"In spring, the feeling of the young turns to love." We all know what this phrase means, for the sense of energy and vitality creeps into every soul. Spring is the season of merry life, stripped of troubles and worries, in which gentle, dewy breezes pass over us, caressing the heads of the moist grasses and the virgin blossoms, after winter, the season of harshness and rigidity, has melted away. If we speak of the states of the soul, in their spring and their winter, we see two that predominate, one negative and the other positive; and between these two states a person swings on the swing of caution, aware of the present condition and submitting to it until it passes, even if that takes days.
Positive moods awaken in the soul the movement of building; into this corner enter the states of mind of love, respect, piety, sacrifice, gaiety, thrift, and competence. A person's feeling in this state may vary between contentment and overflowing happiness, but in either case it is a lifting up of the soul, a raising of it above the level of the dust.
Facing this is the negative mood, with its army of chaos, spite, anger, laziness, and envy. When the swing carries us to this point — oh, the misery of life! For these spells strip us of our capacity, and drive us to utter words we regret afterward. And the positive state is dangerous when it carries us beyond the bounds of nature and brings us to the opposite of our intent. It is important, then, that we learn how to control our tempers.
There remain factors you cannot direct: a day on which the temperature
rises affects every individual, and likewise continuous rain and a glowering sky. Food plays its part here: the person who eats beyond his fill feels sluggishness and shortness of temper, and so does the hungry one; and a toothache puts us in a negative state. And there are other factors, like the agitation that leads us to sadness; and our relations with those around us work upon our souls — a man may kick the poor cat with his foot after a quarrel with his wife, and sometimes a pat on an employee's shoulder from his chief makes him happy the whole day long.
The trick for mastering these feelings is to know their cause and their influences, and the important thing is not to submit to them. If you feel this wave of instability, hurry to a person of experience, or try the case yourself; and this list will show you whether you are in a state of distress:
1 – Do you often lose your appetite for food?
2 – Do you suffer from indigestion?
3 – Have you lost weight of late?
4 – How is your sleep, and do you rise early?
5 – Are there always in your ears voices of talk that disturb you?
6 – Is it hard for you to face the morning of a new day?
7 – Does a change occur in your states of mind during the day?
8 – Can you direct all your thinking to your work?
9 – Do you think that life is too small a thing to care about?
Every person feels some of these feelings, but they are hard to bear all at once; if you have answered yes to three of these questions, you are in an anxious state and need outside help or psychological analysis. And remember that moods are like automobiles: to arrive with them where you wish, you must be behind the steering wheel!