Chapter 72 Chapter 23 Stop Worrying Makes Me Live Longer

A lot of things bother me, I was the manager of the last ranked baseball club for 7 years in a row, the club once lost 800 games in 8 years; however, since 25 years ago, I have stopped worrying. I have played professional baseball for over 63 years.Initially joining the field is unpaid.We played in a deserted field and often tripped over the debris on the ground.After the game, we handed out our hats to the crowd to collect their money.The money collected in this way is too little to support the widowed mother and younger siblings.Even so, sometimes the team has to put on some hilarious stunts to keep the game going.

Many things bothered me, I was the bottom baseball manager for 7 years and lost 800 games in 8 years.The string of failures left me so worried that I couldn't eat or sleep.However, since 25 years ago I stopped bothering.I knew if I didn't stop worrying, I'd be in the coffin. Looking back on the long life course (I was born in the era of President Lincoln) and summing up the lessons of life, I found that the reason why I was able to conquer troubles and live up to now is related to the following methods. (1) I realized that worrying doesn't do any good, that it doesn't help my life other than it hurts my baseball career.

(2) Worry does a lot of harm to one's health and does nothing to help it. (3) I keep myself so busy planning how to win one game after another that I don't have time to worry about losing. (4) I set a rule for myself: within 24 hours after the end of the game, I will not criticize the mistakes made by the players.In the past, I always changed clothes with the players. After a loss, I couldn't help criticizing them and arguing with them mercilessly.I've found that not only does this add to my annoyance, but it also makes the players resentful and unwilling to cooperate, maybe I'm embarrassing them too much.Unable to control my tongue, I had no choice but to not meet the players after a loss and not discuss it with them until the next day.At this time, I have calmed down and can discuss things very rationally, and the players will not be too emotional.

(5) Often give players some praise to stimulate their fighting spirit.Before that, I always found fault and blamed them blindly. (6) I find that when I am physically and mentally exhausted, troubles will come to my mind, so I maintain a 10-hour rest period every day, and insist on taking a nap in the afternoon, even a 5-minute nap is very helpful to boost my spirits. (7) In the busyness, I have eliminated all kinds of troubles and extended my life span.Now that I'm 85, I don't want to retire yet.Of course, I know I am old when I repeat these stories over and over again. (Editor's note: Connie Mack has not read such books, but still sets some rules for himself. Why don't we list those things that we think are beneficial to life as our own code of conduct?)