alk were repressed. The only real help comes when the talker herself
recognizes the strain of her talk and "loosens" into silence.

People must find themselves out to get well--really well--from nervous
suffering. The cause of nervous strain is so often in the character and
in the way we meet circumstances and people that it seems essential to
recognize our mistakes in that direction, and to face them squarely
before we can do our part toward removing the causes of any nervous
illness.

Remember it is not circumstances that keep us ill. It is not people
that cause our illness. It is not our environment that overcomes us. It
is the way we face and deal with circumstances, with people, and with
environment that keeps our nerves irritated or keeps them quiet and
wholesome and steady.

Let me tell the story of two men, both of whom were brought low by
severe nervous breakdown. One complained of his environment, complained
of circumstances, complained of people. Everything and every one was
the cause of his suffering, except himself. The result was that he
weakened his brain by the constant willful and enforced strain, so that
what little health he regained was the result of Nature's steady and
powerful tendency toward health, and in spite of the man himself.

The other man--to give a practical instance--returned from a journey
taken in order to regain the strength which he had lost from not
knowing how to work. His business agent met him at the railroad station
with a piece of very bad news. Instead of being frightened and
resisting and contracting in every nerve of his body, he took it at
once as an opportunity to drop resistance. He had learned to relax his
body, and by doing relaxing and quieting exercises over and over he had
given himself a brain impression of quiet and "let go" which he could
recall at will. Instead of expressing distress at the bad news he used
his will at once to drop resistance and relax; and, to the surprise of
his informant, who had felt that he must break his bad news as easily
as possible, he said "Anything else?" Yes, there was another piece of
news about as bad as the first. "Go on," answered the man who had been
sick with nerves; "tell me something else."

And so he did, until he had told him five different things which were
about as disagreeable and painful to hear as could have been. For every
bit of news our friend used his will with decision to drop the
resistance, which would, of c