Erythrophobia, that is to say the habit of inopportune and constant blushing, is another of the commonest forms of excessive timidity.
Stammering is another of the tortures that people of poise do not experience, except in those cases where it is caused by a physical malformation.
All these maladies attack only the timid.
There are many others, less serious in their nature, such as indecision, exaggerated scrupulousness, extreme pliability, hypochondria. All of these should be ruthlessly supprest the moment we become aware of them, for they are one and all the forerunners of that mentally diseased condition which gives rise to the phobias of which we have just been speaking.
To those who would seriously devote themselves to the cultivation of poise it is, therefore, a vital necessity to be in a condition of perfect health. It would be a misfortune, indeed, for them to find themselves balked in their progress toward acquiring this quality by anxieties regarding the condition of their bodies.
Any indisposition, not to mention actual diseases, has a tendency to inhibit all initiative.
There is no room for doubt that a physical ailment by attracting to itself the attention of the person who is attacked by it, prevents him from giving the proper amount of energy to whatever he may be engaged upon.
He thinks about nothing but his malady and quite forgets to take the exercises that would enable him to alter his condition, to change his actions, and even to make over his thoughts.
His thoughts above all. Physical well-being has an undeniable influence upon one's mental health.
One very rarely sees a sick person who is happy. Even those who are endowed with great force of character lose, under the burden of their sufferings, part of their firmness of soul and of their legitimate ambition.