The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1922-01-21
FREEZING UP? KEEP STIRRING.

1t is a fat that business tends to stagnatc when the stream
Of credit IS frozen over. and it is also true that the individual
in need Of funds to carry on his business has serious difficulties
when all his money is tied up in the form OF frozen" invest
ments. =.
But there are worse things in the business world than "frozen"
credits or frozen investments. Frozen credits can generally
be thawed out BY the application of sufficient heat and likewise with
frozen" investments. although time may be required to reduce
them to the fluid state.
Absolutely the worst thing that can happen to a business
man is for him to permit his soul TO freeze up. When ones soul
is frozen hard and fast, he loses heart and hope; courage is con
gealed, his nerve" is gone, initiative and effort are paralyzed'
he is helpless. A community or a country in which the people
suffer from frozen souls is as helpless and as hopeless as the indi-
vidual who is similarly afflicted.
A stream which carries a large volume OF swiftly flowing water
doesn't freeze up as readily as one that is smaller and moves more
slowly. Old ocean. aghated by winds and tides, constantly III
motion, resists temperatures which soidify placid waters, and it
goes on doing business as usual" When the weather is extreme
~ cold and the fire in your stove burns low at night, you leave the
hydrant open and the trickling stream coming out keeps your
pipes from freezing, saving you the cost of plumbing repairs.
Motion is an enemy OF the freezing process in water, and the
same principle applies in the case OF the soul. To prevent the soul
from freezing up it must be kept in motion, constantly vibrating
with activity. To allow courage to lag and hope to falter when
the winter of adversely descends. with temperatures which tend
to CONCEAL energy and effort. is to assure a freeze-up which means
stagnation and disaster. A frozen stream will not turn the water
wheels which generate power to run mills and factories; a frozen
soul is similarly powerless to accomplish anything.
Low temperature is what causes the non-resisting stream to
freeze over but the force which freezes up the soul is fear-fear
OF difficulties, fear of hard conditions. When fear seizes the soul,
the currents of energy and courage cease to flow and as a con
sequence a "freeze-up" sets in. To prevent a "freeze-up" in your
sell, with al. its paralyzing effects upon you, your work and your
business, it is necessary to keep the currents in motion. The man
who when he is caught out in a blizzard and begins to feel the be-
numbng effects of cold, gives up and ceases to struggle against it
Is gong q 10 uedlH, IL Ht keeps nSHtnlS III SOSo w
the chances are that he will save his life.
How about ii Are you permitting the low temperatures in
the business world to make you shrink back with fear and sur
render to the stagnation which is fatal to any sort of achievement
or are you keeping all your energies in action, fighting with the firm
determination which the strong man brings to bear when he con-
quers all conditions and obstacles?
Competent students of business long since discovered that the
psychological element is one of the important factors in it. A mere
belief, based upon a rumor without any foundation whatever, will
send markets up or down the stock and commodity exchanges are
constantly SO affected. Beliefs based upon facts, of necessity, pro-
duce the same effects. Among the best authorities at the present
time the opinion is prevalent that the low ebb of business in the
country has been passed and henceforth we shall travel an up
ward grade although there will be many rough places. Business
men who have not succumbed to the "freezeup" are keeny alive
to the developments that are in progress and keeping all their
constructive energies in action.
Many big problems must be solved before the path of pros
perhy is perfectly smooth the business thermometer is still regis
tering low temperatures, but cear-headed, courageous, far-seeing
men, who realize the folly Of succumbing to fear and inacton, see
the sign "fair and warmer" hanging out ahead and they are gov
erning their actions accordingly. There is going to be nothing
doing" for the individual or the town that stands still and submits
to a "freeze-up' but there will be ample opportunities and ample
rewards for hustlers and fighters. Go ahead"-keep moving. 1t
is the only safe, the only sensible policy, the only course that will
bring prosperity or anything else worth while to any individual
or any community.
Washington version: Discussion is the better part of valor.