Book: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Genre: Non Fiction
Author: Dale Carnegie
Publisher: Pocket Books
Excerpt
One of the most appalling comments on our present way of life is that at one time half of all the beds in our hospitals were reserved for patients with nervous and mental troubles, patients who had collapsed under the crushing burden of accumulated yesterdays and fearful tomorrows. Yet a vast majority of those people could have avoided those hospitals- could have led happy, useful lives-if they had only heeded the words of Jesus: “Have no anxiety about the morrow” ; or the words of Sir William Osler: “Live in day-tight compartments.”
Through this best-seller Dale Carnegie decided to take his life-inspiring teaching techniques to another level. In this book, he tries to unfold those unavoidable factors that play a major hurdle in our lives. Whether we are striving for success or are not happy with our job, unable to work better in relationships or just think that one’s life is a total mess. According to Carnegie, the root cause of all our problems is ‘worry’. We as individuals tend to worry too much about everything, thus hampering our ability to re-think over situations and seek better solutions. The book divided into eight parts with different chapters, discusses how to transform your life bit by bit. The author tries to highlight various reasons why people worry so much in terms of psychological and social pressures. He identifies key factors that majorly affect our perspectives towards happy and healthy living.
After reading the book half way, readers will realise that people in every part of the world have somehow similar problems, and unfortunately same approach to handle it, anxiety. To this Carnegie puts his golden rule: “Put a Stop-Loss order on your worries. Decide just how much anxiety a thing may be worth — and refuse to give it anymore.”
It is a good reflector reading, as Carnegie throughout the book, shares some interesting real life stories of common people that inspire how individuals with bad anger, low self esteem or depression came up making big and happy in life. The book also has tales of renowned personalities sharing their experiences of fighting angst.
What makes this book worth reading is its practical approach. It does not only talk sweet but also provides wise and realistic ideas, thoughts and map plans for a layman to work upon. Chapters like ‘How to Add One Hour a Day to Your Waking Life’, ‘Co-operate with the Inevitable’ and ‘How to Analyse and Solve Worry Problems’, gives day- to-day guidelines to make us a worry-free person each day.
To facilitate its readers, Carnegie gives his Nine Suggestions on How to Get the Most out of this Book, right in the beginning and ends every chapter with a compiling thought or questions to evoke self actualisation. The language is very easy to comprehend along with a touch of humour to keep the readers engaged.
Whether you are a growing teenager, a housewife, a business man or someone who has just entered old age, this book is a refreshing read for all! As individual, we tend to worry all the time, thinking to make our lives better, but in that course of time what we miss in the end is: ‘To be happy’. Carnegie, through this book, teaches us whether we want to be the part of the problem or rather becomes part of the solution, with a smile always.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 30th, 2011.
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