Relax
Written by Leonard M. Leonard
Designed + Illustrated by Will Dinski
Original Copyright 1952

Chapter 5
Mental Fire-Traps That “Burn You Up”

One good turn deserves another. Try non-resistance on the other mental states that make you tense.

It’s the same deal. If you hate something you’re resisting its presence. If you suspect someone, you’re resisting what he may do. If you envy someone, your resisting her success. If you’re jealous of someone, you’re resisting that person’s attractiveness to others.

When something riles us, we say that it “burns us up” – which comes pretty close to the actual truth. As we have already noted, the scenes and actions which negative thoughts bring to your mind are telegraphed through your body. You fight battles, suffer heartaches, engage dangers in make-believe enactments that “burn you up” or wear you down.

Don’t wait for the doctor to tell you that your blood pressure has gone up, that your heart’s overworked, that an ulcer is on the way, or that you need a good rest. Rest? You can take i on your feet, if you’ll take it in your head. Give up your mental tug-of-war!

The idea, of course, if not to take the fight out of you, but to leave the fight in you. Every so often, something happens which calls for all the resistance we can muster. Why waste it, for example, against the sound of someone chewing popcorn in the movies?

These days, we Americans are doing a lot of proper bragging about Freedom and Independence. But here’s a question: how free and independent are you when you give to every petty annoyance, every disappointment, every person who crosses you the power to disturb you, to control your moods, to upset your digestion, to make your heart beat faster or your blood pressure shoot up?

Again we say it: be willing to let things happen. Stop resisting so much, and relax.