The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-02-28
Gospel Of PsycsoIo y.
Dy 3DR. THANK GRANT,

We love nothing with such passionate psin as pad habit. sa ..... l It is d pleasure, of course, or we would not keep it up; but it is a torment.
 To what good thing do we cling with that crazy desire we feel towas-l the wrong thiugs
 what is the lickerish, fire-sweet, hateful yet precious quality that is interest in thins1 reprehensible! A man once asked woman. How do y0e want me to love your She answered, "lsik e bad haiti" And that was demeanding .e great deal.
 The bad habit is the eczema of the sonk You feel an irresistible desire to indulge in it, and when you indulge in it you get noth- wrist intolerably demands scratching, which only makes it worse.
 In dealing with a bad habit the essential thing is to remember the only psychological law by which such things are cufable, to- wit: s That the desires can be changed by the will operating through the habit. ...: ...
 This is the most valuable truth that any human soul can believe. By working in accordance with it we arp saved; by denying or ignoring it we are lost, It is the law that makes it possible to ae- Quire culture. S a.s. II and bring himself to any desired condition of character. Without this law life would De hopeless; the individual would never pro- gress there would be no possible improve ment, only increasing degradation a.a In bad habit the thing we want to eradicate is the desire that pushes us toward it. If it is drink we want to get rid of tre thirst; if it is the eating of sweetmeats, we want to get rid of the hunger. The only way to proceed is first to set the will to watch, snd whenever the craving comes on simply not yield. This may mean struggle. wretchedness, fe- verish misery and perhaps disqualification for our work. &c4 M.
 But we absolutely must persist It is our only hope. And we can comfort ourselves with the knowledge that our nature inevitably yields to our will in the end. It is not going to be an endless, lifelong combat by and by nature gives in and new set of desires arises in us which are in as- cord with the will.
 This is utterly true gospel. You may risk your soul on 1t. Continue to not do thing and in time the desire to do it vanishes.
 The only hope for self-improvement--in fact, the only rope for life of decency, to say nothing of force and of refinement nt-liss in keeping the will in the drivers seat, tho reins of the desires we'll in hand. feg
 For there is another law in human nature which is the converse of the law above stated. It is: That If one allows himself to be con trolled by desire-that is, does only what he feels like doing--the desires steadily grow coarser, the animal swallows up the spirit. and in plain English, one rapidly goes to the dogs. -
 This law also is as true and hard as gun metal.
 Are you will-ruled or desire-ruled? An swer that question of questions to yourself and you will know not. only whether you are . good or bad person Qor that's about all the difference), but whether also you are . strong or weak person, force or lump, a growing or a rotting organism.
 But what if the will is gone, destroyeds Answer: That is a mere figure of speech. No mans will was ever destroyed He always has a piece left. Even pig can refuse to eat. The one thing we can always do is to not do it.