How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.

to his natural sense of inadequacy, may produce that exaggerated sense of helplessness which we call an inferiority complex. Because we cannot, in this brief text, cover the multitude of physical disabilities to which the human flesh is heir, we content ourselves with a sketch of the various types of physical disability. We gain our knowledge of the world through our sense organs, and any defects, no matter how medically unimportant, of the eyes, the ears, the nose, the tongue, the finger tips, as well as aberrations of those less recognized but equally important senses of equilibrium and tone, make our lives more difficult because they distort our picture of the physical world in which we live, and therefore handicap us in our relations to our fellow- men. The case of Marie R. is an example. Since child¬ hood Marie has had a squint medically so unimportant that an operation was not advised. Nevertheless Marie feels that her crossed eyes are so noticeable that she has withdrawn from the companionship of children and adults since she was a young girl. At college now, she is considered aloof and “ uppish ”, whereas in reality she is very self-conscious and timid. Marie’s point of view is much more warped than her vision. Her isolation is compensated by a world of day-dreams in which she sees herself as a heroic but lonely actress. Her moods vary from fantastic exaltation in splendid loneliness to depression and blues when she finds that day-dreams are small comfort on a rainy Sunday afternoon. Marie was very unhappy until her misinterpretations of life were explained to her. “ The value of a human being,” said the psychiatrist, “ does not lie in her looks, but in her contributions.” Marie was told of a famous film actress who also suffered from a squint, and became a star despite her disability. Marie’s tendency to self-dramatiza¬ tion was used as a basis of her cure. She was urged to join the dramatic society of her college where her histrionic ability, not in “ princess ” rdles, but in “ character ” parts, finally brought her recognition and friends.