Laugh and Live | Page 2

Why not stick along? The experiment won't hurt you. All we need is will power, and that is a personal matter for each individual to seek and acquire for himself. Many of us already possess it, but many of us do not.
Take the average man on the street for example. Watch him go plodding along--no spring, no elasticity, no vim. He is in _check-rein_--how can he laugh when his pep is all gone and the sand in his craw isn't there any more? What he needs is spirit! Energy--the power to force himself into action! For him there is no hope unless he will take up physical training in some form that will put him in normal physical condition--after that everything simplifies itself. The brain responds to the new blood in circulation and thus the mental processes are ready to make a fight against the inertia of stagnation which has held them in bondage.
[Illustration: _Do You Ever Laugh?_ (_White Studio_)]
And, mind you, physical training doesn't necessarily mean going to an expert for advice. One doesn't have to make a mountain out of a molehill. Get out in the fresh air and walk briskly--and don't forget to wear a smile while you're at it. Don't over-do. Take it easy at first and build on your effort day by day. A little this morning--a little more tonight. The first chance you have, when you're sure of your wind and heart, get out upon the country road, or cross-country hill and dale. Then run, run, run, until you drop exhausted upon some grassy bank. Then laugh, loud and long, for you're on the road to happiness.
Try it now--don't wait. _Today is the day to begin._ Or, if it is night when you run across these lines, drop this book and trot yourself around the block a few times. Then come back and you'll enjoy it more than you would otherwise. Activity makes for happiness as nothing else will and once you stir your blood into little bubbles of energy you will begin to think of other means of keeping your bodily house in order. Unless you make a first effort the chances are you will do very little real thinking of any kind--we need pep to think.
Think what an opportunity we miss when stripped at night if we fail to give our bodies a round of exercise. It is so simple, so easy, and has so much to do with our sleep each night and our work next day that to neglect to do so is a crime against nature. And laugh! Man alive, if you are not in the habit of laughing, get the habit. Never miss a chance to laugh aloud. Smiling is better than nothing, and a chuckle is better still--but out and out laughter is the real thing. Try it now if you dare! And when you've done it, analyze your feelings.
I make this prediction--if you once start the habit of exercise, and couple with it the habit of laughter, even if only for one short week--you'll keep it up ever afterwards.
And, by the way, Friend Reader,--don't be alarmed. The personal pronouns "_I_" and "_you_" give place in succeeding chapters to the more congenial editorial "we." I couldn't resist the temptation to enjoy one brief spell of intimacy just for the sake of good acquaintance. _Have a laugh on me._
CHAPTER II
TAKING STOCK OF OURSELVES
Experience is the real teacher, but the matter of how we are going to succeed in life should not be left to ordinary chance while we are waiting for things to happen. Our first duty is to prepare ourselves against untoward experiences, and that is best done by taking stock of our mental and physical assets at the very outset of our journey. What weaknesses we possess are excess baggage to be thrown away and that is our reason for taking stock so early. It is likely to save us from riding to a fall.
There is one thing we don't want along--fear. We will never get anywhere with that, nor with any of its uncles, aunts or cousins--_Envy, Malice and Greed_. In justice to our own best interests we should search every crook and cranny of our hearts and minds lest we venture forth with any such impedimenta. There is no excuse, and we have no one to blame if we allow any of them to journey along with us. We know whether they are there or not just as we would know _Courage, Trust and Honor_ were they perched behind us on the saddle.
It is idle to squeal if through association with the former we find ourselves ditched before we are well under way--for it is coming to us, sooner or later. We might go far, as some have done, through the lanes and alleys