“Shortly after I joined the Coast Guard，I was assigned to one of the hottest spots on this side of the Atlantic.I was made a supervisor of explosives.Imagine it.Me！A biscuit salesman becoming a supervisor of explosives！The very thought of finding yourself standing on top of thousands of tons of T.N.T.is enough to chill the marrow in a cracker salesman’s bones.I was given only two days of instruction；and what I learned filled me with even more terror.I’ll never forget my first assignment.On a dark，cold，foggy day，I was given my orders on the open pier of Caven Point，Bayonne，New Jersey.
“I was assigned to Hold No.5on my ship.I had to work down in that hold with five longshoremen.They had strong backs，but they knew nothing whatever about explosives.And they were loading blockbusters，each one of which contained a ton of T.N.T.—enough explosive to blow that old ship to kingdom come.These blockbusters were being lowered by two cables.I kept saying to myself：Suppose one of those cables slipped—or broke！Oh，boy！Was I scared！I trembled.My mouth was dry.My knees sagged.My heart pounded.But I couldn’t run away.That would be desertion.I would be disgraced—my parents would bedisgraced—and I might be shot for desertion.I couldn’t run.I had to stay.I kept looking at the careless way those longshoremen were handling those blockbusters.The ship might blow up any minute.After an hour or more of this spine-chilling terror，I began to use a little common sense.I gave myself a good talking to.I said：‘Look here！So you are blown up.So what！You will never know the difference！It will be an easy way to die.Much better than dying by cancer.Don’t be a fool.You can’t expect to live for ever！You’ve got to do this job—or be shot.So you might as well like it.’
“I talked to myself like that for hours；and I began to feel at ease.Finally，I overcame my worry and fears by forcing myself to accept an inevitable situation.
“I’ll never forget that lesson.Every time I am tempted now to worry about something I can’t possibly change，I shrug my shoulders and say：‘Forget it.’I find that it works—even for a biscuit salesman.”Hooray！Let’s give three cheers and one cheer more for the biscuit salesman of the Pinafore.
“Try to bear lightly what needs must be.”Those words were spoken 399years before Christ was born；but this worrying old world needs those words today more than ever before：“Try to bear lightly what needs must be.”
To break the worry habit before it breaks you，Rule 4is：
Co-operate with the inevitable.
Chapter 40
Put A “Stop-Loss”Order On Your Worries
Would you like to know how to make money on the Stock Exchange？Well，so would a million other people—and if I knew the answer，this book would sell for a fabulous price.However，there’s one good idea that some successful operators use.This story was told to me by Charles Roberts，an investment counselor with offices at 17East 42nd Street，New York.
“I originally came up to New York from Texas with twenty thousand dollars which my friends had given me to invest in the stock market，”Charles Roberts told me.“I thought，”he continued，“that I knew the ropes in the stock market；but I lost every cent.True，I made a lot of profit on some deals；but I ended up by losing everything.
“I did not mind so much losing my own money，”Mr.Roberts explained，“but I felt terrible about having lost my friends’money，even though they could well afford it.I dreaded facing them again after our venture had turned out so unfortunately，but，to my astonishment，they not only were good sports about it，but proved to be incurable optimists.
“I knew I had been trading on a hit-or-miss basis and depending largely on luck and other people’s opinions.As H.I.Phillips said，I had been ‘playing the stock market by ear’.
“I began to think over my mistakes and I determined that before I went back into the market again，I would try to find out what it was all about.So I sought out and became acquainted with one of the most successful speculators who ever lived：
Burton S.Castles.I believed I could learn a great deal from him because he had long enjoyed the reputation of being successful year after year and I knew that such a career was not the result of mere chance or luck.
“He asked me a few questions about how I had traded before and then told me what I believe is the most important principle in trading.He said：‘I put a stop-loss order on every market commitment I make.If I buy a stock at，say，fifty dollars a share，I immediately place a stop-loss order on it at fortyfive.’that means that when and if the stock should decline as much as five points below its cost，it would be sold automatically，thereby，limiting the loss to five points.
“‘If your commitments are intelligently made in the first place，’the old master continued，‘your profits will average ten，twenty-five，or even fifty points.Consequently，by limiting your losses to five points，you can be wrong more than half of the time and still make plenty of money？’
“I adopted that principle immediately and have used it ever since.It has saved my clients and me many thousands of dollars.
“After a while I realised that the stop-loss principle could be used in other ways besides in the stock market.I began to place a stop-loss order on any and every kind of annoyance and resentment that came to me.It has worked like magic.
“For example，I often have a luncheon date with a friend who is rarely on time.In the old days，he used to keep me stewing around for half my lunch hour before he showed up.Finally，I told him about my stop-loss orders on my worries.I said：‘Bill，my stop-loss order on waiting for you is exactly ten minutes.If you arrive more than ten minutes late，our luncheon engagement will be sold down the river—and I’ll be gone.’”