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Show Kathleen Norris Says: Worry Versus Planning Bell Syndicate. WNU Features. " uas thinking, dear, that if things go on this way at tht office, it' J be rather fun to move to Dad's old place. We could fix it up." By KATHLEEN NORRIS STOP worrying about that 12-year-old girl of yours who doesn't seem to be like the other pretty girls, who doesn't make friends, who has grown too tall, who has such abrupt manners. She'll wake up some day and turn out to .be a real person, not like you, perhaps, but attractive at-tractive and likable and useful use-ful nonetheless. Stop worrying about little Jerry's eyes. They may indeed be troublesome; trou-blesome; it may be that he won't ever have quite normal sight But in that he'll only be like some seven per cent of the world's men and women who have gone straight ahead, not bothering themselves or anyone else about it. Stop worrying about darling Mar-jorie, Mar-jorie, who is going to have a third baby, when she and Rod really can't afford one. Help her all you can of course. Go into her house and seize upon the nearest job, dampening dampen-ing clothes and ironing them, straightening the playroom, taking the baby for his diphtheria shots and so on. Be the unpaid, almost unnoticed un-noticed servant in her house. But don't criticize her and don't criticize Rod. Ten years go swiftly, and when you see her in 1957, with her trio or quartette of sons and daughters daugh-ters about her, you'll know why she Isn't worrying now. Stop worrying ttbout Henry's business busi-ness and stop asking him worrying questions about it That anxious attitude at-titude Is infinitely distressful to a tired man. Instead of fluttering about him with "But If Joe Coates gets your job, Henry, what will you do? Can't you go to Mr. Potter? Why don't you Just frankly talk to Phil Miller, darling? We simply can't take a cut now. Don't tell Nancy, poor darling, counting on coming out this winter" Be Cheerful, Helpful. Instead of that sort of thing, give Henry a cup of hot consomme, lead him to his big chair, tell him a piece of good news, and while you are leisurely lei-surely sipping your own consomme say dreamily, "I was thinking dear, that if things go on this way at the office lt'd be rather fun to move to Dad's old place. We could fix it up. Do you realize how that would cut down our expenses? Nancy? Why, there are a thousand fascinating fascinat-ing Jobs that child could take in a book store, or with the radio people, peo-ple, or in Miss Johnson's kindergarten, kindergar-ten, and lt'd be a lot better for her than all this keeping up with the Jiabcock girls." This would show that you're not worrying, and you would have the supreme pleasure of seeing the worry wor-ry drop from Henry's tired eyes, too. Stop worrying about germs. You are running chances with germs every time you step out of your door, and often when you don't and so are the children. Sometimes they skip unhealthy anemic bodies and light on the strong and well. Millions Mil-lions of times we get them snd cast them off. Tiredness invites them, so does fear. To gargle the surface off your throat membranes, hold soaked cotton over your nose, slam windows shut remove your shoes before be-fore entering the house is to put yourself Into great shape tor Infections. Infec-tions. I saw quite a young mother in a Pullman dining car the other day, carefully wiping the knives, forks and spoons the darlings were going to use at lunch, and I saw the darlings' nneasy eyes as she did Voir j met er tolvtd anything. r 1 1 INTELLIGENT ACTION Everyone has problems and difficulties. There is always a vague fear of the future, even in the best of circumstancs. The threat of sickness, accident, financial fi-nancial ruin hangs over everyone, every-one, all the time. For most people peo-ple there are more imminent problems. Some can't be solved. There is nothing to do then but to make the best adjustments adjust-ments possible and to bear the ills of this life with grace and dignity. Other difficulties will yield to intelligent action, such as a burden of debt, or some ailment that can' be corrected by surgery. In any case, worry does no good, solves nothing. It can do much harm, as Miss Norris points out in today's article. The children's social awkwardness awkward-ness and physical defects tend to clear up with time. Business and professional uncertainties settle into a smooth pattern. There is nearly always some way out, and the new course may be better than the old, in the long run. So, Miss Norris admonishes, always be hopeful, cheerful and sensible. If you don't lose your bead and succumb to despair, there is some solution. It fust requires intelligent thought and resourceful action. Courage, Cour-age, work and determination will win through the blackest clouds. so. But she couldn't wipe all the doorknobs, windows, blankets, seats, she couldn't wipe the cook's hands and the waiter's coat and those might have been hostelries for seven septilllons of germs on every inch. Possibly her own protected trio were merrily spreading measles or scarlet scar-let fever among the other passengers. passen-gers. What she needed to do was stop worrying. Find a Way Out For worrying, substitute planning. If things are really at such a pitch that you can't do anything but rock your head in your frantic hands and say "This can't go onl I won't stand it It's too much!" then substitute planning. Think the thing out coolly. Say to yourself. "I am a human being and life is short. Why am I wasting it worrying?" You will Immediately Immediate-ly see that you are fretting over something that Is not your business, or something that concerns the opinion opin-ion or criticism of your neighbors and is merely a matter of your own silly pride, or that you can change it "The solution to my own despair and anxiety was right over my head, but it took me months to find It" writes a once-wealthy Los Angeles woman. "It consisted of putting a few bathrooms and partitions in our 18-room house, on a government loan. Dad and I moved up to four glorious attic rooms, long the possession posses-sion of servants. Rents from five downstairs apartments total $340 a month. Doctors and nurses bills are paid, Dad Is a young man again, and I feel like a young woman, children chil-dren married, no more big house troubles, and no worries!" Whatever It is, worry doesn't help. Planning does. |