13 12 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



worry will melt away into a possibility of accomplishment. There are 

 women who would not be caught napping in the daytime and who would be 

 afraid to be found sitting in an easy-chair in the forenoon. Still, it may 

 be a clear gain of time to indulge in such resting periods, and the couch 

 and the easy-chair should be frequently used. 



Oftentimes we spend as much energy in useless effort to get things done 

 when we do not feel like doing them as in the accomplishment of much 

 more when we are fit for it. We are more satisfied with work done in the 

 morning when we are fresh, than we are likely to be with that done later 

 in the day when the spirit lags from want of strength. 



It has been noted by housewives that perhaps just before dinner, when 

 the family is expected home, or at any other critical moment in the day's 

 work, a nervous tension is invited which wearies more than does actual 

 work. One way to get along at such a time is to screw up the nervous 

 energy a little harder and try to go through the ordeal of being the leading 

 spirit in the household and at the same time seeing that the dinner is on 

 the table in good condition and properly served; quite a different way is 

 to relax physically, and by such relaxing throw off nervous tension with 

 the belief that everything will come out all right and that even if there are 

 mistakes they are not serious. During such relaxation is a good time to use 

 the rocking-chair, to close the eyes, relax the jaw, rest the head on the 

 chest, and become possessed with the idea that "all's right with the 

 world." 



Repose settles very gracefully upon a housewife. The other members 

 of the family do not always come home with the spirit of helpfulness and 

 cheerfulness, and when a woman finds it necessary to be the pacifier or 

 the encourager it will be a time for her to call upon her reserve power of 

 strength. She therefore needs to store up energy for the unexpected, 

 because emergencies are always having to be met in the household. If 

 she does not plan for the unusual, the unusual is likely to be the " straw 

 that breaks the camel's back." Remember the Jamaican couplet: 



" Doan run too fas' wi' dat load o' limes; 

 Ef you run too fas', you will run two times." 



Rest for a minute. — The wise woman will not fail to take a few minutes 

 for rest several times during even her busiest and most taxing day. Indeed, 

 it is on just such a day that she most needs to practice the beneficial gospel 

 of relaxation. To relax — to let go the nerve, brain, and muscle strain — ■ 

 for even sixty seconds is a positive gain to the entire system. Complete 

 relaxation and thorough rest are most easily obtained by lying down and 

 unreservedly yielding the support of the body to the couch. Thus to 

 spend five or ten minutes in the middle of each day would enable many a 



