it is supported by
inherited tendencies. If a young person overdoes and gets pulled down
with fatigue the fatigue expresses itself in the weakest part of his
body. It may be in the stomach and consequently appear as indigestion;
it may be in the head and so bring about severe headaches, and it may
be in both stomach and head.

If it is known that such tendencies are inherited the first thought
that almost inevitably comes to the mind is: "My father always had
headaches and my grandfather, too. Of course, I must expect them now
for the rest of my life." That thought interpreted rightly is: "My
grandfather formed the headache habit, my father inherited the habit
and clinched it--now, of course, I must expect to inherit it, and I
will do my best to see if I cannot hold on to the habit as well as they
did--even better, because I can add my own hold to that which I have
inherited from both my ancestors."

Now, of course, a habit of illness, whether it be of the head, stomach,
or of both, is much more difficult to discard when it is inherited than
when it is first acquired in a personal illness of our own; but,
because it is difficult, it is none the less possible to discard it,
and when the work has been accomplished the strength gained from the
steady, intelligent effort fully compensates for the difficulty of the
task.

One must not get impatient with a bad habit in one's self; it has a
certain power while it lasts, and can acquire a very strong hold.
Little by little it must be dealt with--patiently and steadily.
Sometimes it seems almost as if such habits had intelligence--for the
more you ignore them the more rampant they become, and there is a
Rubicon to cross, in the process of ignoring which, when once passed,
makes the work of gaining freedom easier; for when the backbone of the
habit is broken it weakens and seems to fade away of itself, and we
awaken some fine morning and it has gone--really gone.

Many persons are in a prison of bad habits simply because they do not
know how to get out--not because they do not want to get out. If we
want to help a friend out of the habit of illness it is most important
first to be sure that it is a habit, and then to remember that a
suggestion is seldom responded to unless it is given with generous
sympathy and love. Indeed, when a suggestion is given with lack of
sympathy or with contempt the tendency is to make the invalid turn
painfully away from the speaker and hug her