You live in a little house all by yourself. You were born in it. You will have to live in it all your life. It is your body. People who own houses are proud of them. They take care of them, and try to live in them just as comfortably as they can. The first thing necessary to live comfortably anywhere, is to keep everything sweet and clean and in order.

Your body has a framework of bones, as a house has of timbers. The muscles cover these bones as weather boards, lath and plaster cover the timbers. The skin is a sort of coat of paint to protect the house from the weather. Your body has a heart, that is a little heating and pumping plant. It has all the tools in it for preparing food for use in the body. It has lungs for ventilating with fresh air. It has sewer pipes for getting rid of waste, and it has a network of little nerve wires to give warning of trouble, inside and out. It has windows to see through, and a telephone in the ear.

It is much better to use a house than to let it stand idle. Things rust out quicker than they wear out. So it is with your body. You must use every bit of it, every day, and live in every corner of it. The bones and muscles become weak and stiff if they get no exercise. Working muscles and bones call for more blood. This compels the heart to beat faster and stronger, and the lungs to call for more air to keep the blood purified. All parts of the body should be exercised equally. Swimming, rowing, skating, bicycle riding, dancing, and just plain walking in the fresh air, are splendid exercises. Games, like base-ball, foot-ball, basket-ball and tennis are fine, too. They train both mind and body to think and act quickly. Sweeping a room, hoeing a garden and splitting kindling for mother, are good for the body, too. Laziness is rust for body and mind as well as for the hinges of a door. Don't do anything half-way. Study hard, get your lesson and quit studying. Play hard and then rest.

Next, "don't worry!" You know care killed a cat, and cats are supposed to have nine lives. Don't hurry, or over-work or overplay. Don't lie awake and think about that examination. If you do your best every day you don't need to worry; and if you don't do your best worrying will make it worse. If your brain is to do good work it must have sleep. Eight hours for work, eight for eating and playing and eight for sleep is a good rule for grown people. Children need less work and more play and sleep.

Eat at regular hours, but never eat unless you are hungry. Missing a meal gives an overworked stomach a chance to catch up. It needs rest as well as the muscles and brain. Eat enough at meal times and don't "piece" between meals. It takes several hours to empty a stomach. Don't eat anything "to keep it from spoiling." It is better for food to spoil outside a stomach than inside. Don't make a meal of one kind of food because you like it. A dinner all meat, potatoes and pie is too heavy for anyone but an ostrich. There are several kinds of food. One kind is mostly starch, such as bread potatoes, rice, etc. Then there are fat foods, as butter, cream, oil and fat meats. The third kind is lean meat, beans, eggs and cheese. Besides these we need green vegetables and fruits, for their water, sugar, acids and minerals. They help digest the heavier foods. A mixed diet is best for human beings.

Take time to eat. Chew your food. Many grown people eat as if they had to catch trains. This is a greedy, unpleasant habit. Besides, it is harmful. In chewing, the mouth makes a liquid that the stomach needs for digestion. It is called saliva. Think of sugar and feel the saliva run into your mouth. Swallow it; don't spit it out. Spitting is another bad American habit. It is not only disagreeable for other people to see, but it wastes saliva. If you eat too fast, the mouth hasn't time to make enough of it. Besides, your teeth need exercise. The broad, grinding teeth in the back of the mouth usually decay first. We use them less than we do the front, cutting teeth. Don't overeat. If you fill a furnace too full of coal you smother the fire. Doctors often have to be called to help people digest their Thanksgiving dinners.