BEFORE ONE HOUR A DAY
WHY AM I WRITING A CHAPTER ON PREVENTING FATIGUE IN A BOOK ON PREVENTING WORRY? THAT IS SIMPLE FATIGUE OFTEN PRODUCES WORRY, OR LEAST, IT MAKES YOU SUSCEPTIBLE TO WORRY. ANY MEDICAL STUDENT WILL TELL YOU THAT FATIGUE LOWERS PHYSICAL RESISTANCE TO THE COMMON COLD AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER DISEASES, TO THE COMMON COLD AND HUNDREDS OF OTHER DISEASES, AND ANY PSYCHIATRIST WILL TELL YOU THAT FATIGUE ALSO LOWERS YOU RESISTANCE TO THE EMOTIONS OF FEAR AND WORRY. SO PREVENTING FATIGUE TENDS TO PREVENT WORRY.
DID I SAY, "TENDS TO PREVENT WORRY? THAT IS PUTTING IT MILDLY. DR.EDMUND JACOBSON GOES MUCH FURTHER. DR.JACOBSON HAS WRITTEN TWO BOOKS ON RELAXATION AND YOU MUST RELAX, AND AS DIRECTOR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO LABORATORY FOR CLINICAL PHYSIOLOGY, HE HAS SPENT YEARS CONDUCING INVESTIGATION IN USING RELAXATION AS A METHOD IN MEDICAL PRACTICE. HE DECLARES THAT ANY NERVOUS OR EMOTIONAL STATE "FAILS TO EXIST IN THE PRESENCE OF COMPLETE RELATION". THAT IS ANOTHER WAY OF SAYING, YOU CANNOT FATIGUE AND WORRY, THE FIRST RULE IN REST OFTEN. REST BEFORE YOU GET TIRED.
WHY IS THAT SO IMPORTANT? BECAUSE FATIGUE ACCUMULATES WITH ASTONISHING RAPIDITY. THE UNITED STATES ARMY HAS DISCOVERED BY REPEATED TESTS THAT EVEN YOUNG MEN- MEN TOUGHENED BY YEARS OF ARMY TRAINING - CAN MARCH BETTER, AND HOLD UP LONGER, IF THEY THROW DOWN THEIR PACKS AND REST TEN MINUTES OUT OF EVERY HOUR. SO THE ARMY FORCES THEM TO DO JUST THAT. YOUR HEART IS JUST AS SMART AS THE U.S. ARMY. YOUR HEART PUMPS ENOUGH BLOOD THROUGH YOUR BODY EVERY DAY TO FILL A RAILWAY TANK CAR. IT EXERTS ENOUGH ENERGY EVERY TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO SHOVEL TWENTY TONS OF COAL ONTO A PLATFORM THREE FEET HIGH. IT DOES THIS INCREDIBLE AMOUNT OF WORK FOR FIFTY. SEVENTY OR MAYBED NINETY YEARS. HOW CAN IT STAND IT? DR. WALTER B. CANNON, OF THE HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL, EXPLAINS IT. HE SAYS, MOST PEOPLE HAVE THE IDEA THAT THE HEART IS WORKING ALL THE TIME. AS A MATTER OF FACT, THERE IS A DEFINITE REST PERIOD AFTER EACH CONTRACTION. WHEN BEATING AT A MODERATE RATE OF SEVENTY PULSES PER MINUTE, THE HEART IS ACTUALLY RATE OF SEVENTY PULSES OUT OF THE TWENTY-FOUR. IN THE AGGREGATE ITS REST PERIODS TOTAL A FULL FIFTEEN HOURS PER DAY".
DURING WORLD WAR 2, WINSTON CHURCHILL, IN HIS LATE SIXTIES AND EARLY AFTER YEAR. DIRECTING THE WAR EFFORTS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE. A PHENOMENAL RECORD. HIS SECRET? HE WORKED IN BED EACH MORNING UNTIL ELEVEN O'CLOCK READING REPORTS, DICTATING ORDERS, MAKING TELEPHONE CALLS, AND HOLDING IMPORTANT CONFERENCES. AFTER LUNCH, HE WENT TO BED AGAIN AND SLEPT FOR AN HOUR. IN THE EVENING, HE WENT TO BE ONCE MORE AND SLEPT FOR TWO HOURS BEFORE HAVING DINNER AT EIGHT. HE DIDN'T CURE FATIGUE. HE DIDN'T HAVE TO CURE IT. HE PREVENTED IT. BECAUSE HE RESTED FREQUENTLY, HE WAS ABLE TO WORK ON, FRESH AND FIT, UNTIL LONG PAST MIDNIGHT.
THE ORGINAL JOHN D.ROCKFELLER MADE TOW EXTRAORDINARY RECORS. HE ACCUMULATED THE GREATEST FORTUNE THE WORLD HAD EVER SEEN UP TO THAT TIME AND HE ALSO LIVED TO BE NINETY-EIGHT. HOW DID HE DO IT? THE CHIEF REASON, OF COURSE, WAS BECAUSE HE HAD INHERITED A TENDENCY TO LIVE LONG. ANOTHER REASON WAS HIS HABIT OF TAKING A HALF-HOUR NAP IN HIS OFFICE EVERY NOON. HE WOULD LIE DOWN ON HIS OFFICE COUCH- AND NOT EVEN THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STTES COULD GET JOHN D. ON THE PHONE WHILE HE WAS HAVING HIS SNOOZE!
IN HIS EXCELLENT BOOK, WHY BE TIRED? DANIEL JOSSELYN OBSERVES, "REST IS NOT A MATTER OF DOING ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. REST IS REPAIR". THERE OS SO MUCH REPAIR POWER IN A SHORT PERIOD OF REST THAT EVEN A FIVE-MINUTE NAP WILL HELP TO FORESTALL FATIGUE! CONNIE MACK, THE GRAND OLD MAN OF BASEBALL, TOLD ME THAT IF HE DOESN'T TAKE AN AFTERNOON NAP BEFORE A GAME, HE IS ALL TUCKERED OUT AT AROUND THE FIFTH INNING. BUT IF HE DOES GO TO SLEEP. IF FOR ONLY FIVE MINUTES BE CAN LAST THROUGHOUT AN ENTIRE DOUBLE-HEADER WITHOUT FEELING TIRED.
WHEN I ASKED ELEANOR ROOSEVELT HOW SHE WAS ABLE TO CARRY SUCH AN EXHAUSTING SCHEDULE DURING THE TWELVE YEARS SHE WAS IN THE WHITE HOURSE. SHE SAID THAT BEFORE MEETING A CROWD OR MAKING A SPEECH, SHE WOULD OFTEN SIT IN A CHAIR OR DEVENPORT, CLOSE HER EYES, AND RELAX FOR TWENTY MINUTES.
I RECENTLY INTERVIEWED GENE AUTRY IN HIS DRESSING ROOM AT THE MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, WHERE HE WAS THE STAR ATTRACTION AT THE WORLD'S CHAMPIONSHIP RODEO, I NOTICED AN ARMY COT IN HIS DRESSING ROOM. I LIE DOWN THERE EVERY AFTERNOON. GENE AUTRY SAID, AND GET AN HOUR'S NAP BETWEEN PERFORMANCES. WHEN I AM MAKING PICTURES IN HOLLYWOOD. HE CONTINUED. I OFTEN RELAX IN A BIG EASY CHAIR AND GET TWO-OR THREE TEN-MINUTES NAPS A DAY. THEY BUCK ME UP TREMENDOUSLY.
