reassure himself that he had really mailed the missive, although he knew
perfectly well that he had done so. The life of the chronic doubter is
full of these small deceits, though in most matters such persons are
exceptionally conscientious.

This form of over-solicitude is peculiarly liable to attack those in whose
hands are important affairs affecting the finances, the lives, or the
health of others. I have known more than one case of the abandonment of a
chosen occupation on account of the constant anxiety entailed by doubts of
this nature. Nor are these doubts limited to the question whether one has
done or left undone some particular act. An equally insistent doubt is that
regarding one's general fitness for the undertaking. _The doubter may spend
upon this question more time than it would take to acquire the needed
facility and experience_.

Some one has said there are two things that no one should worry about:
first, the thing that can't be helped; second, the thing that can. This is
peculiarly true of the former.

Reflection upon the past is wise; solicitude concerning it is an
anachronism. Suppose one has accepted a certain position and finds himself
in doubt of his fitness for that position. Nothing can be more important
than for him to decide upon his next line of conduct. Shall he resign
or continue? Is he fit for the position, or, if not, can he acquire the
fitness without detriment to the office? These are legitimate doubts. But
the doubter who finds himself in this predicament adds to these legitimate
doubts the question, "Ought I to have accepted the office?" This is the
doubt he must learn to eliminate. He must remind himself that he has
accepted the position, whether rightly or wrongly, and that the acceptance
is ancient history. The question what shall he do next is sufficiently