Would you like a quick， sure-fire recipe for handling worrysituations—a technique you can start using right away， before yougo any further in reading this book？
Then let me tell you about the method worked out byWillis H. Carrier， the brilliant engineer who launched the airconditioningindustry， and who is now head of the world-famousCarrier Corporation in Syracuse， New York. It is one of the besttechniques I ever heard of for solving worry problems， and I got itfrom Mr. Carrier personally when we were having lunch togetherone day at the Engineers’ Club in New York.
“When I was a young man，” Mr. Carrier said， “I worked for theBuffalo Forge Company in Buffalo， New York. I was handed theassignment of installing a gas-cleaning device in a plant of thePittsburgh Plate Glass Company at Crystal City， Missouri—a plantcosting millions of dollars. The purpose of this installation was toremove the impurities from the gas so it could be burned withoutinjuring the engines. This method of cleaning gas was new. Ithad been tried only once before—and under different conditions.
In my work at Crystal City， Missouri， unforeseen difficultiesarose. It worked after a fashion—but not well enough to meet theguarantee we had made.
“I was stunned by my failure. It was almost as if someone hadstruck me a blow on the head. My stomach， my insides， began totwist and turn. For a while I was so worried I couldn’t sleep.
“Finally， common sense reminded me that worry wasn’t getting me anywhere； so I figured out a way to handle myproblem without worrying. It worked superbly. I have been usingthis same anti-worry technique for more than thirty years. It issimple. Anyone can use it. It consists of three steps：
“Step I. I analysed the situation fearlessly and honestly andfigured out what was the worst that could possibly happen as aresult of this failure. No one was going to jail me or shoot me.
That was certain. True， there was a chance that I would lose myposition； and there was also a chance that my employers wouldhave to remove the machinery and lose the twenty thousanddollars we had invested.
“Step II. After figuring out what was the worst that couldpossibly happen， I reconciled myself to accepting it， if necessary.
I said to myself： This failure will be a blow to my record， and itmight possibly mean the loss of my job； but if it does， I can alwaysget another position. Conditions could be much worse； and asfar as my employers are concerned—well， they realise that weare experimenting with a new method of cleaning gas， and if thisexperience costs them twenty thousand dollars， they can stand it.
They can charge it up to research， for it is an experiment.
“After discovering the worst that could possibly happen andreconciling myself to accepting it， if necessary， an extremelyimportant thing happened： I immediately relaxed and felt a senseof peace that I hadn’t experienced in days.
“Step III. From that time on， I calmly devoted my time andenergy to trying to improve upon the worst which I had alreadyaccepted mentally.
“I now tried to figure out ways and means by which I mightreduce the loss of twenty thousand dollars that we faced. I madeseveral tests and finally figured out that if we spent another fivethousand for additional equipment， our problem would be solved.
We did this， and instead of the firm losing twenty thousand， wemade fifteen thousand.
“I probably would never have been able to do this if I had kepton worrying， because one of the worst features about worryingis that it destroys our ability to concentrate. When we worry，our minds jump here and there and everywhere， and we lose allpower of decision. However， when we force ourselves to face theworst and accept it mentally， we then eliminate all those vagueimaginings and put ourselves in a position in which we are able toconcentrate on our problem.
“This incident that I have related occurred many years ago. Itworked so superbly that I have been using it ever since； and， as aresult， my life has been almost completely free from worry.”
Now， why is Willis H. Carrier’s magic formula so valuable andso practical， psychologically speaking？ Because it yanks us downout of the great grey clouds in which we fumble around when weare blinded by worry. It plants our feet good and solid on the earth.
We know where we stand. And if we haven’t solid ground under us，how in creation can we ever hope to think anything through？
Professor William James， the father of applied psychology，has been dead for thirty-eight years. But if he were alive today，and could hear his formula for facing the worst， he wouldheartily approve it. How do I know that？ Because he told his ownstudents：
“Be willing to have it so .... Be willing to have it so，” he said，because “... Acceptance of what has happened is the first step inovercoming the consequences of any misfortune.”
The same idea was expressed by Lin Yutang in his widelyread book， The Importance of Living. “True peace of mind，”
said this Chinese philosopher， “comes from accepting the worst.
Psychologically， I think， it means a release of energy.”
That’s it， exactly！ Psychologically， it means a new releaseof energy！ When we have accepted the worst， we have nothingmore to lose. And that automatically means-we have everythingto gain！ “After facing the worst，” Willis H. Carrier reported，“I immediately relaxed and felt a sense of peace that I hadn’texperienced in days. From that time on， I was able to think.”
Makes sense， doesn’t it？ Yet millions of people have wreckedtheir lives in angry turmoil， because they refused to accept theworst； refused to try to improve upon it； refused to salvage whatthey could from the wreck. Instead of trying to reconstruct theirfortunes， they engaged in a bitter and “violent contest withexperience”—and ended up victims of that brooding fixationknown as melancholia.
Would you like to see how someone else adopted Willis H.
Carrier’s magic formula and applied it to his own problem？