Chapter 53 Section 4 Five Ways to Overcome Worry

Mental focus can overcome physical pain, and a person with high morale will never have trouble. I suddenly suffered from an eye disease when I was 24 years old.After reading for less than three or four minutes, the eyes will feel unbearably painful as if they are full of needles.Even if I am not reading, I am so sensitive to light that I dare not face the window.I visited the most famous ophthalmologists in New Haven and New York City with no improvement.After 4pm every day, I just sit in the darkest corner and wait for bedtime to come.I was in such agony that I feared that I would lose my job as a teacher and have to go West as a lumberjack.Then a very strange thing happened, fully showing the miraculous influence of the human will on the diseases of the body.It was a miserable winter and my eyes got worse, but I accepted an invitation to speak to a university group.Many large lamps hang from the ceiling of the lecture hall, and the strong light hurts the eyes.I had to stare at the floor as I waited on stage to come forward and speak.Oddly enough, during the 30-minute speech, I felt absolutely pain-free and could look directly at the lights on the roof without blinking.After the speech, however, my eyes started to hurt again.

This experience made me think that if I concentrate on doing one thing, not just for 30 minutes, but for a week, maybe my eye disease can be cured.Facts have proved that psychological excitement can completely overcome physical discomfort. There is another similar experience to prove this point.Once I was crossing the Atlantic by boat, and suddenly my waist hurt so badly that I couldn't walk at all.I tried to stand up straight, and the pain was unbearable.Under the circumstances, I was invited to give a speech on deck.As soon as the speech began, all pain was thrown into the clouds.I stood upright and talked for an hour with great emotion.After the talk, I walked back to my room with ease, thinking I was cured.But, after a while, the lower back pain started again.

These experiences made me deeply understand the importance of psychological function.It taught me to live life to the fullest, to live each day as if it were my first and my last.I am excited about each day's novelty and adventure, and a man of high spirits is never troubled.I love teaching and I once wrote a book called The Joy of Teaching.For me, teaching is not only an art and a profession, but a hobby.I love teaching as a painter loves painting and a singer loves singing.Before getting up every morning, thinking of my students filled my heart with infinite joy.I've always believed that the biggest factor in success is staying passionate.

I've found that I can put my worries to rest by reading a good and engaging book.At the age of 59, I went through a long psychological process, and my spirit almost collapsed.So I started reading David Wilson's great book, The Biography of Carlisle, which has had a profound effect on my thinking.In reading this book, I put almost all my energy into it, and for a while I forgot about my mental depression. Another time, I was very depressed, so I forced myself to engage in strenuous exercise. I played five or six games of tennis in the morning, then took a shower, had dinner, played 18 holes of golf in the afternoon, and danced till the end of the weekend. One o'clock.I forced myself to sweat more, and let the frustration and sorrow flow away with sweat.

I learned long ago how to avoid rushing and working under too much stress.I tried to learn Wilbur Close's philosophy of life.When he was governor of Connecticut, he once said to me: "When I have a lot of work to do, I sit down and relax, smoke a pipe, and do nothing for a whole hour." I understand that patience and time go a long way in helping to eliminate worries.When I'm upset about something, I look at it in a positive light.I would say to myself, "In two months, these worries will be gone, so why should I worry about them now? Why not adopt the attitude I will adopt in two months?"

(Editor's Note: Shortly before his death, Professor Philp of Yale University had a talk with him for an afternoon. The above are his five ways to get rid of troubles, which I wrote down during that talk. - Dale Carnegie)