Evening Republican, Volume 14, Number 42, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 18 February 1910 — A DEFENSE OF WORRY. [ARTICLE]

A DEFENSE OF WORRY.

Nobody Advances Mach, It Is Areraod, Who Is Always Tranqall, The turtle never worries. He lives, it is said, in some parts of the earth for 1,000 years, or very nearly that long, and maybe longer. In fact, nobody cares very much Just how long a turtle does live. Living 1,000 years may be a good thing for the turtle. His only discovered purpose is to continue to exist. But animals that worry live more in a minute than the turtle does in his 1,000 years. We hear a lot these days about “Don’t worry clubs," and it is an extensive fad to hang up “flon't worry” •mottoe. All rot! says the Memphis News-Scimitar. Worry kills, they say. If it does, it Is simply because it stimulates the qualities which are life, and in the degree that there is stimulation there is wearing out, which is death. But what man would want to live the life of a turtle? him that anybody can respect; there is nothing in him that he can respect himself. He could tolerate anything. Toleration would be his virtue. You could spit on him and he would smile back. You could kick him and he would draw more closely within himself and say nothing. All he wants is to be let live. This turtle on two legs is of no more use than one on four. And his shell of complacency is as hard and shuts him In as closely from the nerve-throbbing world as does the shell of the turtle. The successful .man has to worry, and he does. Worry is one of the best forms of expression of mental activity. It is the reflection of dissatisfaction with one’s shortcomings or conditions. It is the first incentive to improvement. It is the first step toward resolve and effort. Worrying over trifles Is foolish. Worrying other people with our worries is pernicious. You can make life miserable for yourself with the one ahd for everybody who knows you with the other. But don’t be a turtle! The man who never worries is nothing but an existence, unsatisfactory to himself and disgusting to others. The mother who never worries has had, the chances are, ten or • twelve children born to her and has complacently put eight or ten of them in their graves. The graves will probably be nicely kept, but the children underground cannot appreciate that. Don’t worry over worry. You need It A little of it.