ondage,
and confused our standard of freedom; more than that, it has befogged
our sense of natural law, and the result is that we painfully fight to
make water run up hill when, if we were to give one quiet look, we
should see that better things could be accomplished, and our own sense
of freedom become keener, by being content to let the water quietly run
down and find its own level.

It is not normal to be ill and to be kept from our everyday use, but it
is still less normal for a healthy, intelligent mind to keep its body
ill longer than is necessary by resisting the fact of illness. Every
disease, though it is abnormal in itself, may frequently be kept within
bounds by a certain normal course of conduct, and, if our suffering
from the disease itself is unavoidable, by far our wisest course is to
stand aside, so to speak, and let it take its own course, using all
necessary remedies and precautions in order that the attack may be as
mild as possible.

Many readers, although they see the common sense of such
non-resistance, will find it difficult to practise it, because of their
inheritances and personal habits.

The man who held the hot poker only needed to drop it with his fingers;
the man who is taken ill only needs to be willing with his mind and to
relax with his nerves in order to hasten his recovery.

A very useful practice is to talk to ourselves so quietly and earnestly
as to convince our brains of the true helpfulness of being willing and
of the impediment of our unwillingness. Tell the truth to yourself over
and over, quietly and without emotion, and steadily and firmly
contradict every temptation to think that it is impossible not to
resist. If men could once be convinced of the very real and wonderful
power they have of teaching their own brains, and exacting obedience
from them, the resulting new life and ability for use would make the
world much happier and stronger.

This power of separating the clear, quiet common sense in ourselves
from the turbulent, willful rebellion and resistance, and so quieting
our selfish natures and compelling them to normal behavior, is truly
latent in us all. It may be difficult at first to use it, especially in
cases of strong, perverted natures and fixed habits, because in such
cases our resistances are harder and more interior, but if we keep
steadily on, aiming in the right direction,--if we persist in the
practice of keeping ourselves separate from our unproductiv