THE STRESS OF LIFE

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXIII, Issue 22399, 21 April 1936, Page 13

THE STRESS OF LIFE

Sir, —The papers are full of accounts of deaths from heart attacks. Another factor besides the stress and strain of present-day civilisation operates to cause such deaths. Many more men than women succumb to such attacks. A man's chief preoccupation centres in his work or vocation. Unlike women, whose home life flows on in the even tenor of its way throughout their lives, most men have a fixed ambition. They want to make a certain amount of money, or invent a new machine, or write or paint a masterpiece, or organise some religious, political or social movement. When a man is young, he feels that many years of life lie ahead of him. Consequently he takes things easy, and plans for the future. But. when a man reaches middle age, he feels that he has not very inany years of life left. Therefore he increases his activity in order to achieve his ambition before he dies. Also, at middle age his mind and powers are at their best, and he plunges into his work with more ambition, zeal, enthusiasm and vigour than he did when he was younger. He actually works harder than he did when he was a young man. The consequence of it all is, he works too hard, tries to do too much, gets nervous and excited, and drops dead from a heart attack. My advice to such men is: Slow down! Imitate the tortoise that beat the hare by plodding along slowly and steadily. Feign to yourselves that you are going to live to be 100, and have plenty of time to achieve your ambitions. Festina lentel Make haste slowly I This advice, if followed, will cut in half deaths from heart attacks. Another piece of advice that may save your lives! Do not worry about your heart! It is the strongest organ in your body if you give it a chance. Charles Hooper. Idaho, U.S.A.