“Thus，” he explains， “The sovereign voluntary path tocheerfulness， if your cheerfulness be lost， is to sit up cheerfullyand to act and speak as if cheerfulness were already there.”
Does that simple trick work? It works like plastic surgery！
Try it yourself. Put a big， broad， honest-to-God smile on yourface; throw back your shoulders; take a good， deep breath; andsing a snatch of song. If you can’t sing， whistle. If you can’t whistle， hum. You will quickly discover what William James wastalking about—that it is physically impossible to remain blueor depressed while you are acting out the symptoms of beingradiantly happy！
This is one of the little basic truths of nature that can easilywork miracles in all our lives.
I know a woman in California—I won’t mention her name—
who could wipe out all of her miseries in twenty-fours if onlyshe knew this secret. She’s old， and she’s a widow—that’s sad，I admit—but does she try to act happy? No; if you ask her howshe is feeling， she says： “Oh， I’m all right”—but the expressionon her face and the whine in her voice say： “Oh， God， if you onlyknew the troubles I’ve seen！” She seems to reproach you for beinghappy in her presence. Hundreds of women are worse off thatshe is： her husband left her enough insurance to last the rest ofher life， and she has married children to give her a home. But I’verarely seen her smile. She complains that all three of her sons-inlaw are stingy and selfish—although she is a guest in their homesfor months at a time. And she complains that her daughters nevergive her presents—although she hoards her own money carefully，“for my old age”。 She is a blight on herself and her unfortunatefamily！ But does it have to be so? That is the pity of it—shecould change herself from a miserable， bitter， and unhappy oldwoman into an honoured and beloved member of the family—ifshe wanted to change. And all she would have to do to work thistransformation would be to start acting cheerful; start acting asthough she had a little love to give away-instead of squandering itall on her own unhappy and embittered self.
I know a man in Indiana—H. J. Englert， of Tell City， Indiana—
who is still alive today because he discovered this secret. Tenyears ago Mr. Englert had a case of scarlet fever; and when he recovered， he found he had developed nephritis， a kidney disease.
He tried all kinds of doctors， “even quacks”， he informs me， butnothing could cure him.
Then， a short time ago， he got other complications. His bloodpressure soared. He went to a doctor， and was told that his bloodpressure was hitting the top at 214. He was told that it was fatal—
that the condition was progressive， and he had better put hisaffairs in order at once.
“I went home，” he says， “and made sure that my insurancewas all paid up， and then I apologised to my Maker for all mymistakes， and settled down to gloomy meditations. “I madeeveryone unhappy. My wife and family were miserable， and Iwas buried deep in depression myself. However， after a week ofwallowing in self-pity， I said to myself： ‘You’re acting like a fool！
You may not die for a year yet， so why not try to be happy whileyou’re here?’
“I threw back my shoulders， put a smile on my face， andattempted to act as though everything were normal. I admit it wasan effort at first—but I forced myself to be pleasant and cheerful;and this not only helped my family， but it also helped me.
“The first thing I knew， I began to feel better—almost as wellas I pretended to feel！ The improvement went on. And today—
months after I was supposed to be in my grave—I am not onlyhappy， well， and alive， but my blood pressure is down！ I knowone thing for certain： the doctor’s prediction would certainly havecome true if I had gone on thinking ‘dying’thoughts of defeat. ButI gave my body a chance to heal itself， by nothing in the world buta change of mental attitude！”
Let me ask you a question： If merely acting cheerful andthinking positive thoughts of health and courage can save thisman’s life， why should you and I tolerate for one minute more our minor glooms and depressions? Why make ourselves， andeveryone around us， unhappy and blue， when it is possible for usto start creating happiness by merely acting cheerful?
Years ago， I read a little book that had a lasting and profoundeffect on my life. It was called As a Man Thinketh by James LaneAllen， and here’s what it said：“A man will find that as he alters his thoughts towards thingsand other people， things and other people will alter towardshim… Let a man radically alter his thoughts， and he will beastonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in thematerial conditions of his life. Men do not attract that which theywant， but that which they are… The divinity that shapes our endsis in ourselves. It is our very self… All that a man achieves is thedirect result of his own thoughts… A man can only rise， conquerand achieve by lifting up his thoughts. He can only remain weakand abject and miserable by refusing to lift up his thoughts.”
According to the book of Genesis， the Creator gave mandominion over the whole wide earth. A mighty big present. ButI am not interested in any such super-royal prerogatives. All Idesire is dominion over myself—dominion over my thoughts;dominion over my fears; dominion over my mind and over myspirit. And the wonderful thing is that I know that I can attain thisdominion to an astonishing degree， any time I want to， by merelycontrolling my actions—which in turn control my reactions.
So let us remember these words of William James： “Much ofwhat we call Evil… can often be converted into a bracing andtonic good by a simple change of the sufferer’s inner attitudefrom one of fear to one of fight.”
Let’s fight for our happiness！