“Early in June，1944，I was lying in a slit trench near Omaha Beach.I was with the 999th Signal Service Company，and we had just ‘dug in’in Normandy.As I looked around at that slit trench—just a rectangular hole in the ground—I said to myself：‘this looks just like a grave.’When I lay down and tried to sleep in it，it felt like a grave.I couldn’t help saying to myself：‘maybethis is my grave.’When the German bombers began coming over at 11p.m.，and the bombs started falling，I was scared stiff.For the first two or three nights I couldn’t sleep at all.By the fourth or fifth night，I was almost a nervous wreck.I knew that if I didn’t do something，I would go stark crazy.So I reminded myself that five nights had passed，and I was still alive；and so was every man in our outfit.Only two had been injured，and they had been hurt，not by German bombs，but by falling flak，from our own anti-aircraft guns.I decided to stop worrying by doing something constructive.So I built a thick wooden roof over my slit trench，to protect myself from flak.I thought of the vast area over which my unit was spread.I told myself that the only way I could be killed in that deep，narrow slit trench was by a direct hit；and I figured out that the chance of a direct hit on me was not one in ten thousand.After a couple of nights of looking at it in this way，I calmed down and slept even through the bomb raids！”
The United States Navy used the statistics of the law of averages to buck up the morale of their men.One ex-sailor told me that when he and his shipmates were assigned to high-octane tankers，they were worried stiff.They all believed that if a tanker loaded with high-octane gasoline was hit by a torpedo，it exploded and blew everybody to kingdom come.
But the U.S.Navy knew otherwise；so the Navy issued exact figures，showing that out of one hundred tankers hit by torpedoes sixty stayed afloat；and of the forty that did sink，only five sank in less than ten minutes.That meant time to get off the ship—it also meant casualties were exceedingly small.Did this help morale？“This knowledge of the law of averages wiped out my jitters，”said Clyde W.Maas，of 1969Walnut Street，St.Paul，Minnesota-the man who told this story.“The whole crew felt better.We knewwe had a chance；and that，by the law of averages，we probably wouldn’t be killed.”
To break the worry habit before it breaks you—here is Rule 3：
“Let’s examine the record.”Let’s ask ourselves：“What are the chances，according to the law of averages，that this event I am worrying about will ever occur？”
Chapter 39
Co-operate With the Inevitable
When I was a little boy，I was playing with some of my friends in the attic of an old，abandoned log house in north-west Missouri.As I climbed down out of the attic，I rested my feet on a window—sill for a moment—and then jumped.I had a ring on my left forefinger；and as I jumped，the ring caught on a nail head and tore off my finger.
I screamed.I was terrified.I was positive I was going to die.But after the hand healed，I never worried about it for one split second.What would have been the use？...I accepted the inevitable.Now I often go for a month at a time without even thinking about the fact that I have only three fingers and a thumb on my left hand.
A few years ago，I met a man who was running a freight elevator in one of the downtown office buildings in New York.I noticed that his left hand had been cut off at the wrist.I asked him if the loss of that hand bothered him.He said：“Oh，no，I hardly ever think about it.I am not married；and the only time I ever think about it is when I try to thread a needle.”
It is astonishing how quickly we can accept almost any situation—if we have to—and adjust ourselves to it and forget about it.
I often think of an inscription on the ruins of a fifteenth-century cathedral in Amsterdam，Holland.This inscription says：“It is so.It cannot be otherwise.”
As you and I march across the decades of time，we are going to meet a lot of unpleasant situations that are so.They cannotbe otherwise.We have our choice.We can either accept them as inevitable and adjust ourselves to them，or we can ruin our lives with rebellion and maybe end up with a nervous breakdown.
Here is a bit of sage advice from one of my favourite philosophers，William James.“Be willing to have it so，”he said.“Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequence of any misfortune.”
Elizabeth Connley，of 2840NE 49th Avenue，Portland，Oregon，had to find that out the hard way.Here is a letter that she wrote me recently：
“On the very day that America was celebrating the victory of our armed forces in North Africa，”the letter says，“I received a telegram from the War Department：my nephew—the person I loved most—was missing in action.A short time later，another telegram arrived saying he was dead.
“I was prostrate with grief.Up to that time，I had felt that life had been very good to me.I had a job I loved.I had helped to raise this nephew.He represented to me all that was fine and good in young manhood.I had felt that all the bread I had cast upon the waters was coming back to me as cake！...Then came this telegram.My whole world collapsed.I felt there was nothing left to live for.I neglected my work；neglected my friends.I let everything go.I was bitter and resentful.Why did my loving nephew have to be taken？Why did this good boy—with life all before him—why did he have to be killed？I couldn’t accept it.My grief was so overwhelming that I decided to give up my work，and go away and hide myself in my tears and bitterness.
