How William James got out of bed

[Northbrook]

You’ve heard of Sigmund Freud, the father of psychology. But have you heard of William James? The latter is considered the grandfather of psychology. Now, when William James was a young man, he went two years without getting out of bed. And why? He was too DEPRESSED to get out of bed. Knowing William James, he was probably suffering from Angst and Weltschmertz as well, but I’m telling you this because I want to share with you how it was that the young William James WAS FINALLY ABLE to get out of bed.

You see, during the two years he was too depressed to get out of bed, William James used to read books. And one day, he came across a sentence in a book by an obscure French author. The sentence read, “Nothing can bother you unless you are holding it before your mind at the time.” And armed with with that, just that, William James got out of bed FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TWO YEARS, praise God, hallelujah! Do you get it? Do you see he must have realized that if he chased his melancholy thoughts away, and kept them away, he would not suffer the mental anguish any longer? The American folk wisdom says, you are the author of your thoughts. You can stop them! Let it be a lesson to us all. Amen.

 

[URA]

Interesting read, good for a psych major like myself. Thanks for sharing!