THE SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS 



your mind into new channels. Tell a humorous story, 

 and laugh at the stories of others. 



But this after all is only tentative. You must go 

 farther. You must cultivate the habit of cheerfulness 

 as a mental attitude. Remember that worry kills 

 not work. You must get away from the habit of worry- 

 ing if you would not live a life of misery and grow 

 prematurely old. 



But how ? 



By an all-round perfectionment of character, a 

 building up of temperament along the lines of fairness, 

 unselfishness, high ideals. But most of all, perhaps, 

 by the cultivation of courage. Courage, to be sure, 

 depends to a certain extent upon the circulation of the 

 blood, literally upon a strong heart ; so mere physical 

 development helps to secure it. But this is only a 

 beginning. There is moral courage that transcends 

 the physical; which latter, indeed, may often be con- 

 founded with bravado. Moral courage also is doubt- 

 less in a measure a matter of inheritance ; but it is sus- 

 ceptible of great development. 



Some one has said that courage consists in having 

 done the thing before. There is a world of truth in 

 that practical view. General Grant has told us how 

 frightened he was on entering his first battle. The stage 

 fright of the beginner is proverbial. But if you meet 

 your first difficulties with bold face, even though the 

 heart is sinking, you help yourself over the momentary 

 obstacle and prepare yourself to banish like difficulties 

 in future. 



This applies not merely to the great trials of life, but 



