Keep Happy

Part 1

KEEP HAPPY

SOME OTHER BOOKS

BY EUSTACE MILES, M.A.

ECONOMY OF ENERGY, AND HOW TO SECURE IT. HOW TO PREPARE ESSAYS, ARTICLES, LECTURES, SPEECHES, ETC. THE POWER OF CONCENTRATION: AND HOW TO ACQUIRE IT. PREVENTION AND CURE. LIFE AFTER LIFE. HOW TO REMEMBER; WITHOUT AND WITH MEMORY SYSTEMS. THE URIC ACID FETISH. With C. H. Collings. QUICKNESS. THE E.M. SYSTEM OF PHYSICAL CULTURE--with Two Charts of Exercises. HEALTH AND COUNSEL BUREAU. CURATIVE EXERCISES. LET’S PLAY THE GAME. A WEEK’S PROTEID DIET. QUICK AND EASY RECIPES. FIRST RECIPES. HOW TO BEGIN A CHANGE OF DIET.

KEEP HAPPY

BY EUSTACE MILES, M.A.

NEW YORK FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1920, by FREDERICK A. STOKES COMPANY

FOREWORD

On my Fiftieth Birthday (Sunday, September 22, 1918), after a good day’s work, I start, in the afternoon, to spend the few hours before our evening meal in writing down some ideas that may help others (besides myself, who need them as much as anyone, since I am beginning my second half-century), to indulge less in that habit of fear, worry, resentment, and hurry, which must be regarded as a form of suicide, slow indeed, but working in a vicious circle and with self-increasing force, and poisoning and paralysing others besides the respectable offenders themselves.

The chief remedy is--keep happy.

We have had our attention so fixed on prohibitions--the “Thou shalt not” Commandments--that we have, as a Nation, ignored the positive commandments of the Old and New Testaments; among which a very frequently repeated one was “Rejoice” or “Keep Happy.” Others, besides the Master, told us not to worry, not to be afraid, not to be angry, not to be bitter; but to be glad and happy. The orthodox should remember that Happiness is a virtue, however unusual, and Non-Happiness a sin, however common and respectable.

I give one quotation alone--though the usual translation does not convey the real force of the Greek words of Philippians iv. 4-7:--

“Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.... The Lord is at hand. Be careful (anxious) for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.”

C. D. Larson’s book, “Just be Glad,” was on my table, and gave me the thought of writing on this subject. Larson offers capital ideas on the mental side, but he does not tell people how to be glad; and, especially, he leaves out all the Physical Helps.

In this little Birthday offering, I shall include a few Physical as well as Mental Helps--a few out of many, since space is limited--so that readers may be able to keep happy easily.

The art is not new, but--like the habit of deep, full, rhythmical breathing--is always needed.

There are millions who have scarcely begun to recognise, at least to the extent of acting upon the facts, that, while their Happiness itself depends largely upon their digestion, their elimination of waste matter, their circulation, etc., these influences themselves depend largely on (1) the choice of foods and drinks, the way of eating and drinking, the breathing and other exercises, and so forth--and on (2) the maintenance of Happiness itself, or at least the avoidance of worry and resentment, etc., and the expression of Happiness, until Happiness actually is attracted and comes into a prepared nest.

KEEP HAPPY

KEEP HAPPY

Why Keep Happy? A Contrast

First work out the contrast. Before reading further, think what happens when one keeps the opposite of happy, whatever be the actual stage between the extreme homicidal or suicidal violence or suicidal melancholia on the one hand, and, on the other hand, ordinary fear, worry, resentment, depression, grumpiness, and so on.

* * * * *

Those who wish to study the effects of these states of mind more fully, can consult Elmer Gates’ “The Mind and the Brain,” or William S. Sadler’s “Physiology of Faith and Fear,” both quoted in my book. Professor Elmer Gates, of the Smithsonian Institute, Washington, says:--

“My experiments show that irascible, malevolent, and depressing emotions generate in the system injurious compounds, some of which are extremely poisonous; also that agreeable, happy emotions generate chemical compounds of nutritious value, which stimulate the cells to manufacture energy....

“If an evil emotion is dominant, then during that period the respiration contains volatile poisons, which are expelled through the breath and are characteristic of these emotions.

“Wearisome, unpleasant memories weaken health, and do not generate thought energy. Cure is accomplished in expelling these by another crop of wholly pleasant memories, which put the necessary structures of the mind in systematic order and teach the patient how to use the mental faculties.”

Therefore, keep happy.

Part 2

On page 40 of “Economy of Energy” will be found a summary of some results of states of mind:--

“They affect:--

“The heart, and the circulation--both its rate, and its distribution of blood; (unfavourable states of mind tend to anaemia or dysxmia, or to congestion, etc.).

“The actual chemical condition of the blood and the lymph.

“The lungs, and the rhythm and the fulness of the breathing, and the amount of oxygen inhaled, and of carbonic acid gas, etc., exhaled.

“The digestive and ‘assimilative’ organs and functions.

“The curative energies of the body; which include:--

“The excretory organs--the bowels, kidneys, skin, etc. (Thus fear may act as a diuretic.)

“The muscular system in general (as when it is paralysed by fear--for instance, when one feels ‘all of a tremble’).

“The appearance--the attitude, the position of the organs, the expression of the face, etc.

“The voice--its tone and timbre, and the words used or repressed.

“The nervous system--partly influenced indirectly by the altered breathing, and by the blood, and by the effects of the state of mind upon the Solar Plexus.

“The energy and endurance.

“The poise, and ease of self-mastery, self-recovery, and self-direction.

“The brain--the clearness of thought, etc.

“The influence of the person on others--especially in the immediate neighbourhood.

“The direction and bias of the mind in the future, states of mind tending to become habitual apart from the active will.”

Therefore, keep happy.

“Anxiety (which includes fear) saps more life in a day than work does in a week.” Anxiety is unnecessary, unproductive, destructive work. It is hard work. It is sinful work.

We must remember how prevalent are the states of mind in which fear is one of the factors. For fear is a factor in worry, and usually even in anger, and in depression. These words from M. J. M. Hickson’s “Healer” are worth reading:--

“We have very seldom reflected upon the fact that fear runs like a baleful thread through the whole web of our life from beginning to end. We are born into the atmosphere of fear and dread, and the mother who bore us had lived in the same atmosphere for weeks and months before we were born. We are surrounded in infancy and childhood by clouds of fear and apprehension on the part of our parents, nurses, and friends. As we advance in life, we become instinctively, or by experience, afraid of almost everything. We are afraid of our parents, afraid of our teachers, afraid of our playmates, afraid of ghosts, afraid of rules and regulations and punishments, afraid of the doctor, the dentist, the surgeon. Our adult life is a state of chronic anxiety, which is fear in a milder form. We are afraid of failure in business, afraid of disappointments and mistakes, afraid of enemies, open or concealed; afraid of poverty, afraid of public opinion, afraid of accidents, of sickness, of death, and unhappiness after death. Man is like a haunted animal, from the cradle to the grave, the victim of real or imaginary fears, not only his own, but those reflected upon him from the superstitions, self-deceptions, sensory illusions, false beliefs, and concrete errors of the whole human race, past and present.

“Fear not only affects the mind and the nervous and muscular tissues, but the molecular chemical transformations of the organic network, even to the skin, the hair, and the teeth. This might be expected of a passion that disturbs the whole mind, which is represented or externalised in the whole body.

“How does fear operate upon the body to produce sickness? By paralysing the nerve centres, especially those of the vasomotor nerves, thus producing not only muscular relaxation, but capillary congestions of all kinds. This condition of the system invites attack, and there is no resilience or power of resistance. The gates of the citadel have been opened from within, and the enemy may enter at any point.”

Therefore keep happy.

First because, once again, non-happiness is a mistake. It acts, as I said just now, in a vicious circle, increasing itself. It poisons the blood, and this very poisoning tends to produce more non-happiness. It radiates itself, and is infectious. It inclines to become a fixed and sub-conscious habit. It sinks down into the sub-conscious self, and afterwards expresses itself in various ways which (as Psychoanalysts show) are not usually associated with their true mental cause. It is toxic, and produces non-health and non-efficiency, by wasting power and force; by bringing fatigue; by encouraging bad sleep; by injuring the whole body; by cramping the energies; by “distracting” the body and mind, and thus hindering concentration; by impeding the circulation, and the elimination of waste-matters; and by upsetting the rhythm and the deepness and thoroughness of the breathing, and all the vibrations of the physical system. Besides, it is ugly. It militates against financial success, and against social success--for who wants a non-happy acquaintance?--and against intellectual success.

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