How To Overcome Anxiety Naturally: Start Living Worry-Free

By Gradient Publication

Are you tired of constantly worrying and want to reclaim your time and energy? Do you find yourself trapped in the cycle of anxiety and want to break free without relying on drugs? If so, this Book is designed for you.

Save time and skip hours. I've condensed everything you need to know and do for instant, long-lasting results.

What

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gradient Publication
• Release date: Feb 15, 2024
• ISBN: 9798869195081

Book preview

Day-Tight Compartments

A young man picked up a book in the spring of 1871 and read twenty-one words that would change his life forever. As a medical intern at the Montreal General Hospital, he was concerned about passing the last test as well as about where to go, what to do, how to start a practice, and how to support himself. This young medical student's reading of twenty-one words in 1871 contributed to his rise to prominence as the most well-known doctor of his generation. The renowned Johns Hopkins School of Medicine was established by him. 

At Oxford, he was appointed Regius Professor of Medicine, the highest title available to a physician in the British Empire. The English King bestowed a knighthood upon him. The narrative of his life had to be contained in two enormous volumes totaling 1,466 pages when he passed away. Sir William Osier was his name. The words Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand are the twenty-one words by Thomas Carlyle that he read in the spring of 1871 and that helped him live a worry-free life. Forty-two years later, on a soft spring night when the tulips were blooming on the campus, this man, Sir William Osier, addressed the students of Yale University. 

A man like himself, he said to those Yale students, who had taught at four different universities and authored a best-selling book, was expected to possess brains of a special quality. That, he said, was not true. He claimed that his close pals were aware of his of the most mediocre character intelligence. So what was the key to his success? What did he mean when he said that it was because of living in day-tight compartments? Just a few months prior to his Yale speech, Sir William Osier had traveled across the Atlantic on a large ocean liner where the captain, positioned on the bridge, could simply touch a button to initiate the journey.—As soon as there was a clanging sound from the machinery, different sections of the ship were quickly divided into waterproof compartments. Dr. Osier addressed the group of Yale students, saying, Now, each of you is a much more marvelous organization than the great liner, and bound on a longer voyage. 

The best method to guarantee your safety while traveling is to learn how to operate the machinery and live in day-tight compartments, which is what I strongly advise. At least the large bulkheads are functional when you go on the bridge. At every stage of your life, you can hear the iron doors closing off the past—the dead yesterdays—by pressing a button. Touch another and close off the Future—the tomorrows that have not yet been born—with a metal curtain. You are secure then, at least for today! Turn off the history! Allow the deceased to rest in peace. Block the memories of the past that have led ignorant people to a dusty grave. The weight of today's burden combined with yesterday's makes even the strongest weaken. Seal off the future with the same vigor as you did the past. The future exists now; there is no tomorrow. The time for human salvation has come. Anxious men tend to waste energy, experience mental distress, and worry about the future. They should close the large fore and aft bulkheads and prepare to live in day-tight compartments. 

Did Dr. Osier really mean to suggest that there's no point in trying to get ready for tomorrow? No. Not at all. However, he did continue in the same speech to state that focusing all of your brain and energy on completing today's work flawlessly today is the best way to get ready for tomorrow. You can only get ready for the future in that way. Yale students were encouraged by Sir William Osier to start their days with Christ's prayer, Give us this day our daily bread. Keep in mind that this prayer simply asks for today's bread. It doesn't bemoan the stale bread we had to eat yesterday, nor does it grumble about the recent dry spell that the wheat belt has been experiencing. It also doesn't exclaim, "Oh, God, how could I obtain bread then? Or what if I lose my job? Oh, God, how could I get bread then?No, this prayer instructs us to just pray for the bread of today. 

The bread of today is the only bread you could possibly eat. A destitute philosopher once wandered through a stony region where people struggled to make ends meet. When he was surrounded by a mob on a hill one day, he gave what is arguably the most cited speech ever made, anywhere, at any time. The twenty-six words of this speech, Take therefore no thought for the morrow; for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, have reverberated throughout history. Many people have rejected Jesus' words, Take no thought for the morrow. They see them as a piece of Oriental mysticism, or as a counsel of perfection that is sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. I have to think about tomorrow, they declare. "I have to get insurance to safeguard my family. I have to save money for when I'm older. To succeed, I need to plan ahead and get ready. Exactly! Naturally, you have to. 

The truth is that the meaning of those statements made by Jesus more than 300 years ago has changed from when King James was in power. Anxiety was often associated with the word thought three centuries ago. Jesus is more correctly quoted in modern Bible translations as stating, Have no anxiety for the tomorrow. By all means, give the future some careful consideration, planning, and preparation. But don't worry. Our military leaders made plans for the future while the conflict was raging because they could not afford to worry. The head of the US Navy, Admiral Ernest J. King, declared, I have given the best men the best equipment we have and what seems to be the wisest mission. That is my only option. Admiral King said, "I cannot bring up a ship that has been sunk. I am powerless to stop it if it is going to sink. I'd be better off using my time solving tomorrow's problem than worrying about yesterday's. 

Furthermore, the main distinction between good and bad thinking is that while bad thinking usually results in tension and nervous breakdowns, good thinking deals with causes and effects and leads to logical, constructive planning. If I let those things get to me, I wouldn't last long, whether in war or peace. Arthur Hays Sulzberger, publisher of The New York Times, one of the most well-known newspapers in the world, graciously granted me an interview yesterday. Mr. Sulzberger informed me that he was unable to sleep at all during the Second World War because he was so shocked and filled with anxiety about what was ahead. Often in the middle of the night, he would roll out of bed, grab a canvas and some paint tubes, face the mirror, and attempt to paint a self-portrait. Despite his lack of painting experience, he painted to divert his attention from his anxieties. According to Mr. Sulzberger, he was never able to put his anxieties to rest and achieve serenity until he made the five words One step enough for me from a church hymn his mantra. 

Lead, kindly Light, keep thy foot up; one stride will do for me; I do not ask to see the farthest scene. Somewhere in Europe, a young man in uniform was going through the same thing at around the same time. Ted Bengermino, a resident of Baltimore, Maryland's 5716 Newholme Road, had worried himself into a severe case of fight weariness. I was worried until I developed what doctors call a spasmodic transverse colon,' a condition that produced intense pain, writes Ted Bengermino in April of 1945. I'm positive I would have experienced a total bodily collapse if the war hadn't finished when it did. "I was completely worn out. I worked for the 94th Infantry Division as a noncommissioned officer in charge of graves registration. My job was assisting with the establishment and upkeep of all the guys who were hospitalized, missing in action, and dead in action. With the heat of combat, I also had to assist with the disinterment of the corpses of fallen troops from both the enemy and the Allies who had been hurriedly buried in shallow graves. 

It was my responsibility to collect these men's personal belongings and make sure they were returned to their parents or closest relatives, who would value them greatly. I was always concerned that we would be making grave and embarrassing errors. I was concerned about my ability to survive everything. I feared that I would not live to embrace my sixteen-month-old son, whom I had never seen, in my arms. I shed forty-four pounds because I was so anxious and worn out. I was on the verge of going insane from my frenzy. I examined my hands. Skin and bones, barely more than that. The idea of returning home a physical wreck frightened me. 

I lost it and started crying like a kid. Every time I had some alone time, I would cry because I was so shaken. I nearly lost hope that I would ever be a regular human being again during a period just after the Battle of the Bulge began. I found myself at an Army dispensary. My life has dramatically transformed because of some advice I received from an Army doctor. He examined me thoroughly physically and told me that my problems were psychological. Ted, I want you to picture your life as an hourglass, he stated. As you are aware, there are hundreds of sand grains in the hourglass's top, and each one moves uniformly and slowly through the middle narrow neck. There is nothing that any of us could do to allow more than one sand grain to fit through this small throat without damaging the hourglass. Everybody, including me and you, is like this hourglass. 

One grain of sand at a time... One task at a time. That advice saved me physically and mentally during the war, and it has also helped me in my current position in business. When we start in the morning, there are hundreds of tasks that we feel we must accomplish that day. However, if we do not take them one at a time and let them pass through the day slowly and evenly, as do the grains of sand passing through the narrow neck of the hourglass, then we are bound to break our own physical or mental structure. I work for the Commercial Credit Company in Baltimore as a stock control clerk. I discovered that business was facing the same issues that had emerged during the war: a great deal of work needed to be done all at once, and there wasn't much time to get it done. Our stock levels were low. We had to deal with new forms, new stock arrangements, address changes, office openings and closings, and so forth. Rather than becoming tense and anxious, I recalled the doctor's words, One grain of sand at a time. 

One task at a time.' By telling myself that repeatedly, I completed my tasks more quickly and worked without the disorganized and disoriented feeling that had nearly destroyed me on the battlefield. One of the most horrifying things about our current way of life is that half of the hospital beds are occupied by patients with mental and nervous disorders, patients who have crumbled under the weight of their accumulated yesterdays and anxious tomorrows. We are standing at the intersection of two eternities right now: the vast past that has endured forever and the future that is descending into the final syllable of recorded time. If only they had heeded the words of Sir William Osier, Live in day-tight compartments, or the words of Jesus, Have no anxiety about the morrow, the vast majority of those people would be walking the streets today, leading happy, useful lives. 

There is no way that we could possibly exist in either of those eternities—not even for a single instant. However, attempting to do so can do physical and mental harm to ourselves. Thus, let's be happy to live for the few moments we have left before going to bed. Robert Louis Stevenson once said, Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall. Anyone can labor for a day, no matter how hard they work. Anyone can live a pure, loving, patient, and sweet life till the sun sets. Indeed, this is all life truly demands of us, yet Mrs. E. K. Shields of 815 Court Street, Saginaw, Michigan, was driven to hopelessness and nearly took her own life before she discovered that life was only about getting by till nightfall. I lost my husband in 1937, Mrs. Shields remarked, narrating her tale to me. I was almost broke and quite depressed. I was able to regain my previous position by writing to Mr. Leon Roach of the Roach-Fowler Company in Kansas City. 

In the past, I had supported myself by selling books to town and rural school boards. My husband's illness forced me to sell my car two years ago, but I was still able to save up enough cash for a down payment on a used vehicle and resumed selling books. I had believed that returning to the road would help me overcome my despair, but it was nearly too much for me to bear to drive and eat by myself. Even though the auto payments were tiny, I found it difficult to make them because part of the region was not particularly productive. I was working out from Versailles, Missouri, in the spring of 1938. The roads were terrible, the schools were underfunded, and I felt so hopeless and alone that I briefly thought about killing myself. It appeared as though success was unattainable. 

I had no reason to exist. I hated waking up every morning and having to face life. I was terrified of everything: that I wouldn't have enough money for food, that I wouldn't be able to make my room and car expenses. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to afford a doctor and that my health was worsening. The only things that prevented me from killing myself were the worries that my sister would be very saddened and that I wouldn't have enough money for my burial. One day, though, I came across an essay that helped me overcome my despair and gave me the strength to carry on with my life. One encouraging sentence in that piece will always have a special place in my heart. I copied the words, Every day is a new life to a wise man," and stuck them to my car's windshield so I would always see them as I was driving. 

I discovered that living a day at a time wasn't all that difficult. I discovered how to let go of the past and stop worrying about the future. Today is a new life, I would tell myself every morning. I had been able to conquer my fears of being alone and of wanting. I am currently content, somewhat prosperous, and full of energy and passion for life. Now that I know, I will never again be terrified, no matter what life throws at me. I am aware today that I need not be afraid of the future. Who wrote this verse, Happy the man, and happy he alone, He, who can call today his own: He who, secure within, can say: Tomorrow, do thy worst, for I have liv'd today? Those words sound modern, don't they? I know now that I can live one day at a time—and that Every day is a new life to a wise man." However, Horace, a Roman poet, wrote them thirty years before Christ was born. 

The unfortunate thing about human nature, as far as I can tell, is that we all have a tendency to put off life. Rather than appreciating the roses flowering outside our windows right now, we are all daydreaming about some enchanted rose garden that is somewhere over the horizon. Why are we such tragic fools, such fools? How peculiar our small life procession is!Stephen Leacock authored. When I am a big boy, the toddler says, but what exactly does it mean? The older child replies, When I grow up. Later, when he is older, he adds, When I get married. But what exactly does being married entail? When retirement finally arrives, the initial thinking becomes, When I'm able to retire. He then looks back over the terrain he has traveled; a chilly breeze appears to blow over it; he feels as though he has missed everything and it has vanished. The late Detroit resident Edward S. Evans nearly committed suicide out of fear before realizing that life is in the living, in the tissue of every day and hour." Life is something we discover too late. 

Edward Evans, who was raised in poverty, began making money by peddling newspapers before finding employment as a grocery store clerk. Subsequently, he secured employment as an assistant librarian, despite being the primary provider for seven individuals. Despite the meager salary, he was scared to leave. It took him eight years to find the confidence to go out on his own. However, once he got going, he managed to turn his initial loan of fifty-five dollars into a business that earned him twenty thousand dollars annually. And then there was a frost—a deadly frost. A buddy of his who recommended a large note went bankrupt. Not long after that catastrophe, another one struck: the bank holding all of his money failed. In addition to losing all of his money, he incurred a debt of sixteen thousand dollars. His equanimity failed him. He told me that he had become oddly unwell and was unable to eat or sleep. This illness was brought on by worry and nothing but worry, the man claimed. I passed out one day while strolling down the street and landed on the sidewalk. I was unable to walk at all. My body began to boil as soon as I was sent to bed. These boils became inside, to the point where it hurt to just lie in bed. My strength diminished daily. 

My doctor finally informed me that I had just two weeks left to live. It stunned me. I composed my will, then reclined in bed to await my demise. No need to fight or worry right now. I gave up, unwrapped myself, and fell asleep. After weeks of not sleeping for two hours straight, I finally fell asleep like a baby as my earthly troubles were coming to an end. My debilitating fatigue started to fade. My hunger came back. I put on some weight. I was able to walk with crutches a few weeks later. I was allowed to return to work after six weeks. I was happy to secure a job paying thirty dollars a week after earning twenty thousand dollars a year. 

I acquired a job selling blocks that go behind cars' wheels when they are transported by freight train. I was now aware of my lesson. I would no longer be concerned about the past, lament what had happened, or fear what was ahead. Edward S. Evans soared up quickly at this point. I focused all of my time, energy, and enthusiasm into selling those blocks. He served as president for a few years.

business. The Evans Product Company, his business, has a long history of listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Edward S. Evans was one of the most progressive businessmen in the United States when he passed away in 1945. You might land on Evans Field, a flying-field named in his honor, if you ever fly over Greenland. The moral of the narrative is this: if Edward S. Evans hadn't realized how foolish worrying was and hadn't learnt to live in day-tight divisions, he would never have had the joy of accomplishing these successes in life and business. 

The Greek philosopher Heraclitus taught his students that everything changes except the law of change five hundred years before the birth of Christ. You cannot walk in the same river twice, he declared, adding that both the river and the person who stepped in it change instant by instant. Life is full of constant change. Today is the only thing that is certain. Why detract from the beauty of the present moment by attempting to fix the difficulties of a future obscured by unpredictability and constant change that no one can possibly predict? The ancient Romans named it with a term. They actually had two terms for it. Seize the day. Seize the day, or Enjoy the day, is a good way to go about living each day to the fullest. That is Lowell Thomas's way of thinking. This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it, according to Psalm CXVIII, which he had framed and hung on the walls of his radio studio where he would view it often. I discovered this when I recently spent a weekend at his farm. 

John Ruskin had a plain stone chunk with the word TODAY etched on it on his desk. Even though I don't have a stone on my desk, Sir William Osier used to always have this poem—Salutation to the Dawn—pasted on the mirror so I could see it every morning while shaving! It was written by the renowned Indian dramatist Kalidasa. It is life itself, life at its purest. All the truths and realities of your life are contained in its brief span, including the joy of development, the grandeur of action, and the splendor of accomplishment. Because tomorrow is just a vision and yesterday is merely a dream, a life well lived today transforms yesterday into a happy dream and every tomorrow into a hopeful vision. Thus, have a good look at this day! That is the dawn's salutation. Thus, the first thing you need to understand about concern is this: follow Sir William Osier's example to avoid having it in your life: 1. Close the doors of iron between the past and the future. Observe Day-tight Compartments Why don't you ask these questions of yourself and record your responses? 

1. Do I often put off enjoying the now because I'm worried about what might happen in the future or because I wish there was a magical rose garden over the horizon? 2. Do I occasionally make the present more tense by lamenting past events that are now behind me? 3. Do I wake up every morning with the intention of Seizing the day—making the most of these 24 hours? 4. Is it possible to live in day-tight compartments and still obtain more from life? 5. When should I begin doing this? Next week, perhaps? Perhaps tomorrow? Right now? 

An Enchanted Recipe for Resolving Stressful Circumstances

Before you go any further in this book, would you like a short, tried-and-true formula for dealing with stressful situations? Then allow me to share with you the process developed by Willis H. Carrier, the brilliant engineer who invented the air conditioning business and currently serves as the president of the renowned Carrier Corporation located in Syracuse, New York. I learned about this method—which is among the greatest for resolving concern issues—directly from Mr. Carrier during a lunch meeting at the Engineers' Club in New York. In my youth, I was employed by the Buffalo Forge Company located in Buffalo, New York, Mr. Carrier stated. 

I was given the task of installing a gas-cleaning apparatus in a multimillion-dollar Pittsburgh Plate Glass Company plant in Crystal City, Missouri. This system was made to purge the gas of contaminants so that it could be burned without endangering the engines. This was a novel approach to gas cleanup. Only once before, and that too in a separate set of circumstances. Unexpected challenges came up at work in Crystal City, Missouri. It somewhat worked, but not well enough to live up to our assurance. I was taken aback by my own failure. It felt almost like I had taken a knock to the head. My insides, my tummy, started to wriggle. I was unable to sleep for a time due to my anxiety. In the end, common sense told me that worrying wouldn't help me solve my problem, so I found a solution without worrying. It performed flawlessly. 

This is the same anti-worry method that I have been using for over thirty years. It is easy to understand. It is accessible to all. There are three steps involved: "Step I. I conducted an honest and fearless analysis of the circumstance to determine the worst that may occur from this failure. Nobody was going to shoot me or put me in jail. That was for sure. It was true that there was a danger I might lose my job and that my employers would have to forfeit the twenty thousand dollars we had invested in having to remove the apparatus. Step Two. I made peace with the possibility that it might happen after calculating the worst-case scenario. I told myself that although this setback would be bad for my resume and potentially result in my job being lost, I could always find another job. 

Conditions could be a lot worse. In terms of my employers, they understand that we are testing a new technique for cleaning gas, and even if it means spending $20,000 on this experience, they can handle it. As an experiment, they can claim it as research. One very significant thing happened after realizing the worst that may happen and preparing myself to accept it, if needed: I instantly relaxed and felt a sense of serenity that I hadn't felt in days. Step Three. I calmly committed all of my time and energy afterward to attempting to improve upon the worst, which I had already come to terms with on a mental level. "I now made an effort to come up with strategies to lessen the twenty thousand dollar loss we were about to incur. I conducted a number of tests before determining that our issue would be resolved if we invested an additional $5,000 on equipment. 

By doing this, we were able to make fifteen thousand instead of the corporation losing twenty thousand. Worrying ruins our capacity to concentrate, which is one of its worst effects. If I had continued to worry, I doubt I could have completed this. Worry causes our minds to race all over the place, impairing our ability to make decisions. Nonetheless, we get rid of all those hazy fantasies and place ourselves in a situation where we can focus on our issue when we make ourselves mentally accept the worst. "I have to tell you about an incident that happened a long time ago. I have been using it ever since because it worked so well, and as a result, I haven't worried about anything in my life. 

So why, psychologically speaking, is Willis H. Carrier's magic formula so useful and applicable? Because when we are overcome with concern, it pulls us down from the massive, gloomy clouds that we struggle through. It firmly establishes our feet on the ground. We are aware of our position. And how in the world can we ever hope to think anything through if we don't have a firm foundation beneath us? The father of applied psychology, Professor William James, passed away 38 years ago. However, he would wholeheartedly endorse it if he were still around today and could hear his recipe for preparing for the worst. How am I aware of that? Since acknowledging that acceptance of what has happened is the first step in overcoming the consequences of any misfortune, he advised his own students to be willing to have it so. 

Lin Yutang articulated the same concept in his well read book, The Importance of Living. According to this Chinese scholar, accepting the worst leads to true peace of mind. That's precisely what it means: a psychological release of energy, in my opinion. It symbolizes a fresh outpouring of vitality psychologically! We have nothing left to lose once we have conceded the worst. That implies that we stand to