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Poe a AOE D'S ERE SS Too many people look upon life as the Norsemen did upon heaven: the time was to be passed in daily battles, with magical healing of wounds, Everyone is working under conditions that strain the physical, mental, and emo- tional structure built during ages of evolu- tion, i We are exvosed to tension, expecting Some new crisis. Keeping fit is not simply a matter of taking physical exercise, though that is important. It concerns both mind and body. It requires that we ease the stress of living, The body becomes alarmed by stress and tries to defend itself. The endocrine glands pour out hormones, the heart beats faster, the liver increases its supply of glycogen, the blood pressure rises, and the activity of many internal organs is suspended so that their energy may be diverted to the external muscles, We, like our primitive ancestors become tensed for fight orflight. The medical. profession cannot look upon stress as a simple concept. Out of a thousand diseases described in a textbook of medicine, it is said that emotionally incuced illness is as common as all the other 999 put together, Whatever we allow to affect our minds in the way of pain or pleasure, hope or fear, extends its influence to our hearts. Finan- cial worries, a monotonous job, strain at the > office, emotional upsets in the home -- these,' and many more' may show themselves physically -- as high blood pressure, digestive ailments such as peptic ulcer and colitis, headache, skin disorders, and some allergies. -All emotions are not bad..:.Some are. . guides to protective action. fFleasurable emo- tion is conductive to health. An invigorating emotion unlocks new stores of energy and drives away fatigue.. It provides the zest of pur- suit, the joy of striving, intense interest in work and renewed enthusiasm, The tension accompanies us home and keeps us awake, unless we have worked out for ourselves an effective way of releasing it. (cont'd next col.) Much of the time we are tangled up in the woolly words with which we clothe our thoughts rather than with facts themselves. The result.. is a state of anxiety, The best executives have moments. of doubt and weariness, but rise from their depression to principles they have learned, One of life's most health-giving virtues is to be able to meet disappointment and frustra- tion well, one who is: doing suffering something allowing his dignity An angry man is not something, but one who is to be done to him, He is to be lowered and that is bad enough but he is also interfering with his digestion, disrupt- ing his circulation and putting undue strain on his body's defensive organism, Chronic worry can bring on dyspepsia, ulcers, common colds, arthritis, asthma, and a host of other diseases, at X Most common, perhaps is fatigue of one sort or another, There is nothing dramatic about fatigue. It creeps up on us, Seeping through our bodies like poison. We get our wires crosse?; the wrong messages come through to the brain. Boredom sets up stresses that give us feelings of fatigue. Long hours at a desk, repeated day after cay result in mus- cular tension that can be more physically fatiguing than heavy manual labor. Fatigue can be brought on by too much conversation -- most of us would gain some- thing both physically and mentally by retreating into silence at periods curing every day, Our ability to relax is one of the surest symptoms of our mental health. If we relax away the little tensions as they occur we stand (cont'd p,7)