Chapter 9 don't get discouraged by little things

Life is only a few decades, so precious time should not be wasted worrying about little things that will be forgotten within a year. The following story may make you unforgettable, and it is very dramatic.The protagonist of this story is Robert Moore. "In March 1945, I learned the most important lesson of my life," he said. "I learned it at a depth of 276 feet near the Indochina Peninsula. At that time, I was in Beja SS318 with 87 other people. We spotted a Japanese flotilla coming our way from the radar. We surfaced at dawn to attack. I spotted a Japanese destroyer escort, an oil tanker, and a minelayer. We fired 3 torpedoes at the destroyer escort, but none of them hit the target. The destroyer didn't know it was under attack and kept going, we were going to attack the last ship— — the minelayer. Suddenly, it turned around and came straight toward us (a Japanese plane spotted us at 60 feet of water and radioed our location to the Japanese minelayer). We dived to 150 feet deep to avoid its detection and be prepared for depth charges. We added a few extra layers of plugs to all hatch covers, and to keep our sinking absolutely stable, we turned off All fans, the entire cooling system and all generators.

"Three minutes later, there was a sudden catastrophe—six depth charges exploded all around us, pushing us down to a depth of 276 feet. Being attacked in deep water is a very dangerous thing - if it is less than 500 feet, almost all doom. And we were attacked in less than 500 feet of water, if from safety In terms of perspective, the water depth is equivalent to only reaching the knee part of the person. "The Japanese minelayer kept dropping depth charges for 15 hours, with such force that they would blow a hole in the sub if the depth charges were within 17 feet of the sub. A dozen or two dozen depth charges exploded about 50 feet away from us, and we were ordered to 'hold' - to lie still on our bed, to keep calm. I was so scared that I could barely breathe: 'This is dead With the fans and cooling system turned off, the temperature in the submarine was almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit, but I was chilled by fear, put on a sweater and a jacket with a fur collar, But I was still shivering from the cold. My teeth kept chattering, and my whole body was breaking out in cold sweat.

"After 15 hours, the Japanese minelayer attack suddenly stopped. Apparently, the Japanese minelayer used up all its depth charges before leaving. Those 15 hours of attack felt like 15 million years. My past life unfolded before me, reminding me of all the bad things I've done, and the little things I've worried about. I was a bank clerk before I joined the Navy, and I used to work too many hours. Long term, low salary, and few opportunities for advancement. I used to worry about not being able to buy my own house, new car, or good clothes for my wife. I hated my previous boss because he Always looking for trouble for me. I remember coming home every night tired and sleepy and arguing with my wife over trivial things. I even complained about the scar on my forehead from a car accident. Worry about the scars under me.

"Those worrisome things that seemed big all those years ago turned out to be so insignificant when the depth charges threatened to send me to the west. That's when I told myself that if I still Given the chance to see the sun and the stars again, I will never worry again. Never! Never! Never! During those 15 horrible hours in the submarine, I learned more about life than I learned so much more from the books I spent 4 years in college." We are often brave enough to face life's big crises, only to be overwhelmed and overwhelmed by the little things.In his "Diary", Samuel White Busey tells of seeing Sir Harry Pooh beheaded in London: When Sir Harry Pooh went to the guillotine, he did not ask others to spare his life, but asked the executioner Don't hit the sore spot on his neck.

And that's another thing Admiral Bader discovered in the cold, dark nights of Antarctica—people under him were often sad about the little things, but didn't care enough about the big ones.For example, they can face dangerous and hard work without complaint, working in the cold of minus 80 degrees Fahrenheit; The people on the team don't talk to each other because they suspect that the other party is misplacing things and taking up their own space. I also know a guy on the team who pays attention to the so-called fasting and chewing health method. Every mouthful must be chewed 28 times. Swallow it; and there is another person who must find a seat in the hall where he can't see this guy before he can eat the meal."

"In an Antarctic camp," said Admiral Bader, "any little thing like that would drive a trained man crazy." In fact, Admiral Bader could have added: "a little thing" if it happens In married life, it can also drive people crazy, and even cause "half the heartbreaks in the world." This is what authority figures say.Judge Joseph Shabas of Chicago said after arbitrating more than 40,000 marriage cases: "The basic reasons for unsatisfactory married life are usually small things." New York County District Attorney Frank Hogan He also said: "More than half of our criminal cases are due to small things: being heroic in a bar, insulting someone by arguing about small things, inappropriate words, rude behavior-that's the small things, Injuries and murders are the result. There are few men who are truly naturally cruel, and some who make great mistakes, from small wounds to self-esteem, some petty humiliation, or unsatisfied vanity, which result in half the world's broken hearts thing."

When Mrs. Roosevelt was first married, it was said, she was "worried every day" that her new cook was a poor cook. "But if it happened now," said Mrs. Roosevelt, "I'd shrug it off and forget about it." That's what a grown-up does.Even Catherine, the most despotic of Russian empresses, usually just laughed it off when the cook spoiled her meal. Once, we went to a friend's house in Chicago for dinner.When dividing the dishes, he made some small mistakes.I didn't notice it at the time, and if I had, I wouldn't have cared.But his wife saw it and immediately jumped up and accused him in front of us. "John," she cried, "look what you're doing! Will you never learn how to divide your dishes?"

Then she said to us: "He always makes mistakes, and he just doesn't want to pay attention." Maybe he didn't do it well, but I really admire him for being able to get along with his wife for 20 years.Frankly, I'd rather just eat two hot dogs with mustard - as long as it's comfortable - than eat Peking duck and shark's fin while listening to her babble. Not long after that incident, my wife and I had some friends over for dinner.Just as they were about to arrive, my wife noticed that there were 3 napkins that did not match the color of the tablecloth. "I rushed to the kitchen," she later told me, "and found three other napkins had been sent out for the wash. The guests had already arrived at the door, and I didn't have time to change any more. I almost burst into tears. I It was like: 'Why did I make such a stupid mistake and ruin the evening?' Then I thought: 'Why let it ruin me?' So I went in to dinner and decided to enjoy it. And I did. I'd rather have my friends think I'm a laid-back housewife," she told me, " than a neurotic, grumpy woman. And according to me As far as I know, no one has noticed the napkin issue."

Everyone knows a famous law saying: "The law doesn't care about small things." Nor should a man worry about these small things, if he hopes to seek peace of mind. Most of the time, all it takes to get over the obsessions caused by little things is a shift in focus and emphasis—that is, to give you a new perspective that makes you a little happier.My friend Homer Croy is an author and has written several books.He gave us a good example of how this can be done.When he used to write, he was always driven mad by the sound of the kettle in his New York apartment.For there would be a bang of steam, and then another clatter.When he heard it, he would sit at his desk and scream angrily.

"Then," said Homer Croy, "I was out camping with some friends once, and when I heard the crackling of the logs, it occurred to me how they sounded like a kettle, Why do I like this sound, but hate that sound? When I got home, I said to myself: "The crackling of wood in the fire is a very nice sound. The sound of a hot water kettle is not much different from it. I should Just go back to sleep and ignore the noise.' Well, I did. For the first few days I still noticed the sound of the kettle, but before long I forgot all about it. "The same goes for a lot of other little anxieties that get demoralized because we don't like them, and that's because we exaggerate the importance of those little things..."

Disraeli said: "Life is too short to dwell on little things." "Those words," André Morris said in "This Week," "have helped me get through a lot of painful experiences. We often end up with little things, little things that should be dismissed." Things get distracted... We only have a few short decades in this world, and we waste irrevocably precious time worrying about little things that will be forgotten by all within a year Instead of worrying. Let it not be so, let us only act and feel worth doing, think great thoughts, experience real feelings, and do what must be done." Even someone as famous as Giblin sometimes forgets that "life is too short for little things".The result?He and his brother-in-law fought one of the most famous lawsuits that ever took place in the history of Valemont--and it was so well fought that it is recorded in a book called "Gibling's Domain in Valemont." The story goes like this: Kipling married Caroline Barrister, a girl from Valemont, built a beautiful house in Bratobolo, Valemont, and settled there. Down, ready to spend the rest of his life.His brother-in-law, Beatty Barrister, became Giblin's best friend, and the two often worked and played together. Later, Giblin bought a piece of land from Barrister, and agreed in advance that Barrister could mow grass on the land.One day, Barrister discovered that Kipling had started a garden on the meadow.For this, he was very angry and furious, and Kipling also retorted. The two good friends turned against each other, and the quarrel was so dark. A few days later, Giblin was riding his bicycle out to play, and his brother-in-law suddenly drove a carriage from the other side of the road, forcing Giblin to fall off the bicycle.And Giblin, who once wrote "Everyone is drunk, you should be alone", also lost his head at this time, sued the government, and imprisoned Barrister.Then they fought a very lively lawsuit, and reporters from some big cities crowded into this small town, and the news spread all over the world.Things couldn't be resolved, and the quarrel ended in Kipling and his wife leaving their home in America for good, all worrying and quarreling over one small thing: a load of hay. Pericles said 2,400 years ago: "Come on, folks! We've been procrastinating too long on little things." And that's right, we are procrastinating too long. Here is one of the funniest stories told by Dr. Harry Emerson Fostic--about how a giant in the forest won and lost war: "On the slopes of Long Mountain, Colorado, lies the remains of a great tree. Naturalists tell us it is over 400 years old. It sprouted just before Columbus landed in America; the first settlers arrived in America When it came, it was only half grown. In its long life, it had been struck by lightning 14 times; in the past 400 years, countless storms had attacked it, and it could overcome and stand tall. But in the end, A small swarm of beetles attacked the tree, causing it to fall to the ground. The beetles bit from the roots and inwardly, and gradually weakened the tree only by their small but constant attacks. This giant of the forest, age has not weakened the tree. It withered, and the lightning did not knock it down, the storm did not break it, but it fell at last with a small army of beetles that could be crushed between thumb and forefinger." Aren't we all like the battle-hardened tree in the forest?We've weathered countless storms and lightning strikes in our lives, and we've all come through.But it leaves our hearts to be eaten by little worry beetles—those little beetles that don't matter. A few years ago, I went to Teton National Park in Wyoming.I was there with Wyoming Highway Commissioner Charles Shepherd, and some friends of his.We were going to visit together a Rockefeller house in that park, but the car I was in took a wrong turn and got lost.By the time I got to the house, I was an hour behind the other cars.Mr. Shepherd was already there, but he didn't have the key to the gate, so he waited an hour in that hot, mosquito-infested forest for us to arrive.There were so many mosquitoes that would drive a saint mad, but they couldn't beat Charles Sheffield.Was he busy chasing away mosquitoes when we arrived?No, he was playing the flute (while waiting for us, he broke off a little aspen branch and made a little flute), in memory of a man who knew how to ignore little things. So be sure to break the habit of worrying before it destroys you.Here's the second rule: "Don't allow yourself to worry about little things that should be discarded and forgotten. Remember: life is too short to worry about little things."