THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS 



opera, theatre, or other pleasure gathering, thus break- 

 ing in on any habit of earlier retiring if such were 

 formed; and because regularity is the keynote of suc- 

 cess in acquiring good habits of sleeping. A person 

 who retires to-night at ten, to-morrow night at twelve, 

 the next at nine, and so on through the week can scarcely 

 be said to have any habits of sleeping. He simply ful- 

 fils the imperative function of sleeping because he must, 

 and when he may. While such customs are con- 

 tinued he can never know how much sleep he really 

 requires, nor how to secure it to best advantage. 



The first pre-requisite to acquiring good habits of 

 sleeping is, then, to accustom oneself to retiring at a 

 fixed and definite time. A very difficult prescription, 

 it may be said; but a necessary one. If you must re- 

 main up till twelve, half or even one-third of your days, 

 let your regular hour for retiring be twelve every night. 

 If your business hours begin at such time in the morning 

 that this will not allow you time enough for sleep, then 

 there is something radically wrong with your system 

 of living. You are burning the candle at both ends 

 and ill-health will be the penalty. You must curtail 

 your day at one end or the other, preferably at the 

 night end if you can so arrange it. 



But whatever the hour most expedient for retiring, 

 once selected let it be adhered to rigorously. By so 

 doing you will teach your brain not to expect sleep till 

 that time; and what is quite as important, to expect 

 it at that time. This accomplished, the first and per- 

 haps most important lesson in sound sleeping has been 



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