At just about the same time Willis H.Carrier was worrying over the gas-cleaning equipment he was installing in a plant in Crystal City，Missouri，a chap from Broken Bow，Nebraska，was making out his will.His name was Earl P.Haney，and he had duodenal ulcers.Three doctors，including a celebrated ulcer specialist，had pronounced Mr.Haney an “incurable case”.They had told him not to eat this or that，and not to worry or fret—to keep perfectly calm.They also told him to make out his will！
These ulcers had already forced Earl P.Haney to give up a fineand highly paid position.So now he had nothing to do，nothingto look forward to except a lingering death.Then he made a decision：a rare and superb decision.“Since I have only a little while to live，”he said，“I may as well make the most of it.I have always wanted to travel around the world before I die.If I am ever going to do it，I’ll have to do it now.”So he bought his ticket.
The doctors were appalled.“We must warn you，”they said to Mr.Haney，“that if you do take this trip，you will be buried at sea.”“No，I won’t，”he replied.“I have promised my relatives that I will be buried in the family plot at Broken Bow，Nebraska.So I am going to buy a casket and take it with me.”
He purchased a casket，put it aboard ship，and then made arrangements with the steamship companyin the event of his death—to put his corpse in a freezing compartment and keep it there till the liner returned home.He set out on his trip.
“I drank highballs，and smoked long cigars on that trip，”Mr.Haney says in a letter that I have before me now.“I ate all kinds of foods—even strange native foods which were guaranteed to kill me.I enjoyed myself more than I had in years！We ran into monsoons and typhoons which should have put me in my casket，if only from fright—but I got an enormous kick out of all this adventure.
“I played games aboard the ship，sang songs，made new friends，stayed up half the night.When we reached China and India，I realised that the business troubles and cares that I had faced back home were paradise compared to the poverty and hunger in the Orient.I stopped all my senseless worrying and felt fine.When I got back to America，I had gained ninety pounds.I had almost forgotten I had ever had a stomach ulcer.I had never felt better in my life.I promptly sold the casket back to the undertaker，and went back to business.I haven’t been ill a day since.”
At the time this happened，Earl P.Haney had never even heard of Willis H.Carrier and his technique for handling worry.“But I realise now，”he told me quite recently，“that I was unconsciously using the selfsame principle.I reconciled myself to the worst that could happen-in my case，dying.And then I improved upon it by trying to get the utmost enjoyment out of life for the time I had left....If，”he continued，“if I had gone on worrying after boarding that ship，I have no doubt that I would have made the return voyage inside of that coffin.But I relaxed—I forgot it.And this calmness of mind gave me a new birth of energy which actually saved my life.”
Now，if Willis H.Carrier could save a twenty-thousand-dollar contract，if a New York business man could save himself from blackmail，if Earl P.Haney could actually save his life，by using this magic formula，then isn’t it possible that it may be the answer to some of your troubles？Isn’t it possible that it may even solve some problems you thought were unsolvable？
So，the rule is：If you have a worry problem，apply the magic formula of Willis H.Carrier by doing these three things—1.Ask yourself，“What is the worst that can possibly happen？”
2.Prepare to accept it if you have to.
3.Then calmly proceed to improve on the worst.
Chapter 33
What Worry May Do to You
Some time ago，a neighbour rang my doorbell one evening and urged me and my family to be vaccinated against smallpox.He was only one of thousands of volunteers who were ringing doorbells all over New York City.Frightened people stood in lines for hours at a time to be vaccinated.Vaccination stations were opened not only in all hospitals，but also in fire-houses，police precincts，and in large industrial plants.More than two thousand doctors and nurses worked feverishly day and night，vaccinating crowds.The cause of all this excitement？Eight people in New York City had smallpox—and two had died.Two deaths out of a population of almost eight million.
Now，I have lived in New York for over thirty-seven years，and no one has ever yet rung my doorbell to warn me against the emotional sickness of worry—an illness that，during the last thirty-seven years，has caused ten thousand times more damage than smallpox.
No doorbell ringer has ever warned me that one person out of ten now living in these United States will have a nervous breakdown—induced in the vast majority of cases by worry and emotional conflicts.So I am writing this chapter to ring your doorbell and warn you.
The great Nobel prize winner in medicine，Dr.Alexis Carrel，said：“Business men who do not know how to fight worry die young.”And so do housewives and horse doctors and bricklayers.
A few years ago，I spent my vacation motoring throughTexas and New Mexico with Dr.O.F.Gober，one of the medical executives of the Santa Fe railway.His exact title was chief physician of the Gulf，Colorado and Santa Fe Hospital Association.We got to talking about the effects of worry，and he said：Seventy per cent of all patients who come to physicians could cure themselves if they only got rid of their fears and worries.Don’t think for a moment that I mean that their ills are imaginary，”he said.
“Their ills are as real as a throbbing toothache and sometimes a hundred times more serious.I refer to such illnesses as nervous indigestion，some stomach ulcers，heart disturbances，insomnia，some headaches，and some types of paralysis.
“These illnesses are real.I know what I am talking about，”said Dr.Gober，“for I myself suffered from a stomach ulcer for twelve years.