces. and it il
always Imagination which prevails.
III you place a plank 10 yards
long and 3 inches wide on the aoor
you will easily walk along it. In
agine that this plank be placed
above an abyss and you would find
It impossible to walk on this bridge.
because your imagination would
oppose itself to your will. You
| would wish to. but you would not
be able to. One always speaks Of
educating the will, but it seems
more important to me to know how
to guide our imagination"
Imagination Alone Suffers :
TO the patients who come to his
clinic at Nancy from all parts Of
Europe, the professor gives the fol.
lowing advice:
"Do not say that you are suffer-
ing. 1t is not true. You imagine
that you are suffering. But in re-
atty you are not suffering. It Is
your imagination alone that suffers.
Close the eyes and repeat with me.
with all the strength Of the will:
I am better-I am better-1 am
better And presently you will see
that you are really feeling better.
Believe in your health, and you
will be half cured"
While Professor Coue's cures
have attracted the most attention
because OF their spectacular ma
ture, he is by no means the only
prominent champion of auto-sug-
gestion. Gradually, the entire med
ical profession seems to be espons-
| ing the idea in one form or another.
Opthalmologists tell us, for in
stance, that defective eyesight is
caused by defective imagination;
the new school of personal hygien-
lists declare that pessimism is the
greatest enemy to health. while the
Freudians trace all our modern
completes to disorders Of the ju-
venile Imagination. All advoctts
auto suggestion as a cure.
Worry, which is form Of mega.
tive auto-suggestion, can be cured
lonly by positive suggestion, they
| say. Morbid fears and DOUBTS
about common happenings grow
immensely by a process 0: suyxss-
ton and auto-suggestion," declares
one medical authority. until they
tend to obsess the whole person
atty. For worry of this kind Moth
ing less than a systematic course
Of mental training of some kind.
aided by self-suggestion, will effect
a radical cure. OF course, when
persons afflicted with the worry
habit get run down, they get all
the more involved in the tangle Of
their doubling thoughts" !
! ! Thus. Pollyana has received the
unqualified endorsement of scieEce.
All the Keep Smiling" propaganda
which has ragged furiously through
iout the land in recent years has
had pathological significance All
the popular demand for gilded ro-
nance and glad books as opposed
to bitter realism must have been
based upon the public's DESIRE to
keep its Imagination cheerful and
free from contamination.