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Volume 9 March 31, 1911. Number 13 
An Attitude Toward Life. 
Life is a mystery but is a mystery 
of light and not of darkness, ‘‘for 
darkness in the pathway of man’s 
life is but the shadow of God’s provi- 
dence.’’ It is our attitude toward 
this mystery which determines the 
character and quality of our think- 
ing, feeling ard being. 
A man’s thought concerning life, 
whether it be the crude idea of an 
untrained brain or the keen discrim- 
inating insight of a trained mind, 
constitutes that man’s philosophy of 
life. A view of life is optimistic 
when one believes all things work to- 
gether for good and it is pessimistic 
when an opposite view of life is tol- 
erated. 
A man’s view of life is of supreme 
importance for it will in a large de- 
gree determine the character of his 
life and the share of happiness 
which shall be his. Every man 1s 
under an obligation to himself and 
owes it as a duty to his fellows to 
hold an optimistic view of existence. 
That all men at all times do not 
entertain such a calm and wholesome 
view may be due to varied causes. 
The exigencies of life may so con- 
spire as to make such cheerfulness 
at times almost impossible. It is 
then that the soul must throw out its 
anchor and wait. The storm will 
pass and the light will break and 
we shall be piloted into a quiet 
haven. Because dark days fall upon 
man and at times he must walk in 
deep valleys it does not follow that 
all life is evil and that the worst will 
.. G. BE. WILLMONTON ... 
Attorney and Counsellor-at-Law 
NORTH SHORE BREEZE. 
work destruction. Such a view of 
life will paralyze endeavor and help- 
lessly cripple humanity in doing the 
work of the world. That there is a 
day of light dawning tomorrow, the 
light in the darkness, a star of hope, 
which dissipates the terror, the dis- 
tress and the melancholy of present 
evil is a comfort in the life to men. 
Sufficient unto the day is the evil 
thereof. But each day is a part of 
the whole, not an end in itself. To- 
day in itself may be a failure but in 
the extended experience of life, the 
failure may contribute more to the 
real and enduring success of life than 
the many days of apparent calm and 
restfulness. For it is evident that 
a day is but a small part of a life. 
If there be shadow or sunshine, on 
that day it can only contribute a 
day’s work to life. In a master 
painting if a tiny square of light or 
shadow be viewed in isolation one 
can never know the beauty of the 
work as art. It must. be seen as 
whole in a picture. Then the lights 
and shadows contribute, each its rel- 
ative share to its beauty of color and 
concept. One day of failure, despair, 
misery, or darkness does not ruin a 
life. It may make it. All life must 
not be crippled by a submission to 
the inevitable misery. An evil day 
of worry and despair for the soul 
in man can mount above the husks 
of life, the feeding of swine, and 
come to itself by arising and going 
unto the Father from whom cometh 
help. Faith in life will displace dis- 
trust and fear and true optimism 
will displace unwelcome pessimism. 
The Habit of Pessimism. 
Many things conspire to interrupt 
‘“‘the even tenor’’ of man’s way. 
Some shadows are avoidable while 
others are not. In our best moments 
all know that it is spiritual and mor- 
al indolence to suffer anxiety con- 
cerning that which we can help and 
that it avails nothing to be terror- 
ized by that which we cannot help. 
One strong man says: ‘‘I do not 
worry about what I can and cannot 
help.’’ In sharp contrast to a hope- 
ful pessimism there creeps into the 
minds of many a_ subtle habit of 
pessimistic thinking. It insinuates 
its way into the mind when there is 
no apparent outward cause and in 
the minds of such who are in normal 
health and with no known reason for 
anxiety, fear or depression. There 
are causes for gloom. such as. sin, 
great losses, bodily disease and count- 
Willmonton’s Agency 
OLD SOUTHBLDG., BOSTON 
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less other robbers of happiness 
which do come into life but are not 
considered in the thought now pre- 
sented. The present thought is that 
many minds suffer discomfort. and 
unhappiness because they have ,ené¢ 
tertained false views of life for 
which they themselves are culpable. 
Count Tolstoi at.a time when he. 
ought to have been completely happy 
and with no known reason; and 
while in good health, was ‘‘afraid of. 
life’? and he ‘‘did not know what he’ 
wanted.’’ 
the experience of an ancient trav- 
eler ‘‘seeking to save himself from a 
fierce animal, the traveler jumps into 
a well with no water in it; but at 
Life was to him like unto 
the bottom of this well he sees a 
dragon waiting with open mouth to — 
devour him. And-the unhappy man 
not daring to go out lest he should 
be the prey of the beast, not daring 
to jump to the bottom lest he should 
be devoured by the dragon, clings to 
the branches of a wild*bush which — 
grows out of one of the cracks of: 
the well. 
certain fate; but still he clings, and 
he sees two mice, one white, the — 
other black, evenly moving round — 
the bush to which he hangs: and 
gnawing off its roots. The traveler 
sees this and knows that he must in- 
evitably perish. But - while.. thus 
hanging he looks about him and 
finds on the leaves of the bush some 
drops of honey. These he reaches 
with his tongue and licks with rap-~ 
ture 
I hang,’’ 
‘‘knowing that the inevitable dragon 
of death is waiting ready to tear me, 
and I cannot comprehend why J.am 
thus made a martyr. I try to suck 
the honey which formerly consoled 
me; but the honey pleases me no 
longer, and day and night the white 
mouse and the black mouse gnaw the: 
branch to which I eling. I ean see 
but one thing; the inevitable dragon 
and the mice.”’ a 
This is the result of the pessi- 
mistic habit of thought and tempor- 
ary despair followed. What a mor- 
bid view of life? What despair: 
~ 
His hands weaken and he 
feels that he must soon give way to- 
says Tolstoi, 
without a cause? What folly in un=: q 
happiness. There is a sadness which 
comes into the lives of people from: 
deep experience. There are trage- 
dies which bare down an almost 
justifiable gloom ‘upon. men. But 
this situation ~ is different, with no 
apparent cause, deep-seated gloom 
has taken possession of the mind. 
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