ENERGETIC EVES

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIX, Issue 11251, 1 July 1922, Page 12

ENERGETIC EVES

WOMEN WHO DO TOO MUCH. (By Gladys Davidson, in the "Westminster Gazette.”) One of the -worst vices of the modem working-woman who aspires to even the smallest success in life is that of working too hard. I use the word "vice” advisedly—no pun intended!—for to overwork is quite as much an outrage on one's body as to over-eat, over-work, or to indulge in the drag habit. In fact, eolf-impoeed over-work may be regarded as a kind of “dope” of a most insidious variety, and business and professional women are particularly prone tc fall victims to its spell. MAKING UP FOR LOST TIME. The reason for this is not far to 6eek« Women have only so recently been given the opportunity of making a career for themselves outride tho domestic sphere, and have, consequently, so much ground to make up, that they are all trying to crowd two Jives into one in order to catch up with their more fortunate male competitors, who have had the various fields to themselves for so long, the paths through which are alredy well nand-papered for them. The women are now having to sand-paper their own paths, and, in many professions, to blaze their own trails. The consequence is that they find it almost impossible to make haste ©lowly. Thev arc inclined to overdo everything, business and pleasure alike. Not content to put in a pood day's work, many women continue their labours all the evening, and often work in bed after that. Quite a surprising number of women carry on two profession?. And even those who don’t, fill up their 6pare time with odd jobs, and regard it as a crime to be idle for a minute. The "dope” of continuous work thus becomes a habit, and gradually develops into a vice, the result of which soon shows it?elf in jangled nerves nnd usually ends in a nervous breakdown. Nerves on edge often mean if not actual bad temper, at least "ctveedness,” for with mental fatigue come many ills, both bodily and spiritual. OVERDOING PLEASURES. Even, in her pleasures the modern Eva is prone to lx* too strenuously thorough, so that (hey frequently become a toil. Many girls’who take up such normally healthy sports as hockey, swimming, golf, and tennis use up a great deal more energy than ie essential in their frantic effoit«* to break records, increase handicaps, and to compete with maic rivals. Even the harmless but necessary cult of darning comes in for its share of abuse, so font this most ideal form of cxerrise ri apt to become an exhaustion rather than a relaxation.