Chapter 15 don't worry about little things

The following story may make you unforgettable, and it is very dramatic.The man who told this story was called Rob 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 Indochina. At that time, I was in Beja S. Aboard the submarine S. 318. We saw on radar that a small Japanese fleet was heading our way. We surfaced and launched an attack just before dawn. I spotted it through the periscope A Japanese destroyer, a tanker, and a minelayer. We fired three torpedoes at the destroyer, but none of them hit the target. The destroyer did not know it was under attack, and still Continue to move forward. We intend to attack the last minelayer again.

"Suddenly, it turned its head and headed straight for us - a Japanese plane saw us from above at deep water and radioed our position to the Japanese minelayer. We immediately dived to a depth of 150 feet , so as not to be detected by it, and be prepared for depth charges: we added a few extra layers of iron bolts to all the hatch covers, and in order to keep our submarine absolutely stable when it sank, we turned off all Fans and the entire cooling system, all power generating equipment. "Three minutes later, there was a sudden catastrophe - six depth charges exploded around us, pinning us down to a depth of 276 feet. We were all petrified and attacked in less than 1,000 feet of water, It is a very dangerous thing - if it is less than 500 feet, almost all doom. And we were attacked in the water less than half of 500 feet, which is equivalent to only 1 It reached the knees of a person. The Japanese minelayer kept dropping depth charges for 15 hours. If the depth charges were within 17 feet of the submarine, the force of the bomb explosion could blow a bomb on the submarine. Big hole. About 10 to 20 depth charges went off just about 50 feet away from us and we were ordered to 'hold', which means to lie still on the bed and stay calm. I was so scared I could hardly breathe and I thought:' This is dead.' I kept saying to myself, '...this is dead... this is dead.' With all the fans and cooling systems turned off, the temperature inside the sub was almost up to Fahrenheit It was more than 100 degrees, but I was so scared that my whole body was cold. Although I was wearing a sweater and a jacket with a leather collar, I was still shivering from the cold. My teeth kept chattering, and bursts of pain came out all over my body. cold sweat.

"The Japanese minelayer attack went on for 15 hours and then it stopped abruptly. Apparently the Japanese minelayer used up all of its depth charges before leaving. For 15 hours, it felt like Fifteen million years. My past life unfolds before me, reminding me of all the bad things I've done, and all the little things I've ever worried about. Before I joined the Navy, I was a bank clerk, I used to worry about working too many hours, too little pay, and not many opportunities for advancement. I used to worry about not being able to buy my own house, new car, or nice clothes for my wife. I hated my old my boss, because he always made trouble for me. I still remember that when I came home every night, I was always tired and sleepy, and I often quarreled with my wife over trivial matters. I even complained about my forehead. Worry about the scars left by a car accident.

"Those worrisome things that seemed like big things all those years ago turned out to be ridiculous and insignificant at the moment when the depth charges were about to take my life. That's when I promised myself , if I ever get the chance to see the sun and the stars again, I will never, ever worry again. Never! Never! Never! What I learned about life during those 15 horrible hours in the submarine The truth is much more than what I have learned in four years of college." We are usually brave enough to face the big crises in our lives, but we can get overwhelmed by the little things.For example, Samuel White Busey wrote in his diary that he had witnessed the beheading of Sir Harry Pooh in London: when Sir Pooh went to the guillotine, he did not ask others to spare his life, but Ask the executioner not to hit the sore spot on his neck with a knife.

And that's another thing Admiral Bader discovered on the cold, dark night in Antarctica—that his men were often angry about the little things, but they didn't care about the big ones.For example, they can face danger and work hard without complaint, and work in the cold of minus 80 degrees. "However," Admiral Bader said, "I know that there are several people in the same office among them who don't talk to each other because they suspect that the other party has misplaced things and taken their own space. I also know that the team There is a person who is very particular. He insists on eating on an empty stomach and chewing carefully. Each mouthful of food must be chewed 28 times before swallowing; while there is another person who must find a seat in the hall where he cannot be seen before eating. Dinner."

"In an Antarctic camp," said Admiral Bader, "anything can drive the best-trained man mad." In fact, Admiral Bader could have added: "Little things" if they happen to husband and wife In life, it can also drive people crazy, and even cause "half the sad things in the world". At least, that's what the authorities say.After arbitrating more than 40,000 unhappy marriage cases, Chicago Judge Joseph Schamas said: "The root causes of unsatisfactory married life are usually small things." New York County District Attorney Gee Frank Hogan also Said: "More than half of our criminal cases are caused by small things: being heroic in a bar, fighting over small things, making insulting remarks, inappropriate words, rude behavior, etc. It is these little things that result in injuries and murders. Few men are truly cruel by nature, and even those who commit great mistakes do so through a small wound to their pride, or some small humiliation, or vanity An unsatisfied heart results in half the sad things in the world."

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

Then she said to us: "He is always making mistakes, and he is simply absent-minded." Maybe he did not do a good job, but I really admire him for being able to get along with a wife like him for 20 years.Honestly, I'd rather just have a mustard-smeared hot dog or two than listen to her nagging while eating Peking duck and shark's fin, as long as I can eat comfortably. Shortly after that incident, my wife and I had some friends over for dinner.Just as they were coming, my wife noticed that there were 3 napkins that didn't 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 them; I nearly burst into tears. I was Just thinking: 'Why did I make such a stupid mistake and ruin my evening?' Then I thought, why let it ruin me? So, I went in to dinner and decided to enjoy it. And I It really does—I'd rather have my friends think I'm a slacker housewife," she told me, " than a neurotic, curmudgeonly woman. And according to me As far as I know, no one cares about those napkins."

Everyone knows a famous law saying: "The law doesn't care about little things." No one should worry about these little things, if he hopes to obtain peace of mind.Most of the time, all it takes to get over the obsessions caused by small things is to shift perspective and focus—that is, to have a new perspective that makes you happy. 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 house that Rockefeller had built 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.While waiting for us, he broke off a short aspen branch and made a small flute.Was he busy chasing away mosquitoes when we arrived?No, he was playing the flute in honor of a man who knew how to ignore little things.

So be sure to break the habit of worrying before it destroys you.Remember the following rule: "Don't allow yourself to worry about little things that should be thrown away and forgotten. Remember: Life is too short to worry about little things."