Laugh and Live — Chapters 1 through 5

Everybody is eligible--you--me--the other fellow.

Happiness is fundamentally a state of mind--not a state of body.

And mind controls.

Indeed it is possible to stand with one foot on the inevitable "banana peel" of life with both eyes peering into the Great Beyond, and still be happy, comfortable, and serene--if we will even so much as smile.

It's all a state of mind, I tell you--and I'm sure of what I say.

That's why I have taken up my fountain pen.

I want to talk to my friends--you hosts of people who have written to me for my recipe.

In moving pictures all I can do is act my part and grin for you.

What I say is a matter of your own inference, but with my pen I have a means of getting around the "silent drama" which prevents us from organizing a "close-up" with one another.

In starting I'm going to ask you "foolish question number 1." -- Do you ever laugh?

I mean do you ever laugh right out--spontaneously--just as if the police weren't listening with drawn clubs and a finger on the button connecting with the "hurry-up" wagon?

Well, if you don't, you should.

_Start off the morning with a laugh and you needn't worry about the rest of the day.

_ I like to laugh.

It is a tonic.

It braces me up--makes me feel fine!

--and keeps me in prime mental condition.

Laughter is a physiological necessity.

The nerve system requires it.

The deep, forceful chest movement in itself sets the blood to racing thereby livening up the circulation--which is good for us.

Perhaps you hadn't thought of that?

Perhaps you didn't realize that laughing automatically re-oxygenates the blood--_your_ blood--and keeps it red?

It does all of that, and besides, it relieves the tension from your brain.

_Laughter is more or less a habit.

_ To some it comes only with practice.

But what's to hinder practising?

Laugh and live long--if you had a thought of dying--laugh and grow well--if you're sick and despondent--laugh and grow fat--if your tendency is towards the lean and cadaverous--laugh and succeed--if you're glum and "unlucky"--laugh and nothing can faze you--not even the Grim Reaper--for the man who has laughed his way through life has nothing to fear of the future.

His conscience is clear.

Wherein lies this magic of laughter?

For magic it is--a something that manufactures a state of felicity out of any condition.

We've got to admit its charm; automatically and inevitably a laugh cheers us up.

If we are bored--nothing to do--just laugh--that's something to do, for laughter is synonymous with action, and action dispels gloom, care, trouble, worry and all else of the same ilk.

Real laughter is spontaneous.

Like water from the spring it bubbles forth a creation of mingled action and spontaneity--two magic potions in themselves--the very essence of laughter--the unrestrained emotion within us!

So, for me, it is to laugh!

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 of ill-gotten gains and luxurious self-indulgence, but we would pay in the end.

So, why not charge them up to "profit and loss" at the start and kick them off into the gutter where they belong?

They are not for us on our eventful journey through life, and the time to get rid of them once and for all is when we are young, and mentally and physically vigorous.

Later on when the fires burn low and we still have them with us they will be hard to push aside.

"To thine own self be true," says the great Shakespeare and how can we be true to our own selves if we train with inferiors?

We are known by our companionships.

We will be rated according to association--good or bad.

The two will not mix for long and we will be one sort of a fellow or the other.

We can't be both.

There was a time, long years ago, in the days of our grandfathers, when men went to the "bow-wows" and, later on, "came back" as it were, by making a partial success in life--measured largely by the money they succeeded in accumulating.

That was before the "check-up" system was invented.

Today things are different.

Questions are asked--"Where were you last?"

--"Why did you leave there?"

--"Have you credentials?"

--and when we shake our weary head and walk away, we fondly wish we had "taken stock" back there when the "taking" was good.

"To thine own self be true; and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man."

When we can analyze ourselves and find that we are living up to the quoted lines above we may safely lift the limit from our aspirations.

Right here it is well to say that success is not to be computed in dollars and cents, nor that the will to achieve a successful life is to be predicated upon the mere accumulation of wealth.

First of all, good health and good minds--then we may laugh loud and long--we're safe on "first."

So, with these two weapons we may dig down into our aspirations, and, keeping in view that our policy is that of honesty to ourselves and toward our fellow man, all we need to do is to go about the program of life cheerfully and stout of heart--_for now we are in a state of preparedness_.

We are at the point where vision starts.

Along with this vision must come the courage of convictions in order that we may feel that our ideas are important, and because we have such thoughts, _we shall surely succeed_.

It has often been noticed that when we have had a large conception and have with force, character, and strength of will carried it into effect, immediately thereafter a host of people have been able to say: "I thought of that myself!"

Most of us have had the same experience after reading of a great discovery that we had thrown overboard because it must not have been "worth while" or someone else would already have thought of it.

The man who puts life into an idea is acclaimed a genius, because he does _the right thing at the right time_.

Therein lies the difference between the _genius_ and a _commonplace_ man.

We all have ambitions, but only the few achieve.

A man thinks of a good thing and says: "Now if I only had the money I'd put that through."

The word "if" was a dent in his courage.

With character fully established, his plan well thought out, he had only to go to those in command of capital and it would have been forthcoming.

He had something that capital would cheerfully get behind if he had the courage to back up his claims.

To fail was nothing less than moral cowardice.

_The will to do_ had not been efficient.

There was a flaw in the character, after all.

Going back, therefore, to the prescription, we find that a _sound body_, a _good mind_, an _honest purpose_, and a _lack of fear_ are the essential elements of success.

So, when we have conceived something for the good of the world and have allowed it to go by default we have dropped the monkey-wrench into the machinery of our preparedness.

We must look about us for a reason.

Have we fallen by the wayside of carelessness?

Have we allowed ourselves to be discouraged by cowardly "ifs"?

_Did we lack the sand_?

Exactly so; we didn't have the courage of our convictions.

Life is the one great experience, and those who fail to win, if sound of body, can safely lay the blame to their lack of mental equipment.

What does it matter if disappointments follow one after the other if we can _laugh and try again_?

Failures must come to all of us in some degree, but we may rise from our failures and win back our losses if we are only shrewd enough to realize that good health, sound mind, and a cheerful spirit are necessary adjuncts.

As Tennyson says: "I held it truth, with him who sings To one clear harp in divers tones, That men may rise on stepping-stones Of their dead selves to higher things."

All truly great men have been healthy--otherwise they would have fallen short of the mark.

Prisons are filled with nervous, diseased creatures.

There is no doubt but that most of these who, through ignorance, sifted through to the bottomless pits could have saved themselves had they realized the truth and "taken stock" of themselves, _in time_--of course, allowing for those, who are victims of circumstantial evidence.

The prime necessity of life is health.

With this, for mankind, nothing is impossible.

But if we do not make use of this good health it will waste itself away and never come back.

It often disappears entirely for lack of interest on the part of its thoughtless owner.

A little energy would have saved the day.

_A little "pep"--and we laugh and live.

_ Laughter clings to good health as naturally as the needle clings to the magnet.

It is the outward expression of an unburdened soul.

It bubbles forth as a fountain, always refreshing, always wholesome and sweet.

[Illustration: _Over the Hedge and on His Way_] In taking stock of ourselves we should not forget that fear plays a large part in the drama of failure.

That is the first thing to be dropped.

Fear is a mental deficiency susceptible of correction, if taken in hand before it gains an ascendency over us.

Fear comes with the thought of failure.

Everything we think about should have the possibility of success in it if we are going to build up courage.

We should get into the habit of reading _inspirational books_, looking at _inspirational pictures_, hearing _inspirational music_, associating with _inspirational friends_ and above all, we should cultivate the habit of mind of thinking clean, and of doing, wholesome things.

"Guard thyself!"

That is the slogan.

Let us "take stock" often and see where we stand.

We will not be afraid of the weak points.

We will _get after them_ and get hold of ourselves at the same time.

Some book might give us help--a fine play, or some form of athletics will start us to thinking.

Self-analysis teaches us to see ourselves in a true light without embellishments or undue optimism.

We can gauge our chances in no better way.

If we grope in the darkness we haven't much of a chance.

"Taking stock" throws a searchlight on the dark spots and points the way out of the danger zone.

CHAPTER III ADVANTAGES OF AN EARLY START

It is the young man who has the best chance of winning.

Then why shouldn't youthfulness be made a permanent asset?

We have recovered from the idea of putting a man into a sanatorium just because a few grey hairs show themselves in his head.

We should not ask him how old he is we should ask: "_What can he do_?"

The young man may have the advantage of years but the older one has the advantage of experience and knowledge.

Now if this older man could carry along with him that spirit of youth which actuated his earlier activities he would be prepared against incapacity.

Our fate hangs on how we conduct ourselves in youth.

The world has great need of the sober, thoughtful men _above the fifty line_.

By right of experience and knowledge they should become our leaders in the shaping of our policies.

It is all a matter of how a man comes through, mentally, physically and spiritually.

Age should not count against him.

The first thought is to keep healthy.

In fact, we cannot harp on this too much.

The second requirement is confidence in ourselves, without which our career is short lived.

Already we perceive that one must keep track of his _inner self_.

This breeds confidence.

The very fact that one stops to probe into that hidden land of thought shows that he is keeping tab on himself with a sharp eye.

That's the stuff!

_We mustn't fool ourselves.

_ The majority of failures come as a result of not being able to trust one's self.

The moment we doubt, or acknowledge that we cannot conquer a weakness, then we begin to go down hill.

It is a subtle process.

We hardly realize it at the time but as the days go by, the years roll on, the final day of reckoning draws near and relentlessly we are swept along as driftwood toward the lonely beaches of obscurity.

And all because _we lacked self-confidence_!

We did not realize it until it was too late.

We were too busy with self-indulgence to struggle for success.

Most of our troubles in later life started with _failure to take hold of ourselves_ when we were young.

It may be that we put off making our choice of something to do.

If we had been companionable to ourselves we might have thought out the proper course while taking long walks in pursuit of physical development.

That would have been a _fine_ time in which to fight out the whole problem--the time when optimism and _the will to do_ are as natural as the laughter of a child, or the song of a bird.

That was the time when the world appeared roseate and beautiful, when success lay just beyond the turn of the road, when failure seemed something illusory and improbable.

Then was the time to jump in with both feet and _a big hearty laugh_ to solve the problem of what to do and how to go about it.

It is surprising how readily the world follows the individual with confidence.

It is willing to believe in him, to furnish funds, to assist in any way within its power.

And that is where the man _with a smile_ is sure to win--for the man who smiles has confidence in himself.

So long as we carry along with us our atmosphere of hearty good will and enthusiasm we know no defeat.

The man who is gloomy, taciturn and lives in a world of doubt seldom achieves more than a bare living.

There have been a few who have groaned their way through to a competence but in proportion to that overwhelming number of souls who carry cheer through life they are as nothing--mere drops in the bucket.

If the truth were told their success came probably through mere chance and nothing else.

Such people are not the ones for us to endeavor to follow.

_We cannot afford to allow our visions to sour.

_ Beginning early takes away timidity and builds for success while we are young enough to enjoy the benefits.

Although it is never too late to start a cheerful life we don't have to kill ourselves in the attempt.

There is no necessity for throwing all caution to the winds, but we should press our advantages.

With _self-analysis_ comes a certain poise, a certain dignity and kindliness that tempers every move with precision.

Once we get the proper start we have only to take stock now and then in order to keep our machinery in a fine state of repair.

If we have chosen wisely we love our work and stick to it closely--not forgetting the home duties and our share in its success.

Right here we run up against the danger signal if our business success wins us away from the hearthstone.

_Love of home_ is a quality of the workers of the earth.

"What doth it profit a man to win the whole world if he _loseth_ his own soul?"

To sum up the case--once we have made up our minds to win and how we are going to do it, the next step is to act.

_Health is synonymous with action.

_ The healthy man does things, the unhealthy man hesitates.

And when we get ready to act we will act with the air of a conqueror.

We must supply from our own store our atmosphere of confidence in order to win confidence.

The successful man is the one who _knows he is right_ and makes us realize it.

It is always worth while to study the successes among our acquaintances.

Are they gloomy, morose and irritable?

If they were to that extent they would not be successful.

On the contrary, they are robust, confident individuals who have taken advantage of every rightful opportunity and possessed _the power to smile_ when all about them were in the dumps.

When everyone else thought that there wasn't a chance to win these fellows stepped in and took charge.

When we interview the failures we find that all of them give one excuse: "_I didn't have the confidence.

_" They may not say it in exactly these words but the meaning is plain.

They ran through the whole gamut of _self-distrust_ which is the natural result of not having started early in the study of self--the serious realization of their own capabilities.

[Illustration: _Preparing to Pair With the Prickly Pear_] This makes it easy to understand their plight.

If we know ourselves we are strengthened that much, because we can bolster up our weaknesses.

We will know enough to combat timidity.

We can then know what we are capable of, and thus become conscious of our innate powers that only need to be called into action in order to become useful.

We cannot imagine for an instant a great violinist going out on the concert platform in ignorance of the condition of his instrument.

And yet failures go out on the stage of life knowing nothing of their strengths and weaknesses--_and still expect to win_!

If we are to become successes we must _keep success in mind_--banish all thought of losing.

Success is just as natural as anything else.

It is only a matter of the mind anyhow.

We are all successes _as long as we continue to think so_.

Self-depreciation is a disease.

Once it gets a hold on us--good-bye!

And that is why it is wise to begin early--to take hold of affairs while we are young.

Superiority over our fellow man comes from a superiority of mind and body.

A healthy mind breeds a healthy body.

The most superficial study will convince us of this fact.

Appearance counts for much in this world.

We judge largely by appearances.

We haven't time to know everyone we meet intimately and as a result must base our opinions upon _first impressions_.

The fellow who comes in an office with his head hanging down between his shoulders and a frown upon his face doesn't get far with us.

We find ourselves looking over his sagging shoulders toward the individual behind him who comes in with a swinging step and the confidence born of health and good spirits.

Self-confidence in youth makes for self-confidence in after years.

This is far from meaning that one can be brazen and inclined towards freshness and get away with it.

It merely means the marshalling of one's forces, _the command of one's self_ and the ability to make others recognize that we are on the map because we belong there.

And one of the quickest ways to accomplish this is to have a smile tucked away for instant use.

Again, this does not mean that we are to carry round a ready-to-wear grin which we wear only as we are ushered into the presence of another.

_A real smile, or a hearty laugh, is not to be counterfeited.

_ We easily know the genuine from the spurious.

A real laugh springs naturally out of a pure, unadulterated confidence and a good physical condition.

What triumphs, what splendid battles, have been won through the ability to laugh at the right moment.

Whenever we find that we are losing our ability to smile let's have no false notions.

We are neglecting our physical well being.

Let us then and there drop the sombre thoughts and get out into the open air.

Run down the street and if possible out into the country.

If we see a tree and have the inclination to climb it--well, then, climb it.

If we are sensitive about what our neighbors might say--too bad!

But we can romp with easy grace.

If we but knew how gladly our neighbors would emulate our gymnastics if they knew the value of them the laugh would be on us for dreading their opinion.

One thing we do know--_they will envy us our good health and spirits_.

CHAPTER IV PROFITING BY EXPERIENCE

_Experience comes by contact.

_ There is no way we can have experiences without passing directly through them.

If we are up and doing they come thick and fast into our lives, some of them weighted down by the peculiar twists and turns of circumstances, others simple, easily understood, and still others complicated to the point of not being understood at all.

People are divided into two classes--_those who profit by experience and those who do not_.

The unfortunate part of it all is that the latter class is by far the larger of the two.

The man of vigorous purpose, fine constitution, and the full knowledge of self, sees through an experience as clearly as through a window.

The glass may be foggy, but he knows what lies beyond.

Self-reliant and strong he seeks knowledge through experience, while the weak man, the unhealthy-minded, the inefficient, stands aside and gives him the right of way.

In later years, however, they bitterly complain that they were not given the same chance to succeed.

The man of experience having long since passed through the stages of indecision has, through careful self-analysis learned to bridge difficulties that would make others tremble with fear.

He knows that every lane has a turning.

He may not see it at the moment.

He may not know where it is.

_But that doesn't worry him.

_ He picks up his bundle and trudges ahead, confident that victory awaits him somewhere along the line.

The fact that he believes in himself, sets him apart from ordinary mankind.

Many great men have been at loss to understand why they attained success.

It is well nigh impossible for them to outline the causes that led them to the top rungs of the ladder.

The reason is that _their lack of fear_ of experiences was an unconscious one, rather than a conscious one.

However, they are willing to admit that acting on the principle of profiting by experience _loaned them initiative_ with which to proceed.

They soon came to know opportunity at sight and had only to look around to find it.

The young man standing on the threshold of life is, from lack of experience, puzzled over the future.

He looks above him and sees the towering successes.

He reads in the papers of the massive characters who have risen from the bottom to the top.

Naturally he would like to meet one of these giants of success and hear what he has to say.

The interview is quite needless.

"_Get busy and profit by experience_," is about all the advice one man can give to another.

There is no way to profit by experience until we have had experience so there is nothing to do but get busy and experience will come as fast as we can absorb it.

Our duty is to strive for success and not expect to attain it except by successive steps.

A wholesale consignment would be our undoing.

Quick successes through luck or good fortune have not the lasting value of those won by virtue of knowing how--of accomplishing what we started out to do.

Faith in one's self does not come from the outside--it must spring up naturally _from within_.

A healthy body and a sane mind are the best foundations for this.

The young man who begins his career with these facts in mind is given a running start over his competitors.

Poverty and failure are the result of _an ignorance of the value of experience_.