The first thing to understand without the shadow of a doubt, is that, man is not in freedom when he is following his own selfish instincts.  He is only in the appearance of freedom, and the appearance of freedom, without the reality, leads invariably to the worst bondage.  A man who loves drink feels that he is free if he can drink as much as he wants, but that leads to degradation and delirium tremens.  A man who has an inherited tendency toward the disobedience of any law feels that he is free if he has the opportunity to disobey it whenever he wants to.  But whatever the law may be, the results have only to be carried to their logical conclusion to make clear the bondage to which the disobedience leads.  All this disobedience to law leads to an inevitable, inflexible, unsurmountable limit in the end, whereas steady effort toward obedience to law is unlimited in its development of strength and power for use to others.  Man must understand his selfish tendencies in order to subdue and control them, until they become subject to his own unselfish tendencies, which are the spiritual laws within him.  Thus he gradually becomes free,—­soul and body,—­with no desire to disobey, and with steadily increasing joy in his work and life.  So much for the bondage of doing wrong, and the freedom of doing right, which it seems necessary to touch upon, in order to show clearly the bondage of doing right in the wrong way, and the freedom of doing right in the right way.

It is right to work for our daily bread, and for the sake of use to others, in whatever form it may present itself.  The wrong way of doing it makes unnecessary strain, overfatigue and illness.  The right way of working gives, as we have said before, new power and joy in the work; it often turns even drudgery into pleasure, for there is a special delight in learning to apply one’s self in a true spirit to “drudgery.”  The process of learning such true application of one’s powers often reveals new possibilities in work.

It is right for most people to sleep eight hours every night.  The wrong way of doing it is to go to sleep all doubled up, and to continue to work all night in our sleep, instead of giving up and resting entirely.  The right way gives us the fullest possible amount of rest and refreshment.

It is right to take our three meals a day, and all the nourishing food we need.  The wrong way of doing it, is to eat very fast, without chewing our food carefully, and to give our stomachs no restful opportunity of preparation to receive its food, or to take good care of it after it is received.  The right way gives us the opportunity to assimilate the food entirely, so that every bit of fuel we put into our bodies is burnt to some good purpose, and makes us more truly ready to receive more.

It is right to play and amuse ourselves for rest and recreation.  We play in the wrong way when we use ourselves up in the strain of playing, in the anxiety lest we should not win in a game, or when we play in bad air.  When we play in the right way, there is no strain, no anxiety, only good fun and refreshment and rest.