How to Stop Worrying and Start Living

Whenever economist Roger W. Babson was worried, he consulted the history section of his library. Closing his eyes, he would choose any page from a random book. Reading about history for an hour reminded him that the conditions of the present are always preferable to those of the past.

Former US Senator Elmer Thomas was tall, thin, and self-conscious as a teenager. His parents did not have the money to send him to college, so he hunted and reared pigs to raise the funds himself. At college, Thomas felt ashamed in the company of the other students due to his badly fitting, second-hand clothes and shoes. However, several events boosted his self-esteem: He qualified to teach; a school hired him, and with his first check, he bought his first well-fitting suit; and when he won a public-speaking contest at Putnam County Fair, and the crowd cheered him. More confident in his abilities, Thomas studied law and public speaking and opened his own practice. By age 50, he had served in the state senate and the US Congress.

English author R. V. C. Bodley was an army officer in India who fought in World War I. However, he became disillusioned with warfare and society in general. While worrying about his future, Bodley met archeologist and diplomat T. E. Lawrence, who recommended moving to the Arabian desert. For seven years, Bodley lived with nomads, adopting their culture and studying Islam. His companions overcame worry by believing that everything was in the hands of Allah. Consequently, they remained calm in crises. Bodley realized that life’s events are often out of one’s control, so worrying is futile.

Professor William Lyon Phelps of Yale University described his five techniques for combating worry:

1. At 24, Phelps’s eyes became painful and light-sensitive. He feared he would have to give up teaching. However, he discovered that by intense mental focus, he could make the affliction disappear while he was lecturing.
2. At 59, Phelps had a nervous breakdown and recovered by reading.
3. During a period of depression, Phelps cured himself through physical activities such as golf, tennis, and dancing.
4. Phelps avoided working to pressured deadlines.
5. He learned that time often resolves problems.

Dorothy Dix experienced hardship and anxiety during her life. When people asked how she survived, she said, “I stood yesterday. I can stand today” (310). Dix learned to take each day as it came and not to worry about the future. As she had known great sorrow, trivialities no longer mattered. She even found she was able to laugh at her troubles.

Before the financial crash of 1929, businessman J. C. Penney made some bad financial investments. Worry prevented him from sleeping, and he developed shingles. Becoming extremely ill, Penney was convinced he was going to die. One evening, he wrote farewell letters to his family. He was surprised to wake up the next morning. Hearing singing from the chapel, he experienced a certainty of the presence of God. From that moment, he knew God would take care of him.

Colonel Eagan took to exercise, such as running or punching a bag, when he felt anxiety overwhelming him. He spent his weekends this way as it tired him physically and gave his mind a chance to recuperate.

During military college in Virginia, Birdsall was ill from worry so regularly that a bed was reserved for him in the infirmary. Birdsall worried about his grades, his finances, and his love life. However, he experienced a turning point when he unburdened himself to his professor. The professor gave him three steps to conquer the worry habit.

1. Identify what the worry is.
2. Identify what is causing the worry.
3. Take positive action to solve the problem.

Birdsall applied these rules to every area of life that was causing him anxiety. He worked harder to achieve the grades he needed, took on extra jobs to solve his financial worries, and married his girlfriend.

Sizoo, the president of the oldest theological seminary in the United States, once felt overwhelmed by life. He opened the New Testament and read the following sentence: “He that sent me is with me—the Father hath not left me alone” (320). This phrase changed his life and became his motto.

In 1942, Ted Ericksen was hired as a “general work horse” (321) on an Alaskan fishing vessel. He worked 20 hours a day performing thankless tasks. The hardest job was pulling in the cork line, which was so heavy that Ericksen pulled along the boat instead of moving the line. Every night, he went to bed exhausted. Ericksen used this experience to help him combat worry. When faced with an issue, he considered whether it was “as bad as pulling the cork line” (322).

Author Percy H. Whiting spent much of his childhood in his father’s drugstore. Consequently, he learned the names and symptoms of many illnesses and became a hypochondriac. Whiting eventually cured his hypochondria when he learned to laugh at his worries.

The famous singing cowboy, Gene Autry, was raised in poverty. He began his working life on the railroad as it offered financial security. Even when he was talent spotted while singing, Autry continued to return to work on the railroad to keep his options open. Consequently, he never worried about his career or finances.

E. Stanley Jones spent 40 years doing missionary work in India. After the first eight years, he began to collapse regularly from fatigue and nervous exhaustion. Doctors warned that remaining in India would be fatal. Jones experienced a crisis, realizing he could not continue his work if his health did not improve. During prayer, he heard a voice assuring him that he would be taken care of if he was ready for the work God required of him. Jones felt an immediate sense of peace and, from then on, worked long hours without feeling tired. His health problems never returned.

Homer Croy was a successful author who had sold the movie rights to one of his novels. His family divided their time between France and Switzerland. However, during the Great Depression, Croy could not make the payments on his home and became paralyzed by worry. After losing his home in Long Island, Croy accepted that he had hit rock bottom and focused on starting again. His situation improved as he channeled the energy he had wasted on worry into work. Finally, he became grateful for his experience of bankruptcy.

Heavyweight boxer Jack Dempsey’s “toughest opponent” was worry. He developed the following method of conquering anxiety:

1. Dempsey repeated positive affirmations before fights. As a result, he felt no pain.
2. When worrying kept him awake, he reminded himself anxiety was jeopardizing his health.
3. He prayed several times a day.

Kathleen Halter’s childhood was governed by worry. Her mother often collapsed from a heart disorder, and Halter feared being sent to the local orphanage. She constantly prayed to keep her mother alive. Twenty years later, Halter was a caregiver for her brother while also working as a music teacher. Due to a life-changing injury, her brother needed morphine injections every three hours day and night. Two things prevented Halter from worry and self-pity. The long hours she worked kept her occupied. She also reminded herself of her good fortune compared to her brother, who could not walk or feed herself and was constantly in pain. Every day she thanked God for her good health.

Cameron Shipp felt overwhelmed with worry when he was promoted to assistant publicity director at Warner Brothers. He had insomnia, lost weight, and believed he had stomach ulcers. Consulting a physician, Shipp underwent expensive tests that showed there was nothing wrong with him. The doctor prescribed belladonna pills, saying Shipp could take as many as he wanted until he could stop worrying unaided. Shipp felt embarrassed at having to rely on the pills. He gradually learned to laugh at himself and realized his responsibilities were not so great. Having gained perspective on his worries, he no longer needed the pills.

Reverend Wood was always working and always under pressure. He suffered from stomach pains and was worried he had stomach cancer like his father. However, his doctor diagnosed stress and advised reducing his workload. Wood cleared his desk of old sermons and decided to apply the same process to the worries cluttering his mind. He also gained inspiration from watching his wife singing as she washed dishes. Wood realized that if his wife had known how many dishes she would wash during 18 years of marriage, she would have found the prospect completely overwhelming. However, the chore was bearable to her because she only washed one day’s dishes at a time. By contrast, his worries about the past, present, and future were like attempting to wash many years’ worth of dishes at once.

In 1943, Del Hughes was in a veterans’ hospital in New Mexico. During a Marine landing, he had punctured a lung and was no better after three months. Hughes realized the longer he lay in his hospital bed, the more he worried about whether he would lead an active life again. He asked to be moved to the next ward, where patients were encouraged to be more active. Learning to play bridge and paint distracted Hughes from his worries, and he made a swift recovery.

Between the ages of 18 and 28, Louis T. Montant isolated himself due to worry. He was terrified of meeting strangers and avoided people he knew in case they snubbed him. His perspective changed when he encountered Bill—a man who had survived many challenges. Bill advised Montant to write down his next worry and put the paper in his desk drawer. After two weeks, he should take it out again and see if the issue still worried him. Bill pointed out that most worries became irrelevant if you waited long enough.

Joseph L. Ryan was overcome by work-related worries and collapsed from a heart disorder on the way home from work. He woke to find a priest with his family and realized they believed he would die. Closing his eyes, Ryan accepted God’s will and immediately relaxed. His anxiety and heart pains disappeared. Ryan made a full recovery and, freed from worry, experienced a new joy in life.

Ordway Tead was a lecturer at Columbia University, chairman of the Board of Higher Education of New York City, and managed a publishing department. Tead never worried, as he never had time. Instead, he taught himself to forget his work issues the moment he left his office.

During 63 years of professional baseball, Connie Mack had cause for anxiety. He made little money when he started out as a player and suffered a long series of defeats as a manager. Worry gave him insomnia, and he had no appetite. However, he conquered his worrying habit with the following methods:

1. He realized worrying was futile and jeopardizing his career.
2. He realized worry was ruining his health.
3. He kept busy so as not to dwell on past losses.
4. He never discussed his team’s mistakes until 24 hours after a game. This prevented him from getting angry and antagonizing his players.
5. He praised all his players.
6. He slept 10 hours a night and took a nap in the afternoon.

At 24 years old Arden W. Sharpe was depressed and worried. He had stomach ulcers, and doctors prescribed a diet of milk and eggs. When his symptoms did not improve, Sharpe realized his ulcers were caused by the negative emotions his work provoked. He hated his factory job, and his colleagues were always complaining. Sharpe returned to his old sales job and chose to only mix with positive people. His health quickly improved.

Joseph M. Cotter was a worrier from childhood. He could not enjoy the present as he was always worried about past mistakes and the future. Cotter was advised to make the most of each day, but struggled to put the method into practice. One day, he had an epiphany while seeing off friends on a railroad platform. Cotter watched the train pull off as the light ahead turned from amber to green. He realized that if he were in charge of the train, one green light would not provide enough reassurance—he would worry that lights further down the track might be red. Consequently, he would be permanently stuck in the station. From then on, Cotter had faith that God was in charge of his life’s signal system. He prayed every morning for his green light from God and never worried about what would happen beyond that point.

By 43 years old, John D. Rockefeller Sr. was the richest man in the world. After establishing the Standard Oil Company, he had a monopoly on America’s oil. However, by 53, Rockefeller was ill and prematurely aged by worry. His hair and eyelashes fell out, he had insomnia, and doctors prescribed a strict diet of milk and crackers for his indigestion. Despite his vast wealth, Rockefeller fell ill if he lost the smallest amount of money. He had no leisure time and few friends as he was constantly anxious about losing his fortune.

Rockefeller retired when his doctors stated he would die if he failed to do so. He followed their instructions to stop worrying, relax, and exercise. When Standard Oil was made to pay the biggest fine in history, Rockefeller said he did not intend to lose sleep over it. As he began to enjoy life, he considered how his money could help others. Establishing the Rockefeller Foundation, he donated to good causes and funded medical research, helping to eradicate fatal diseases. Rockefeller lived to 98.

Paul Sampson conducted his life at a fast pace, never relaxing. A nerve specialist advised him that he would die if he did not learn to relax. Sampson followed this advice, relaxing his body while eating, driving, working, and before he went to sleep. Several times a day, he checked in on himself to ensure he was relaxed. Sampson never suffered from tension or worry again.

Mrs. John Burger suffered from nervous tension so badly that her three young children were cared for by relatives. Worrying about her family’s suffering made her feel even worse. One day, Burger’s mother rebuked her daughter for her defeatist attitude and challenged her to fight for her future. Burger began caring for her children again. She no longer worried as she felt contentment from focusing on her family.

Joseph Priestley asked Benjamin Franklin for advice on conquering worry when making important decisions. Franklin advised Priestley to make a list of pros and cons and weigh them against one another until the best decision became apparent. Franklin called this method “moral or prudential algebra” (376).

Kathryne Holcombe Farmer was unable to eat due to worrying about the past and the future. However, receiving an advance copy of How to Stop Worrying and Start Living transformed her mindset. She studied the book for over three months and applied its principles of keeping busy, accepting the inevitable, praying, and living in the present. Farmer recommends that readers treat Carnegie’s text as a guidebook to a better life.