ORDERLY MINDS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXI, Issue 33, 8 February 1930, Page 17 (Supplement)

ORDERLY MINDS.

FOR HARMONY AND TRUTH.

ITO HEA_L XLZTASOZT TO WOKRY.

COSMOS IS BETTER THAN CHAOS.

(By FRANK A. BARROW.)

We have a little pup. He seems ti fed a keen pleasure m; worrying almosl pny piece of cloth' that comes his way He'll grab it in his sharp; little teeth ghake it, tear. : it; place his'small paw? opoa it, and rip it to shreds. And whih Jie is engaged in this destructive occupation he growls threateningly.' -Try tt £ake it away- from him, and just ai likely as not his keen little teeth art apt to nip your hand. I doubt' verj iauch if he knows what all his worrying and rending and- tearing is about, 01 k the utility of ; it. He can't eat the bit of rag, and the inanimate stuff z nevei did anything to justify the pup's He cant remember why that particular lag made him worry, but he worries just the same. He reminds one of certain individuals who axe addicted-to worrying over .things, who work themselves into a nervous and excited condition over matters that are just as insensible to their irettings and growling 9 as is the bit ot rag which the puppy rends and tears, jrho create chaos in their minds instead cosmos. . •

TM3 universe, this' cosmos, is govjerned by a system of law, harmony and truth. If ifc yntxe not so, life would not be worth living. " And life for the individual who is always in a worrying state of mind takes on a particularly gloomy aspect. But for that person .Who keeps his, mind in a condition of order, harmony and truth, life unfolds Its beauties. : \ • The worrying mind is a inind, a mind in" a state of confusion, a mind in which fear is rampant, a mind from which is apt to spnpg of hopelessness anger and hate, Jhe result is .chaos, misery, lllnefs. The orderly mind a a mind lane, a truly philosophical mmd bke that of Socrates - face of death, could retain its powe. The orderly mind is alogical which can think straight. Ihe <wjgj mind tabulates those raatters wiuch come to it, and. pfcees them, am>rdmg to their worth 'or worfcWesane&s, in their respective or m t e basket. The orderly mmd, to quote Kip ling: _can meat with "d tii itnd treat those twoimporters Just tut ■ame. .

Keepinf Chtr Bead. la. onr live* 't hit SfrfSvJS power, ESsssseatfss

Of course, we all are out to "win either love or fame or fortune, but none of them can be won by* worrying. It is only by calm thinking that we can make any headway in life—by calm thinking', and methodical, hard work. . There is a difference between preparing for eventualities and worrying over them. Along the horizon of every We •there "are indications of possible difficulties. -But what of them J Shall we refuse to journey horizonward because ofy threatening difficulties I Shall we worry over the possibilities of what might happen ? Or shall we calmly consider those difficulties and prepare to meet them if they should arise! Most of them-will not eventuate. ' Keep'your mind a cosmos, keep it

orderly. ... The mind of the worrier is like an attic stored with all the obsolete or. worthless material that accumulates - m every home. Don*t make a. lumber room of your mental attic. Worry spoils heauty of mind, of. form and of-feature. One of the greatest preservatives of youth and beauty is a .wholesome hopefulness. Worry muddies mind and complexion. Rein on Imagination. But freedom from worry does_not mean unprogressive placidity. There are bovine types of mind which, never worry, for the very iimple reason that they are mentally incapable of worrying The dull, lethargic,.stupid ones live, but without progressing. Theirs is rocking-chair placidity, a calmness that gets them nowhere. They are an ■unimaginative lot. It is the keen, alert, person who is most apt to get his ideas into a tangle through worrying. Tne imagination is a powerful factor toward progress when it is_ kept under control, but allowed free rein it becomes destructive rather than cons It active. Kept in check it can produce a cosmos; allowed to run rampant it produces chaos. " , , , Imagination plus methodical, work has produced the electric light, : the moving-picture, the telegraph, the ; submarine, the radio, the aeroplane, the motor car. Worry did not produce them, for worry signifies imagination run riot and method shot to pieces. Hurry and -worry are near akin. Wo would become artists, sculptors, poets, or novelists, lawyers, doctors, or what you will, in. the least time and with the least possible expenditure or energy. We would spring into fame into a day, a week, or a year. And to re»Ao® objective we fret and strain perplex: ourselves into a state of mental meptiAccording to geologists, our world Las been some millions of years in the making. They do not dare to try ana estimate the time occupied in creating the vast universe, the cosmos about which we know bo little. And yet we, whose lives are but of short duration, though we ehouTd bre to he a hundred, would hurry and worry our little creations into existence and ourselves into the grave. Smile! Smile! Smile! : If only we could bring into our lives the peace and tranquil;steadfastness of momrtaiM, if only i take ourselves from »• etarßt

some of its heauty and calmness; if only we might absorb from the va3t, swaying tides of old ocean a little of its mighty deliberation, how much better off we would *oe in mind and body.

What a sublime, calm, undeviating power is that which dominates the universe! And how foolish we are not to pattern after it instead of tearing our minds to tatters as a puppy tears a bit of cloth, by worrying.

Calmness, courage, resolution, pertinacity, these characteristics will win if given time, hut "time" is as essential to a worth-while success in our short span of existence as it has been to the building of the universe. Cosmos and chaos. Order and method and harmony and truth stand for the former; while hurry and worry and discord and falsity represent the latter. Those of ns who are addicted to • worrying might well take the advice contained in that marching chorus of 1913:—

What's the use of worrying I It never was -worth while; So pack up your troubles) in your old kit bag, And smile, smile, smile.

—(A.A.X.S. Copyright.)