Medford mail tribune., August 07, 1960, Image 34

Be clad you worry! It's a sign of intelligence.
The smarter you are, the more worries you
have. The feeble-minded and lower animals seldom
do much worrying, for their I.Q. is too low.
Worry is the badge of a go-getter; the creator
of new products; the spur to invention. Thus, Dr.
Jenner worried over the death rate from smallpox
and discovered vaccination. Edison fretted about
poor kerosene lamps, and he came up with the
electric light.
So thank God for worry, but simply learn to
avoid some of the medical side effects, such as
peptic ulcer, spastic colitis, insomnia, and other
neurotic ailments. To do so, you should adopt the
following rules:
1. Externalize your worries. Focus on outside
problems, and don't turn your attention toward
your "innards." Each week approximately 20 mil
lion Americans consult doctors. Vet half have no
diagnosable physical ailments whatsoever! They
are medical "worry warts."
If you are now worrying about cancer or heart
attacks, arthritis or abdominal ailments, the
chances are 50-50 that you simply need more
worries but of an outside sort You have too much
idle and unharnessed brain power.
So become active in a church. Join a civic club.
Enlist in the fine work of the Red Cross, YMCA,
or CYO. Harness your excess I.Q. to outside
problems. Your life will take on more zest then.
2. Budget your worries. Make a list each night
of tomorrow's duties. Include both minor and
major chores, such as the breakfast dishes, making
beds, ironing, shopping.
Then become a "clock watcher," competing with
the minute hand. And as soon as you finish an item,
cross it out boldly. I even use a thick red pencil
to make my daily accomplishments stand out more
vividly. My ego expands each time I scratch out .
one more task.
This written agenda is very effective; it saves
time and indecision when you hit a lull. Otherwise
you go around in circles, wondering: "What should
I do next?"
3. Farm out special worries. Hire an expert to
handle these technical problems.
' If you have a lump in your breast, don't fritter
away valuable months in futile worry. Instead,
go to a doctor at once. Let him handle this medical
worry for you.
If the lump turns out to be simply a fatty tumor,
as it is most likely to be diagnosed, you will have
fanr the
wBiririgir
Here if you must fret! are
some hints from a renowned
physician-psychologist on
doing it to greater advantage
'9
By GEORGE W. CRANE, Ph. D., M.D.
saved months of needless alarm. If, however, it
really is cancer, then early treatment is the best
way to cure it.
If you men tend to develop ulcers in the spring
as the income-tax deadline looms up, why not
hire a lawyer or tax accountant? It is far more
efficient to pay his modest fee than to work your
self up into a psychological "stew."
4. Shelve your workaday worries on the Sab
bath. My mother taught us children not to labor
on Sunday. So I made it a habit never to study
after midnight Saturday.
Even if I knew I had to face a heavy schedule
or fearsome examination on the following Monday,
I simply shrugged and took a "so what" attitude
on Sunday.
Meanwhile, most of my classmates would moan
and groan on a seven-day basis about school
problems. If they took even an hour on Sunday
for fun or relaxation, they were hounded by a
guilt feeling. But I felt relaxed and virtuous over
my no-study habit on Sunday!
Indeed, after many years of specializing in psy
chiatry, I have come to the firm belief that it wasn't
an arbitrary whim that caused God to urge us to
quit work one day a week. He realized we humans
need this break in our constant worrying over
workaday problems.
5. Obtain a scapegoat. We married men often
employ, our wives as the convenient family scape
goat, and they seem to understand.
We explode at home and thus vent our office
or factory tensions. And we pass the buck when
our children seek our permission by saying, "Go
ask your mother."
You bachelors don't have this wonderful safety
valve, which is partly the reason you have far
more ulcers, insomnia, and spastic colitis. You
can't divide your worries or pass the buck to a
scapegoat. Actually, a wife adds several years to
her husband's longevity, and married women like
wise are less neurotic than single women.
6. Get on God's "team." Follow Abraham
Lincoln's motto of trying to "plant roses where
thistles grew before."
If you are active in spiritual organizations, such
as the church, then you don't need to carry your
worries past your bedtime curfew. In case you
ever are troubled with insomnia, just lift your
right hand high above the covers, as if to place
, it in the clasp of the Almighty, and whisper:
"Lord, I'm trying to be a good member of Your
'team.' But I have a heavy day's work ahead of
me tomorrow, so I need eight hours of sound
slumber. Will you please take over the night shift
for me?"
Then let your uplifted arm drop limply upon
the bedcovers. You'll be surprised at how fast you
drift off into deep sleep.
God never refuses to take over the night shift
of any worried player on His team!
Victor Hugo realized this when he said: "When
you have accomplished your daily task, go to sleep
in peace; God is awake."
COVER:
Alas, as Don Neiser's painting affirms,
things are seldom what they seem. We bet
the lady also learned a lesson once in
a tohile it's wise to let your hair down.
family
WeeJrly
LEONARD S. DAVIDOW l-midcnt ami fMUIicr
WAITER C. DREYFUS ViVc Praidcnt
PATRICK E. O'ROURKE ,1dirrli.iiio Director
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1M0, FAMILY WEEKLY MAGAZINE, INC., i
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August 7, 1960
Board of Editors
ERNEST V. HEYN Editor-in-Chief
BEN KARTMAN Kmutivr Editor
ROBERT FITZGIBBON Managing Editor
MARGARET BELL feature Editor
PHILLIP DYKSTRA A-l Director
MELANIE DE PROFT Food Editor
S3
Bob Dritcoll, Irmo Heldmon. John Hochmann, Jerry Klein,
Harold London, Jock Ryan; Peer Oppenheimer, Hollywood.
I N. Michigan Ave., Chicogo I, III. All rights reserved.