And even as some banks, that appear solid and substantial from the outside, may be on the verge of ruin, owing to the lack of supervision over income and expenditure; so many an apparently robust body may be on the verge of physical collapse, owing to the mistaken belief that the body is simply a depository for food. Energy may be stored up in the system for future use, that being the dividend resulting from judicious interchange; but to force the system to receive more food than it can use and assimilate, is to invite disaster and pave the way to physical bankruptcy. A knowledge of banking is valuable in any walk of life, and I feel that the most valuable advice I can give my readers is to study Nature’s bookkeeping, as manifested in the human bank, and to see that the balance is strictly drawn between income and expenditure. The world will yet see the day when it will be considered a disgrace to be sick; but in the meantime, humanity suffers for lack of that important knowledge--knowledge of self.
Above all, cultivate the habit of happiness. Whatever else you may neglect, do not neglect that, for the happy habit is the greatest treasure that any individual can possess. Happiness depends largely upon physical conditions. With poor health, perfect happiness rarely exists; therefore it is your duty to be healthy, and the possession of health is in the majority of cases a matter of personal endeavor. But although the physical is important in health, yet the physical is dominated by the mental, and if you resolve to be happy, you can succeed. Commence this day, by saying to yourself, I _am_ happy; I _will_ be happy. Start out with the resolve that you will at least do some one thing to-day that will bring happiness to another, in the form of some simple service. Even if no such opportunity presents itself (although opportunities are never lacking), you can at least bestow cordial and cheerful greetings on those with whom you come in contact.
No surer road to personal happiness can be found than endeavoring to make others happy. If you find it difficult to be cheerful, there is more need to look to your surroundings. Read none but cheerful books; cultivate cheerful acquaintances. You will be amply repaid for your endeavors to cultivate the habit of happiness. From the standpoint of health, it is a profitable proceeding, for joy quickens the circulation. You can get the happiness habit if you wish to, and it is your duty to yourself and those around you to do so. If the clouds are lowering, do not give way to depression. Rouse yourself. Look for the rift in the clouds, disclosing the little patch of blue, and hope for the triumph of fair weather over foul. Even if you do not attain the degree of happiness you anticipated, you will find yourself improved, mentally, morally and physically. Get the habit, remembering that “a happy and contented mind is a continual feast.”