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QUIT YOUR WORRYING!
BY
GEORGE WHARTON JAMES
AUTHOR OF
"Living the Radiant Life," "What the White Race may learn fromthe Indian," "The story of Scraggles," "California, Romantic andBeautiful," "Our American Wonderlands," etc. etc.
PASADENA, CALIF.
1916
TO THOSE
who are standing on the banks of worry before the ocean of God's loveI cry aloud
"COME ON IN—THE WATER'S FINE!"
CONTENTS
FOREWORD
I THE CURSE OF WORRY II OURS IS THE AGE OF WORRY III NERVOUS PROSTRATION AND WORRY IV HOLY WRIT, THE SAGES AND WORRY V THE NEEDLESSNESS AND USELESSNESS OF WORRY VI THE SELFISHNESS OF WORRY VII CAUSES OF WORRY VIII PROTEAN FORMS OF WORRY IX HEALTH WORRIES X THE WORRIES OF PARENTS XI MARITAL WORRIES XII THE WORRY OF THE SQUIRREL CAGE XIII RELIGIOUS WORRIES AND WORRIERS XIV AMBITION AND WORRY XV ENVY AND WORRY XVI DISCONTENT AND WORRY XVII COWARDICE AND WORRYXVIII WORRY ABOUT MANNERS AND SPEECH XIX THE WORRIES OF JEALOUSY XX THE WORRIES OF SUSPICION XXI THE WORRIES OF IMPATIENCE XXII THE WORRIES OF ANTICIPATIONXXIII HOW OUR WORRY AFFECTS OTHERS XXIV WORRY VERSUS INDIFFERENCE XXV WORRIES AND HOBBIES
JUST BE GLAD
BY JAMES WHITCOMB RILEY
O heart of mine, we shouldn't worry so,
What we have missed of calm we couldn't have, you know!
What we've met of stormy pain,
And of sorrow's driving rain,
We can better meet again,
If it blow.
We have erred in that dark hour, we have known,
When the tear fell with the shower, all alone.
Were not shine and shower blent
As the gracious Master meant?
Let us temper our content
With His own.
For we know not every morrow
Can be sad;
So forgetting all the sorrow
We have had,
Let us fold away our fears,
And put by our foolish tears,
And through all the coming years,
Just be glad.
FOREWORD
Between twenty and thirty years ago, I became involved in a series ofoccurrences and conditions of so painful and distressing a characterthat for over six months I was unable to sleep more than one or twohours out of the twenty-four. In common parlance I was "worryingmyself to death," when, mercifully, a total collapse of mind and bodycame. My physicians used the polite euphemism of "cerebral congestion"to describe my state which, in reality, was one of temporary insanity,and it seemed almost hopeless that I should ever recover my healthand poise. For several months I hovered between life and death, and mybrain between reason and unreason.
In due time, however, both health and mental poise came back inreasonable measure, and I asked myself what would be the result if Ireturned to the condition of worry that culminated in the disaster.This question and my endeavors at its solution led to the gaining of adegree of philosophy which materially changed my attitude toward life.Though some of the chief causes of my past worry were removed therewere still enough adverse