For me, sitting still can be a struggle.

"Relax", is a small booklet that I picked up in a Wisconsin second hand store a number of years ago. I’ve often gone and re-read it whenever I felt on edge—carrying too much stress and worry.

I’d always wanted to reprint the booklet, so that it could be read by more people. The original goal was to slowly transcribe each chapter from the booklet with new illustrations. One chapter a month. The first chapter was posted on willdinski.com in January 2019. I live for big projects that I can slowly chip away at. 

However, with more time that I would normally like to sit in front of my computer, and to put my mind on calmer things—I turned to completing the project a few months early.

With pervasive uncertainty, we are all carrying a lot of tension in our bodies. I hope that being aware of how you feel and the ways you can reduce that tension will keep us healthy.

Go here to read “Relax” written by Leonard M. Leonard, from 1952.

Is there a “suggestion box” in your shop or office? If it’s peace and quiet you want, a form of “suggestion box” is what you may need in your home too.

The “suggestions” are to be given to you by the walls, doors, pictures you see; even by the sounds you hear. And the only suggestions they will make are Peace, Quiet, Repose. You can get these suggestions so often that they will work on you; they will help calm your mind when you feel upset; they will give a feeling of quiet assurance to your whole being.

There is no hocus-pocus about it. You know that looking at something restful make you feel restful. And you know, too, that looking at something exciting tends to excite you. So when you want to relax, it isn’t much of a help to be confronted by the portrait of a nude burlesque queen, an exciting horse race scene, or a wall full of battle pictures. 

Why not deposit that art work at the club house, or remove it to the rumpus room in the basement? And in your living quarters — especially the bedroom — where you want to escape from the turmoil and bring rest to your mind and body put restful sights on the walls. 

Nobody can tell you what a restful scene is; the description must be your own. But finding pictures for your wall which give you a sense of quiet can be more important to you and to your family than finding genuine masterpieces. 

The Psalmist had the perfect idea when he sand of “green pastures” and “still waters.” There is something especially soothing about pastoral scenes and views of tranquil water. Many nervous people find it soothing to look at an aquarium with tropical fish swimming about in it. The newest of these is a fish bowl which hangs on the wall like a picture.

There you have two ideas, but it’s a personal matter. Maybe watching fish will make you hungry, and a water scene may stir up memories of the time you nearly drowned! You must choose your own decorations, but try to choose the most restful you can find.

We are on safer ground with color. Green and blue-green are generally the most soothing colors. They are a good choice for the tense person unless they involve a dispute with other members of the family. Blue also is s sedative color, but too much can go too far. We speak of being “blue” for good reason; the color tends to be depressing.

Red is all right, but for the game room where you want to get up a lot of steam. It’s for stimulation, not sedation. As for yellow and orange, they can cheer you up. But they aren’t very likely to calm you down.

Don’t over look the effect of words. If you doubt the effect that word can have upon you, just look back to the letter which gave you bad news. And to another which raised your spirits sky-high! Just words, but they gave you thoughts.

With wall mottoes and slogans, suggest psychologist Ernest Dichter, you can keep imparting relaxing thoughts to your mind. So whenever you come across a quotation or message which give you reassurance and seems to make you feel more at ease all around, jot it down. The muster all the artist you can name make a sign of it. Place it where you will see it often, for example, on the saving mirror of your bathroom, or even the footboard of your bed.

Gladstone of England, who had a stormy life, brought repose into his bedroom. To help himself relax and get to sleep, he inscribed this Biblical message on his footboard: Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is tased on Thee.

Look to the Bible for the most reassuring messages you are likely to find anywhere. Don’t try to convince yourself, and don’t trouble to question. William James credits a few simple Bible quotations with saving his sanity during a period of great fear and tension. They were words that worked, never mind how.

Dr. Norman Vincent Peale tells of a harassed and jittery business man who was virtually on the verge of hysteria when he chanced to open a Bible in his hotel room. He came upon the Twenty-Third Psalm and when he finally closed the book, his tension had vanished and he was completely at ease. 

These are just a few of the relaxing and comforting messages in the Bible:

“… God hat not given us the sprit of fear; but of power, and of love, and a sound mind …” (II Timothy 1:7)

“Let not your heart be troubled.” (John 14:1)

“Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; fret no they self …” (Psalm 37:8)

“I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for thou, Lord, only makes me dwell in safety …” (Psalms)

“In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength …” (Isaiah 30:15)

But of course there are lots of enduring words outside the Bible, too. It would be surprising if you couldn’t find dozens of saying with a certain magic in them for you. Dr. Dichter says he can calm himself down with two simple words: “So what?” They have a way of taking the bigness out of problems and cutting worries down to size.

In the same vein, Abraham Lincoln, who was a melancholy man, comforted himself with the saying, “This, too, shall pass away.” He needed to be reminded that even sadness isn’t permanent. 

Time out, please. Your worries have vanished, little annoyances don’t get your goat any more, you feel quite, you look better, you’re nicer to live with, you’re making more progress. Not yet? It will come.

Anyway, you may still be making extra work for yourself. You may still be less lazy than you should be.

Now don’t let anyone kid you about laziness. It pays! But you’ve got to be lazy in the right way. That is, never too lazy to do what you should, but always too lazy to do what you shouldn’t.

The best proof is the greatest body of laws ever written. Only two of the Ten Commandments tell you to do something. Eight others tell you what not to do. And you had better now, either, if you want to avoid tension.

As it happens, the bad thing — morally, mentally, physically — is always the unnecessary, the undesirable thing. It has no place in the scheme of intelligent laziness. Yet let’s try a sampling of how much tense effort you may waste every day. If you know how to be lazy, you can answer “no” to each of these questions:

• Do you press down so hard that you frequently break off the points of pencils as you write? If so, you are entirely too tense and are working too hard. Learn to write with the minimum of pressure.

• Do you find yourself standing or pacing about when you could just as well be sitting? It’s easier to sit than to stand. Be lazy and sit down when you can.

• Do you talk or argue more than you listen? See how many things you can safely leave unsaid. Besides saving your voice and energy, it can keep you friends.

• Do you put off doing disagreeable tasks? Be too lazy to carry them in your mind any longer than you must. Do them first and get them over with. You’ll be surprised to find how much tension you’ll avoid.

• Do you try to hide your mistakes? It takes more time and effort than frankly admitting them as soon as you can. Don’t add a heavy conscience and jumpy nerves to your burdens. Own up and see how relaxed it makes you feel.

• Do you always write out your name and address on packages, letters and postcards? Discover the rubber stamp or treat yourself to printed letterheads or labels. Save work.

• Do you try to dodge creditors? It’s more fun to play tag with the children, probably a good deal less strenuous and certainly very much easier on your nerves. Tell your creditors the truth and see what happens.

• Do you strain your mind to remember things, and get all worked up when you can’t? Ge the habit of jotting down memos, and spare your mind. As one profound philosopher has noted, “A short pencil is better than a long memory.”

• Do you keep imaginary pets called “grudges”? Try a different kind of pet for a change. Even a wildcat can do more good. Ask your enemy what all the fuss is about and clear the atmosphere. You’ll feel easier.

On the positive side, here are some questions to which your answer should be “yes”:

• Have you discovered the effort-saving utility of marketing carts for you shopping, or wheel trays, toy wagons and baskets for carrying things around the house?

• Are you a work-planner? Before starting to work on a job, are you careful to see that you have on hand all the tools and materials you will need, to avoid losing time and temper in looking for them later?

• Are you a step-saver? Do you organize your activities to avoid needless trips, especially up and down stairs? Do you keep ladders, tools, ash-trays, lamp bulbs, searchlights, etc., always ready where you are most likely to need them?

• Are you a stock-taker? Do you avoid household scenes and flurries of excitement by keeping a simple inventory of necessary items such as toothpaste, shaving cream, razor blades, and so forth so that you never run out of them?

Life can be easier and lazier in lots of little ways that total big relaxation. Try them and see.