understanding and appreciating his own personal responsibility for my safety—­so that should he still hold any wrongful designs, and afterwards succeed in carrying them out, he or his attorneys will be debarred from again pleading insanity or mental incompetency.

Hence while I fully realize the possibility of danger I do not have a moment’s worry about it.  I have done and shall do all I can, satisfactorily, to protect myself, without any feeling of harshness or desire to injure the poor fellow, and there I let the matter rest to take care of itself.

This is practical wisdom.  This is sane philosophy.  Not ignoring the danger, pooh-pooing it, scoffing at it and refusing to recognize it, but calmly, sanely, with a kindly heart looking at possible contingencies, preparing for them, and then serenely trusting to the spiritual forces of life to control events to a wise and satisfactory issue.

Can you suggest anything better?  Is not such a course immeasurably better than to allow himself to worry, and fret and fear all the time?  Practical precaution, taken without enmity—­note these italicized words—­trustful serenity, faithful performance of present duty unhampered by fears and worries—­this is the rational, normal, philosophic, sane course to follow.

Another great source of worry is our failure to distinguish essentials from non-essentials.  What are the essentials for life?  For a man, honesty, truth, earnestness, strength, health, ability to work, and work to do.  He may or may not be handsome; he may or may not have wealth, position, fame, education; but to be a man among men, these other things he must have.  For a woman,—­health, love, work, and such virtues as both men and women need.  She might enjoy friends, but they are not essential as health or work; she would be a strange woman if she did not prize beauty, but devoted love is worth far more than beauty or all the conquests it brings.  What is the essential for a chair?—­its capacity to be used to sit upon with comfort.  A house?—­that it is adapted to the making of a home.  You don’t buy a printing-press to curl your hair with but to print, and in accordance with its printing power is it judged.  A boat’s usefulness is determined by its worthiness in the water, to carry safely, rapidly, largely as is demanded of it.

This is the judgement sanity demands of everything.  What is essential—­What not?  Is it essential to be a society leader, to belong to every club, to hold office, to give as many dinners as one’s neighbors, to have a bigger house, furniture with brighter polish, bigger carvings and more ugly designs than anyone else in town, to have our names in the papers oftener than others, to have more servants, a newer style automobile, put on more show, pomp, ceremony and circumstance than our friends?

By no means!  Oh for men and women who have the discerning power—­the sight for the essential things, the determination to have them and let non-essentials go.  They are the wise ones, the happy ones, the free-from-worry ones.