e
turbulences, and of teaching our brains what we _know_ to be the truth,
we shall finally find ourselves walking on level ground, instead of
climbing painfully up hill. Then we shall be only grateful for all the
hard work which was the means of bringing us into the clear air of
freedom.

There could not be a better opportunity to begin our training in
non-resistance than that which illness affords.

IV

_Hurry, Worry, and Irritability_

PROBABLY most people have had the experience of hurrying to a train
with the feeling that something held them back, but not many have
observed that their muscles, under such conditions, actually _do_ pull
them back.

If any one wants to prove the correctness of this observation let him
watch himself, especially if it is necessary for him to go downstairs
to get to the station, while he is walking down the steps. The drawing
back or contracting of the muscles, as if they were intelligently
trying to prevent us from reaching the train on time, is most
remarkable. Of course all that impeding contraction comes from
resistance, and it seems at first sight very strange that we should
resist the accomplishment of the very thing we want to do. Why should I
resist the idea of catching a train, when at the same time I am most
anxious to do so? Why should my muscles reflect that resistance by
contracting, so that they directly impede my progress? It seems a most
singular case of a house divided against itself for me to want to take
a train, and for my own muscles, which are given me for my command, to
refuse to take me there, so that I move toward the train with an
involuntary effort away from it. But when the truth is recognized, all
this muscular contraction is easily explained. What we are resisting is
not the fact of taking the train, but the possibility of losing it.
That resistance reflects itself upon our muscles and causes them to
contract. Although this is a practical truth, it takes us some time to
realize that the fear of losing the train is often the only thing that
prevents our catching it. If we could once learn this fact thoroughly,
and live from our clearer knowledge, it would be one of the greatest
helps toward taking all things in life quietly and without necessary
strain. For the fact holds good in all hurry. It is the fear of not
accomplishing what is before us in time that holds us back from its
accomplishment.

This is so helpful and so useful a truth that I