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Confucius said, "The perfecting of one's self
is the fundamental base of all progress." Moral and
physical development of self can be accomplished only by well
ordered thought and attention. By attention is knowledge
acquired. Knowledge being power, by paying attention we gain
power.
Spotted, soiled clothes are true indications of
spotted, soiled thoughts just as positive a guide to inward
conditions as the thermometer is of the temperature, or the
barometer of approaching storm. If you are not careful of
your dress, you are not careful of your thoughts. Neatness
of appearance is the unmistakable sign of a well ordered
life. In order there is harmony, comfort, strength and
economy. A man whose life is well ordered saves time and
respects the rights of others by keeping appointments. A
well ordered life brings peace and infinite calm, brings affluence
within, which means affluence without.
The mortal machine is your constant traveling
companion and to understand it as well as you do the car you drive
is wisdom. Then each day will be filled with calm assurance,
the complement of an understanding mind. Your appetites will
be under control; the organs of the body will perform their
functions properly, which will surround you with a vital
life-producing atmosphere. This will en sure you a clear
mind and enable you to solve your problems by intuitive
knowledge. By attention and well ordered thought you will be
able to care for your mortal body without the aid of so-called
specialists or tinkers. A large majority of men and women
are perpetually in the tinkers' hands, constantly being
tinkered. They overeat rich foods and foods that fight with
each other, and the human stomach, being a very restricted area
for a battle, confusion pervades all the organs until the
mentality is injuriously affected by the agonizing calls for help
from the battle ground. Then the invalids resort to pills,
and if these fail to help, call in a tinker. He places them
on a strict diet for months, perhaps for life, all of which could
have been avoided had forethought been used in place of hind thought.
These heavy, ill assorted foods were not needed. They were
eaten for a few moments of pleasure only to leave hours of
discomfort, attended often by death from acute indigestion or
other causes.
Intemperance possesses a great power to shorten
life. It weakens the organs of the body and induces acid
deposits in the joints. Its attendant ills cloud the brain
and make man unfit for companionship or for business. The
tinker is appealed to who advises the patient to give up all
alcoholic indulgence and spend weeks or months at some foreign
spring to wash out the poison. Often the tinker and his
favorite spring fail, leaving incurable gout, enlarged joints and
a cantankerous disposition.
Why not understand that light meals and simple
diet are the proper way to nourish both the mind and body?
When the fire box of an engine is filled too full of coal, 90 per
cent of the fuel is wasted in imperfect combustion and most of it
goes up in heavy, black smoke, but if the firing is conducted
scientifically, there is little if any smoke and the normal amount
of heat is conserved.
Wny not understand that it is the same with your
stomach as it is with the fire box. Give as careful
attention to the selection and mixture of your food as you would
to the combustion of gas in your auto, thereby eliminating the
necessity of calling in tinkers to dispel the evil produced by
your lack of self-control and thoughtless selection of food.
Understand, likewise, the value and use of
water. Water is as necessary to flush the body as it is to
flush the sewers of the city. Wash inside with more care and
persistence than you wash outside. Study moderation in
eating, for the man who practices moderation in eating finds it
easy to be moderate in his speech and conduct, for like produces
like. The moderate man reflects health and health is the
paramount foundation for achievement. Health is also the
chief element in producing happiness. With imperfect
digestion of food, will come imperfect digestion of problems, and
work done under such condition is always inefficient.
Trifling annoyances seem catastrophes and mole hills of problems
seem to be mountains.
There must be careful co-operation of the mind
with the body. It is the only union that is inseparable
until death. There is no divorce court that will separate
you from your mortal machine, therefore treat it with
understanding and consideration.
To understand yourself is a great step toward
acquiring the new science of "How to Live and Grow
Young."
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