i3 x 4 The Cornell Reading-Courses 



perform the part, who says, " I am afraid I am going to fail." The fear 

 of failure is a prompt invitation to fail. To entertain this idea of failure 

 is almost sure to bring about direful results, and because of such an idea 

 many refuse to perform a duty that would afterwards be a source of satis- 

 faction. If one does not allow the idea of failure to enter the mind, or, if 

 it does, drives it out immediately, there is great promise of success. There 

 is much in the philosophy of abandon in work; when, letting results come 

 as they will, one may be sure of doing the best that is possible. 



Relation of bodily actions and attitudes to mental states. — Mental and 

 emotional states are inevitably more or less influenced by bodily condition 

 and activities. A dejected physical attitude tends to develop a dejected 

 mental state. On the other hand, there is nothing more effective for ridding 

 oneself of " the blues " than to stretch the body to its full height, to breathe 

 deeply, and to express lightness and joyousness in bodily action; to recall 

 some witty saying and laugh over it again, or sing a bit of some merry 

 song, or run gaily out to the barn and call the chickens in cheerful tones, 

 or take a few steps of the dance that one delighted in before one married 

 and " settled down." That " settling down " physically and mentally 

 is perhaps the thing of all things that it is most essential to protect oneself 

 against. 



How significant is such a remark as " bowed down with grief " or, if a 

 man has been unfortunate, " he has grown ten years older in a week "! 

 Grief, if yielded to, does bow the body down; so does trouble of all sorts. 

 When things seem to be going all wrong and we have begun to take a solemn 

 attitude toward everyday incidentals, the habit of working the muscles 

 into a smile or a laugh will bring a comfortable inward feeling which really 

 means inward happiness. We generally laugh because we are glad, but 

 psychologists tell us that we shall be glad because we laugh; and if the 

 more natural method of laughing because we are glad has been neglected, 

 it may be well to learn to be glad because we laugh. I knew one woman 

 who had a habit, when there was forewarning of a domestic storm, of re- 

 laxing the muscles of her face into a smile and even of laughing heartily. 

 This may have been a nervous reaction, but it worked like a charm upon 

 the family and the children knew that when the mother's sides were shaking, 

 discord would be disarmed. 



Depressed mental states have an involuntary restrictive effect on all the 

 vital processes. To be " blue " or sad or despondent is to have the breath- 

 ing, the circulation, and the innervation of the body less than normal — 

 the latter to such an extent that not enough nervous energy is sent to the 

 muscles to give them tone and vigor. The results are that the muscles 

 become unduly relaxed, the chest sinks, the head droops, and the feet and 

 legs drag. One must summon the will to the rescue. The inert muscles 



