all come under this head, for we ought to aim at just as much as will make
us good soldiers, not to try for as much as we can get.

We must manage ourselves; we must keep our bodies in good order, and keep
our brains keen and bright. Self-denial in sleep and food and drink are
part of this management.

Early Rising ought to be on your list of resolutions. Some find it best to
name a certain hour, but then, if they are not called punctually, they
feel the resolution broken, and they very likely lie on slothfully. I
think it is best to resolve to get up either five or ten minutes after you
wake, or are called; look at your watch, and jump up when the time comes.

When you are up, your Rule of Prayer is the first thing to think of and to
act on.

And when you are dressed (carefully and prettily dressed), and your soul
is dressed in God's armour, what are you going to do with the new day God
has given you?

First carry out some duty in the house; next see to your own improvement,
not as a self-ending pleasure, but in order to make yourself a useful
woman, to train you for better work in the future.

_Reading_ is not the only kind of such training, but it is one of the
best kinds and gives you new ideas. I advise you to try for half an hour a
day, and to keep a list of the books you read:[1] make an abstract of a
sensible book once in three months: sandwich your English novels with
foreign ones: keep a sensible book on hand and, alternately with books you
fancy, read something a little above you: take up some special subject