Happiness is the dream of every person seeking to achieve it for themselves. They search and try to make happiness their share, to live happily away from anxiety and disturbance. Anxiety is the killer of happiness, sometimes ending a person’s life. Anxiety is closely linked to the conflicts a person suffers from, and the sting of conscience plays an important role in provoking that anxiety. Anxiety also arises from a person’s feeling of real or unreal external threat resulting from imagining that illusory threat. One of the most important causes of anxiety is constantly thinking about the future and fearing it. Many people poison their lives due to excessive concern with securing future guarantees. This is a big mistake; securing the future will not come through worry and fear of the future, but through seriousness and diligence in the present. None of us can change what has passed, nor can we grasp what will happen in the future. So why regret, worry, tension, and disturbance?

The tried and tested truth is that fear of the future preoccupies many who spend long years of their lives living that painful feeling. But when they reach the future, they discover that those fears that bothered them throughout their past lives have dissipated into thin air, and none of them came true. They also discover that they wasted the most beautiful times and the most precious moments in fears that confined them to dark rooms of anxiety and deprived them of enjoying life’s pleasures.

If one leafs through the pages of history and learns from the deeds of heroes, they would find that sound thinking differs from foolish thinking on this point. The former deals with causes and results, then devises a logical plan after studying causes and results, while the latter is characterized by tension and lack of vision, leading to nervous breakdown, which is the first degree of failure.

Dale Carnegie says: Among the amazing and established facts is that more than half of hospital beds are occupied by people sick with nervous exhaustion originating from anxiety.

Wouldn’t they be better off enjoying the sun and wind in the streets of their cities and villages?

But for some reason, they did not heed the advice of Sir William Osler: “Live within your day.” Because of this ignorance, they resorted to hospital beds.

He says: We cannot change the past nor shape the future as we wish. So why kill ourselves with regret over something we cannot change, or burn with anxiety over something we cannot guarantee how it will happen? This will only serve to destroy our bodies and minds. I do not think this is a profitable trade.

Why do we not learn from the saying of the great novelist Robert Louis Stevenson:

Everyone can bear the burden on their shoulders, no matter how heavy. Everyone can accomplish the work of one day before the sun sets. Everyone can forget all their troubles with the onset of darkness. This is all that life asks of us.

Then a true story is mentioned, narrated by its owner, Shields from Michigan. She says:

I lost my husband in 1937 after a serious illness that forced me to sell everything we owned for his treatment, but to no avail. Death snatched him away, leaving me in extreme poverty, a dark future, and great distress. Despair overtook me until I almost attempted suicide. But I do not know now what prevented me. After the mourning, I found I had to work to earn bread. I turned to my former employer whom I worked for before marriage. Mr. Rorsch agreed to take me back to my old job, selling books to rural schools on commission.

I arranged some money and paid it as a down payment on a used car to get around.

My living conditions improved, but my feelings of sadness remained the same. Work could not remove my great melancholy.

In 1938, my distress increased, and I thought again about suicide. But I was not reckless now. I thought of my sister’s grief at my death and also thought that the money for the funeral was not available to me. So I moved away from that idea. I will never forget the deep impression left on my soul when I read an article titled “Today is Nothing but a New Life for People of Understanding.”

My outlook on life changed after that.

Anxiety left me, and I replaced it with courage for life and disregard for its misfortunes. I became closer to the woman who challenges difficulties every day, without looking at what difficulties she might face tomorrow. In summary:

“I began to live each day as a new day and a new life.”

Stephen Leacock says: “How strange is man, this human child!

In his childhood, he rushes to be a youth. In his youth, he longs for adulthood. When he becomes an adult, he looks forward to

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes region, known for its two peninsulas connected by the Mackinac Bridge. It became the 26th state in 1837, with its early economy driven by fur trading, logging, and later, the rise of the automobile industry in Detroit, which earned it the nickname “Motor City.” Today, Michigan is celebrated for its natural beauty, including the Great Lakes, as well as cultural landmarks like the Motown Museum.

Dale Carnegie

Dale Carnegie was a pioneering American writer and lecturer in self-improvement, salesmanship, and interpersonal skills, best known for his 1936 book *How to Win Friends and Influence People*. Born in 1888, he developed his influential courses on public speaking and human relations, which evolved into the global Dale Carnegie Training organization. His work remains a cornerstone of modern self-help and business communication, emphasizing empathy, listening, and positive engagement.

Sir William Osler

Sir William Osler was a pioneering Canadian physician and one of the founding professors of Johns Hopkins Hospital, often called the “Father of Modern Medicine.” He revolutionized medical education by emphasizing bedside clinical training and wrote the influential textbook *The Principles and Practice of Medicine*. Osler is also remembered for his profound contributions to medical ethics and his extensive collection of medical history books, now housed at McGill University.

Robert Louis Stevenson

Robert Louis Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, and travel writer, best known for classic works such as *Treasure Island* and *The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde*. Born in Edinburgh in 1850, he suffered from chronic ill health and spent much of his later life traveling in search of a better climate, eventually settling in Samoa, where he died in 1894. His adventurous life and enduring tales have made him a beloved figure in world literature.

Stephen Leacock

Stephen Leacock was a renowned Canadian humorist, author, and economist, best known for his witty and satirical works such as *Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town*. Born in England in 1869, he moved to Canada as a child and later became a professor at McGill University, where he taught political science. His legacy is preserved at the Stephen Leacock Museum in Orillia, Ontario, which was his summer home and now celebrates his contributions to Canadian literature and humor.