The Science of Being Well

CHAPTER XVI. SUPPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONS.

In forming a conception of health, it is necessary to think of the
manner in which you would live and work if you were perfectly well and
very strong; to imagine yourself doing things in the way of a perfectly
well and very strong person, until you have a fairly good conception of
what you would be if you were well. Then take a mental and physical
attitude in harmony with this conception; and do not depart from this
attitude. You must unify yourself in thought with the thing you desire;
and whatever state or condition you unify with yourself in thought will
soon become unified with you in body. The scientific way is to sever
relations with everything you do not want, and to enter into relations
with everything you do want. Form a conception of perfect health, and
relate yourself to this conception in word, act, and attitude.

Guard your speech; make every word harmonize with the conception of
perfect health. Never complain; never say things like these: "I did not
sleep well last night;" "I have a pain in my side;" "I do not feel at
all well to-day," and so on. Say "I am looking forward to a good night's
sleep to-night;" "I can see that I progress rapidly," and things of
similar meaning. In so far as everything which is connected with disease
is concerned, your way is to forget it; and in so far as everything
which is connected with health is concerned, your way is to unify
yourself with it in thought and speech.

This is the whole thing in a nutshell: _make yourself one with Health in
thought, word, and action; and do not connect yourself with sickness
either by thought, word, or action_.

Do not read "Doctor Books" or medical literature, or the literature of
those whose theories conflict with those herein set forth; to do so will
certainly undermine your faith in the Way of Living upon which you have
entered, and cause you to again come into mental relations with disease.
This book really gives you all that is required; nothing essential has
been omitted, and practically all the superfluous has been eliminated.
The Science of Being Well is an exact science, like arithmetic; nothing
can be added to the fundamental principles, and if anything be taken
from them, a failure will result. If you follow strictly the way of
living prescribed in this book, you will be well; and you certainly CAN
follow this way, both in thought and action.

Relate not only yourself, but so far as possible all others, in your
thoughts, to perfect health. Do not sympathize with people when they
complain, or even when they are sick and suffering. Turn their thoughts
into a constructive channel if you can; do all you can for their relief,
but do it with the health thought in your mind. Do not let people tell
their woes and catalogue their symptoms to you; turn the conversation to
some other subject, or excuse yourself and go. Better be considered an
unfeeling person than to have the disease thought forced upon you. When
you are in company of people whose conversational stock-in-trade is
sickness and kindred matters, ignore what they say and fall to offering
a mental prayer of gratitude for your perfect health; and if that does
not enable you to shut out their thoughts, say good-by and leave them.
No matter what they think or say; politeness does not require you to
permit yourself to be poisoned by diseased or perverted thought. When we
have a few more hundreds of thousands of enlightened thinkers who will
not stay where people complain and talk sickness, the world will advance
rapidly toward health. When you let people talk to you of sickness, you
assist them to increase and multiply sickness.

What shall I do when I am in pain? Can one be in actual physical
suffering and still think only thoughts of _health_?

Yes. Do not resist pain; recognize that it is a good thing. Pain is
caused by an effort of the Principle of Health to overcome some
unnatural condition; this you must know and feel. When you have a pain,
think that a process of healing is going on in the affected part, and
mentally assist and co-operate with it. Put yourself in full mental
harmony with the power which is causing the pain; assist it; help it
along. Do not hesitate, when necessary, to use hot fomentations and
similar means to further the good work which is going on. If the pain is
severe, lie down and give your mind to the work of quietly and easily
co-operating with the force which is at work for your good. This is the
time to exercise gratitude and faith; be thankful for the power of
health which is causing the pain, and be certain that the pain will
cease as soon as the good work is done. Fix your thoughts, with
confidence, on the Principle of Health which is making such conditions
within you that pain will soon be unnecessary. You will be surprised to
find how easily you can conquer pain; and after you have lived for a
time in this Scientific Way, pains and aches will be things unknown to
you.

What shall I do when I am too weak for my work? Shall I drive myself
beyond my strength, trusting in God to support me? Shall I go on, like
the runner, expecting a "second wind"?

No; better not. When you begin to live in this Way, you will probably
not be of normal strength; and you will gradually pass from a low
physical condition to a higher one. If you relate yourself mentally with
health and strength, and perform the voluntary functions of life in a
perfectly healthy manner, your strength will increase from day to day;
but for a time you may have days when your strength is insufficient for
the work you would like to do. At such times rest, and exercise
gratitude. Recognize the fact that your strength is growing rapidly, and
feel a deep thankfulness to the Living One from whom it comes. Spend an
hour of weakness in thanksgiving and rest, with full faith that great
strength is at hand; and then get up and go on again. While you rest do
not think of your present weakness; _think of the strength that is
coming_.

Never, at any time, allow yourself to think that you are giving way to
weakness; when you rest, as when you go to sleep, fix your mind on the
Principle of Health which is building you into complete strength.

What shall I do about that great bugaboo which scares millions of people
to death every year--Constipation?

Do nothing. Read Horace Fletcher on "The A B Z or Our Own Nutrition,"
and get the full force of his explanation of the fact that when you live
on this scientific plan you need not, and indeed cannot, have an
evacuation of the bowels every day; and that an operation in from once
in three days to once in two weeks is quite sufficient for perfect
health. The gross feeders who eat from three to ten times as much as can
be utilized in their systems have a great amount of waste to eliminate;
but if you live in the manner we have described it will be otherwise
with you.

If you eat only when you have an EARNED HUNGER, and chew every mouthful
to a liquid, and if you stop eating the instant you BEGIN to be
conscious of an abatement of your hunger, you will so perfectly prepare
your food for digestion and assimilation that practically all of it will
be taken up by the absorbents; and there will be little--almost
nothing--remaining in the bowels to be excreted. If you are able to
entirely banish from your memory all that you have read in "doctor
books" and patent medicine advertisements concerning constipation, you
need give the matter no further thought at all. The Principle of Health
will take care of it.

But if your mind has been filled with fear-thought in regard to
constipation, it may be well in the beginning for you to occasionally
flush the colon with warm water. There is not the least need of doing
it, except to make the process of your mental emancipation from fear a
little easier; it may be worth while for that. And as soon as you see
that you are making good progress, and that you have cut down your
quantity of food, and are really eating in the Scientific Way, dismiss
constipation from your mind forever; you have nothing more to do with
it. Put your trust in that Principle within you which has the power to
give you perfect health; relate It by your reverent gratitude to the
Principle of Life which is All Power, and go on your way rejoicing.

What about exercise?

Every one is the better for a little all-round use of the muscles every
day; and the best way to get this is to do it by engaging in some form
of play or amusement. Get your exercise in the natural way; as
recreation, not as a forced stunt for health's sake alone. Ride a horse
or a bicycle; play tennis or tenpins, or toss a ball. Have some
avocation like gardening in which you can spend an hour every day with
pleasure and profit; there are a thousand ways in which you can get
exercise enough to keep your body supple and your circulation good, and
yet not fall into the rut of "exercising for your health." Exercise for
fun or profit; exercise because you are too healthy to sit still, and
not because you wish to become healthy, or to remain so.

Are long continued fasts necessary?

Seldom, if ever. The Principle of Health does not often require twenty,
thirty, or forty days to get ready for action; under normal conditions,
hunger will come in much less time. In most long fasts, the reason
hunger does not come sooner is because it has been inhibited by the
patient himself. He begins the fast with the FEAR if not actually with
the hope that it will be many days before hunger comes; the literature
he has read on the subject has prepared him to expect a long fast, and
he is grimly determined to go to a finish, let the time be as long as it
will. And the sub-conscious mind, under the influence of powerful and
positive suggestion, suspends hunger.

When, for any reason, nature takes away your hunger, go cheerfully on
with your usual work, and do not eat until she gives it back. No matter
if it is two, three, ten days, or longer; you may be perfectly sure that
when it is time for you to eat you will be hungry; and if you are
cheerfully confident and keep your faith in health, you will suffer
from no weakness or discomfort caused by abstinence. When you are not
hungry, you will feel stronger, happier, and more comfortable if you do
not eat than you will if you do eat; no matter how long the fast. And if
you live in the scientific way described in this book, you will never
have to take long fasts; you will seldom miss a meal, and you will enjoy
your meals more than ever before in your life. Get an earned hunger
before you eat; and whenever you get an earned hunger, eat.