It may surprise many people that a thing like worry can be a killer. It has been proved by all medical researches that worry is a major cause of heart ailments, raised blood pressure, rheumatism, ulcers, skin–problems, asthma and many other diseases. Worry is a slow poison. Now the trend to “cure the mind before curing the body” is gaining momentum all over the world. Hence the modern maxim: “a healthy body depends upon a healthy mind”.
The state of mind called “contentment” depends much more on our character than on the amount of our possessions. The discontented man may be heard to say that, if he were as rich as some neighbor whom he envies, he would be perfectly satisfied. Give him the particular amount of wealth that he has set his mind upon, and he will find some still richer man to envy, and be as discontented as ever. “A small coin of silver.” as the Persian Poet Sadi. says, “makes a beggar contented: Faridun with his kingdom of Persia is half satisfied.” The possibility of remaining discontented in spite of success and prosperity arises from the insatiable nature of our desires, and the common tendency always to long for something better than our present condition. What is out of our reach seems valuable till we get it, and when possessed loses its value, so that it is natural for us to be always dissatisfied. This is unfortunately the character of most men. There are, however, some happily constituted p