tion. To make no excuses
or explanations but simply to acknowledge the fact.

Then let her aim straight at the remedy--silence--steady, severe,
relaxed silence. Work from day to day and promise herself that for that
day she will say nothing but what is absolutely necessary. She should
not repress the words that want to come, but when she takes breath to
speak she must not allow the sentence to come out of her mouth, but
must instead relax all over, as far as it is possible, and take a good,
long, quiet breath. The next time she wants to speak, even if she
forgets so far as to get half the sentence out of her mouth, stop it,
relax, and take a long breath.

The mental concentration necessary to cure one's self of nervous
talking will gather together a mind that was gradually becoming
dissipated with the nervous talking habit, and so the life and strength
of the mind can be saved.

And, after that habit has been cured, the habit of quiet thinking will
begin, and what is said will be worth while.

CHAPTER XVI

_"Why Fuss so Much About What I Eat?"_

I KNOW a woman who insisted that it was impossible for her to eat
strawberries because they did not agree with her. A friend told her
that that was simply a habit of her mind. Once, at a time when her
stomach was tired or not in good condition for some other reason,
strawberries had not agreed with her, and from that time she had taken
it for granted that she could not eat strawberries. When she was
convinced by her friend that her belief that strawberries did not agree
with her was merely in her own idea, and not actually true, she boldly
ate a plate of strawberries. That night she woke with indigestion, and
the next morning she said "You see, I told you they would not agree
with me."

But her friend answered: "Why, of course you could not expect them to
agree right away, could you? Now try eating them again to-day."

This little lady was intelligent enough to want the strawberries to
agree with her and to be willing to do her part to adjust herself to
them, so she tried again and ate them the next day; and now she can eat
them every day right through the strawberry season and is all the
better for it.

This is the fact that we want to understand thoroughly and to look out
for. If we are impressed with the idea that any one food does not agree
with us, whenever we think of that food we contract, and especially our
stomachs contract. Now if our stomachs contr