书城外语人性的弱点全集(英文朗读版)
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第47章 PART 5Fundamental Facts You Should Know About Worr

That is the philosophy of Lowell Thomas.I recently spent a week-end at his farm;and I noticed that he had these wordsfrom Psalm CXVIII framed and hanging on the walls of his broadcasting studio where he would see them often:

This is the day which the Lord hath made;we will rejoice and be glad in it.

John Ruskin had on his desk a simple piece of stone on whichwas carved one word:TODAY.And while I haven’t a piece of stone on my desk,I do have a poem pasted on my mirror where I can see it when I shave every morning—a poem that Sir William Osier always kept on his desk—a poem written by the famous Indian dramatist,Kalidasa:

Salutation To The Dawn

Look to this day!

For it is life,the very life of life.In its brief courseLie all the verities and realities of your existence:The bliss of growthThe glory of action

The splendour of achievement.For yesterday is but a dreamAnd tomorrow is only a vision,

But today well lived makes yesterday a dream of happiness And every tomorrow a vision of hope.

Look well,therefore,to this day!Such is the salutation to the dawn.

So,the first thing you should know about worry is this:if you want to keep it out of your life,do what Sir William Osier did—Shut the iron doors on the past and the future.Live in Day-tight Compartments.

Why not ask yourself these questions,and write down the answers?

1.Do I tend to put off living in the present in order to worry about the future,or to yearn for some “magical rose garden over the horizon”?

2.Do I sometimes embitter the present by regretting things that happened in the past—that are over and done with?

3.Do I get up in the morning determined to “Seize the day”—to get the utmost out of these twenty-four hours?

4.Can I get more out of life by “living in day-tight compartments”?

5.When shall I start to do this?Next week?...Tomorrow?...Today?

Chapter 32

A Magic Formula for Solving Worry Situations

Would you like a quick,sure-fire recipe for handling worry situations—a technique you can start using right away,before you go any further in reading this book?

Then let me tell you about the method worked out by Willis H.Carrier,the brilliant engineer who launched the air-conditioning industry,and who is now head of the world-famous Carrier Corporation in Syracuse,New York.It is one of the best techniques I ever heard of for solving worry problems,and I got it from Mr.Carrier personally when we were having lunch together one day at the Engineers’Club in New York.

“When I was a young man,”Mr.Carrier said,“I worked for the Buffalo Forge Company in Buffalo,New York.I was handed the assignment of installing a gas-cleaning device in a plant of the Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company at Crystal City,Missouri—a plant costing millions of dollars.The purpose of this installation was to remove the impurities from the gas so it could be burned without injuring the engines.This method of cleaning gas was new.It had been tried only once before—and under different conditions.In my work at Crystal City,Missouri,unforeseen difficulties arose.It worked after a fashion—but not well enough to meet the guarantee we had made.

“I was stunned by my failure.It was almost as if someone had struck me a blow on the head.My stomach,my insides,began to twist and turn.For a while I was so worried I couldn’t sleep.

“Finally,common sense reminded me that worry wasn’tgetting me anywhere;so I figured out a way to handle my problem without worrying.It worked superbly.I have been using this same anti-worry technique for more than thirty years.It is simple.Anyone can use it.It consists of three steps:

“Step I.I analysed the situation fearlessly and honestly and figured out what was the worst that could possibly happen as a result of this failure.No one was going to jail me or shoot me.That was certain.True,there was a chance that I would lose my position;and there was also a chance that my employers would have to remove the machinery and lose the twenty thousand dollars we had invested.

“Step II.After figuring out what was the worst that could possibly happen,I reconciled myself to accepting it,if necessary.I said to myself:This failure will be a blow to my record,and it might possibly mean the loss of my job;but if it does,I can always get another position.Conditions could be much worse;and as far as my employers are concerned—well,they realise that we are experimenting with a new method of cleaning gas,and if this experience costs them twenty thousand dollars,they can stand it.They can charge it up to research,for it is an experiment.

“After discovering the worst that could possibly happen and reconciling myself to accepting it,if necessary,an extremely important thing happened:I immediately relaxed and felt a sense of peace that I hadn’t experienced in days.

“Step III.From that time on,I calmly devoted my time and energy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had already accepted mentally.

“I now tried to figure out ways and means by which I might reduce the loss of twenty thousand dollars that we faced.I made several tests and finally figured out that if we spent another five thousand for additional equipment,our problem would be solved.

We did this,and instead of the firm losing twenty thousand,we made fifteen thousand.

“I probably would never have been able to do this if I had kept on worrying,because one of the worst features about worrying is that it destroys our ability to concentrate.When we worry,our minds jump here and there and everywhere,and we lose all power of decision.However,when we force ourselves to face the worst and accept it mentally,we then eliminate all those vague imaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able to concentrate on our problem.

“This incident that I have related occurred many years ago.It worked so superbly that I have been using it ever since;and,as a result,my life has been almost completely free from worry.”