The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1934. STALENESS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 77, Issue 82, 7 April 1934, Page 8

The Wanganui Chronicle SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1934. STALENESS

P VERY ONE who works hard goes stale at times. Staleness is a condition which must be accepted. The human mind is part of the body, it is a physical organ, and like any other physical organ it has its periods of accumulation find exhaustion. The physical worker is engaged in moving tangible things, he can see the result of his labours. Not so the mental worker. The mental labourer, after the most exhausting effort, may have only succeeded in clearing the decks of error and misconception; constructively, the thinker may have done nothing at all. To clear the ground in either the physical or- the mental plane is, however, usually heavy work indeed. While the physical labourer comes to the end of his strength consciously tired, the mental labourer feels that he has not exhausted himself physically at all. He is therefore tempted to continue bis mental exertions and to run on his reserves. Now running on one’s reserves is a dangerous thing to do. This is quite obvious in the financial world, but it is not so obvious in the realm of personal exertion. There are, of course, times when the calling up of reserves is demanded. When Wellington, at Waterloo, shouted: “Up, Guards, and at ’em!’’ he was flinging into the task just that extra strength which carries the day to a victorious conclusion. That is precisely what reserves are for. But before one commits one’s reserves it is desirable to be sure that it will achieve the finale. The Great, War resolved itself into a duel between Ludendorf and Foeh as to which of them would be compelled to commit their reserves to a definite line of action. Reserves should be held until the end is attainable. But having drawn on one’s reserves, either physical or nervous, a period of exhaustion must follow, and the individual feels this exhaustion by a condition of staleness. There are many men and women who, finding themselves, stale, succumb to the temptation of “keeping going.” They, therefore, flog themselves to further effort, but they find that they achieve little of anything at all. When one feels stale one needs a rest. Changes of surroundings are very helpful because they do not permit of the mind slipping back into mental grooves and working unconsciously along familiar lines. When feeling stale the best policy is to accept the fact as such, to appreciate that the human battery has run down and needs recharging. Then facilitate the recharging process as much as possible and don’t count such time as idle hours or wasted time. There is a lot of work to be done before the next holidays come round, and the wise ones will conserve their reserves of mental and physical strength as shrewdly as does a military commander upon the battlefield.