Aren’t we all like that battling giant of the forest？Don’t we manage somehow to survive the rare storms and avalanches and lightning blasts of We，only to let our hearts be eaten out by little beetles of worry—little beetles that could be crushed between a finger and a thumb？
A few years ago，I travelled through the Teton National Park，in Wyoming，with Charles Seifred，highway superintendent for the state of Wyoming，and some of his friends.We were all going to visit the John D.Rockefeller estate in the park.But the car in which I was riding took the wrong turn，got lost，and drove up to the entrance of the estate an hour after the other cars had gonein.Mr.Seifred had the key that unlocked the private gate，so he waited in the hot，mosquito-infested woods for an hour until we arrived.The mosquitoes were enough to drive a saint insane.But they couldn’t triumph over Charles Seifred.While waiting for us，he cut a limb off an aspen tree-and made a whistle of it.When we arrived，was he cussing the mosquitoes？No，he was playing his whistle.I have kept that whistle as a memento of a man who knew how to put trifles in their place.
To break the worry habit before it breaks you，here is：
Rule 2：Let’s not allow ourselves to be upset by small things we should despise and forget.Remember “Life is too short to be little.”
Chapter 38
A Law That Will Outlaw Many of Your Worries
As a child，I grew up on a Missouri farm；and one day，while helping my mother pit cherries，I began to cry.My mother said：“Dale，what in the world are you crying about？”I blubbered：“I’m afraid I am going to be buried alive！”
I was full of worries in those days.When thunderstorms came，I worried for fear I would be killed by lightning.When hard times came，I worried for fear we wouldn’t have enough to eat.I worried for fear I would go to hell when I died.I was terrified for fear an older boy，Sam White，would cut off my big ears—as he threatened to do.I worried for fear girls would laugh at me if I tipped my hat to them.I worried for fear no girl would ever be willing to marry me.I worried about what I would say to my wife immediately after we were married.I imagined that we would be married in some country church，and then get in a surrey with fringe on the top and ride back to the farm...but how would I be able to keep the conversation going on that ride back to the farm？How？How？I pondered over that earth-shaking problem for many an hour as I walked behind the plough.
As the years went by，I gradually discovered that ninety-nine percent of the things I worried about never happened.
For example，as I have already said，I was once terrified of lightning；but I now know that the chances of my being killed by lightning in any one year are，according to the National Safety Council，only one in three hundred and fifty thousand.
My fear of being buried alive was even more absurd：I don’t imagine that one person in ten million is buried alive；yet I once cried for fear of it.
One person out of every eight dies of cancer.If I had wanted something to worry about，I should have worried about cancer—instead of being killed by lightning or being buried alive.
To be sure，I have been talking about the worries of youth and adolescence.But many of our adult worries are almost as absurd.You and I could probably eliminate nine-tenths of our worries right now if we would cease our fretting long enough to discover whether，by the law of averages，there was any real justification for our worries.
The most famous insurance company on earth—Lloyd’s of London—has made countless millions out of the tendency of everybody to worry about things that rarely happen.Lloyd’s of London bets people that the disasters they are worrying about will never occur.However，they don’t call it betting.They call it insurance.But it is really betting based on the law of averages.This great insurance firm has been going strong for two hundred years；and unless human nature changes，it will still be going strong fifty centuries from now by insuring shoes and ships and sealing-wax against disasters that，by the law of average，don’t happen nearly so often as people imagine.
If we examine the law of averages，we will often be astounded at the facts we uncover.For example，if I knew that during the next five years I would have to fight in a battle as bloody as the Battle of Gettysburg，I would be terrified.I would take out all the life insurance I could get.I would draw up my will and set all my earthly affairs in order.I would say：“I’ll probably never live through that battle，so I had better make the most of the fewyears I have left.”Yet the facts are that，according to the law of averages，it is just as dangerous，just as fatal，to try to live from age fifty to age fifty-five in peacetime as it was to fight in the Battle of Gettysburg.What I am trying to say is this：in times of peace，just as many people die per thousand between the ages of fifty and fifty-five as were killed per thousand among the 163，000soldiers who fought at Gettysburg.
I wrote several chapters of this book at James Simpson’s Num-Ti-Gah Lodge，on the shore of Bow Lake in the Canadian Rockies.While stopping there one summer，I met Mr.and Mrs.HerbertH.Salinger，of 2298Pacific Avenue，San Francisco.Mrs.Salinger，a poised，serene woman，gave me the impression that she had never worried.One evening in front of the roaring fireplace，I asked her if she had ever been troubled by worry.“Troubled by it？”she said.
