Book 3   Unit 10

                  Text C  Five Methods I Have Used to Banish Worry
                                              Professor William Lyon Phelps

I had the privilege of spending an afternoon with Professor Phelps shortly before his death. Here are the five methods he used to overcome worry. --Dale Carnegie

I. When I was twenty-four years old, my eyes suddenly gave out. After reading three or four minutes, my eyes felt as if they were full of needles; and even when I was not reading, they were so sensitive that I could not face a window. I consulted the best doctors I could find. Nothing seemed to help me. After four o'clock in the afternoon, I simply sat in a chair in the darkest corner of the room, waiting for bedtime. I was terrified. I feared that I would have to give up my career as a teacher. Then a strange thing happened which shows the miraculous (非凡的) effects of the mind over physical illness. When my eyes were at their worst that unhappy winter, I accepted an invitation to address a group of undergraduates. The lights in the lecture hall pained my eyes so intensely that, while sitting on the platform, I was compelled to look at the floor. Yet during my thirty-minute speech, I felt absolutely no pain, and I could look directly at these lights without any blinking at all. Then when the lecture was over, my eyes pained me again. 

I thought then that if I could keep my mind strongly concentrated on something, not for thirty minutes, but for a week, I might be cured. For clearly it was a case of mental excitement triumphing over a bodily illness. 

This experience demonstrated to me the vital importance of one's mental attitude. It taught me the importance of enjoying life while you may. So I live every day now as if it were the first day I had ever seen and the last I were going to see. I am excited about the daily adventure of living, and nobody in a state of excitement will be unduly (过分地) troubled by worries. I love my daily work as a teacher, which has always been more than an occupation to me (11). It is a passion. I love to teach as a painter loves to paint or a singer loves to sing. And I have always felt that one of the chief reasons for success in life is enthusiasm.

II. I have found that I can distract myself from worry by reading an absorbing book. When I was fifty-nine, I had a prolonged nervous breakdown. During that period, I began reading David Alec Wilson's monumental (不朽的) Life of Carlyle. It had a good deal to do with my recovery because I became so absorbed in reading it that I forgot my depression. 

III. At another time in my life when I was terribly depressed, I forced myself to become physically active almost every hour of the day. I played five or six very energetic sets of tennis every morning, then took a bath, had lunch, and played eighteen holes of golf every afternoon. On Friday nights I danced until one o'clock in the morning. I'm a great believer in working up a tremendous sweat. I found that depression and worry oozed out (泄出) of my system with the sweat . 

IV. I learned long ago to avoid the folly (愚蠢) of hurry, rush, and working under tension. I've always tried to apply the philosophy (18) of Wilbur Cross. When he was governor of Connecticut, he said to me: “Whenever I have too many things to do all at once, I sit down and relax and smoke my pipe for an hour and do nothing.”

V. I have also learned that patience and time have a way of resolving our troubles . When I'm worried about something, I try to see my troubles in their proper perspective. I say to myself: “Two months from now I shall not be worrying about this bad break, so why worry about it now? Why not assume now the same attitude that I'll have two months from now?”

                     我用来消除烦恼的五种方法
                         威廉· 莱昂· 费尔普斯教授


    我有幸在费尔普斯教授逝世前不久同他一起度过了一个下午。以下就是他用来消除烦恼的五种方法。--戴尔· 卡内基

    一、在我24岁的时候，我的眼睛突然不行了。看了三四分钟书之后，我的眼睛就觉得好似针扎一般；甚至在我不看书时，它们也很敏感，使我无法面对窗子。我请教过我能找到的最好的医生。似乎什么也帮不了我。下午四点以后，我就坐在房间最暗的角落里的一把椅子上，等着就寝的时间。我很害怕。我害怕我不得不放弃我的教师生涯。后来发生了一件奇怪的事，显示出精神对身体疾病的非凡作用。在那个愁苦的冬天我的眼睛情况最糟糕的时候，我接受了邀请去给一群大学本科生发表演说。演讲厅里的灯光强烈地刺痛了我的眼睛，我坐在讲台上却不得不看着地板。然而在我30分钟的演说期间，我完全没感到眼痛，我能够眼睛不眨一下地直视这些灯光。但演说结束后，我的眼睛又痛起来了。

    当时我想如果我能把我的思想完全集中于某件事上，不是30分钟，而是一个星期，我的眼疾也许可以治好。因为它显然是一个精神兴奋战胜身体疾病的实例。

    这次经历向我显示了一个人的心态的极端重要性。它使我认识到尽可能享受生活的重要性。所以现在我把每一天都当作我所见到的第一天和我将要看到的最后一天来生活。我为每天的生活奇遇而激动，而处于激动状态中的人都不会为忧虑而过分烦恼。我喜欢我作为教师的日常工作，它对我来说一直不只是一个职业。它是一种热情。我喜欢教书，犹如画家喜欢画画，歌唱家热爱唱歌。我一向认为生活中取得成功的主要原因之一就是热情。

    二、我发现读一本引人入胜的书能使我忘却烦恼。我59岁时，患了很长时间的神经失常症。在那段时期，我开始读戴维· 亚历克· 威尔逊的不朽之作《卡莱尔传》。它对我的康复起了很大的作用，因为我非常专心于阅读，早把抑郁沮丧忘记了。

    三、在我生活中另一段十分消沉的时期，我逼迫自己几乎每时每刻都处在身体积极活动的状态。每天上午我都精神抖擞地打上五六盘网球，然后洗个澡，吃中饭，每天下午再打18个穴的高尔夫球。星期五晚上我跳舞一直跳到凌晨1点。我非常相信运动得出一身汗很有好处。我发现忧郁和烦恼能随着汗水一起渗出我的机体。

    四、很久以前我就学会了避免仓促匆忙和在压力下工作这样的傻事。我一直试图运用威尔伯· 克罗斯的人生哲学。在他任康涅狄格州州长时，他曾对我说：“每当我有太多的事要同时完成时，我便会坐下来，放松一下，抽上一小时的烟斗，什么事也不做。”

    五、我还发现耐心和时间可以解除我们的烦恼。当我为某件事发愁时，我便努力从正确的角度来看待我的烦恼。我对自己说：“2个月以后我就不会为这件糟糕的事担心了，那为什么现在要为它烦恼呢？为什么不现在就采取2个月以后我会有的态度呢？”