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LAUGH AND LIVE
CHAPTER XIII
SELF-INDULGENCE AND FAILURE
The correct definition of self-indulgence is
failure—because self-indulgence is comprised of
an aggregation of vices, large and small, and
failure is the logical sequence thereof. Even
the habit of eating may be cultivated into a vice.
Indeed, there are those who gorge without re-
straint, which in itself is unchaste and immoral.
We've often seen them as, with napkin under
foot or tucked under the collar, they eat their
way through mountains of food and wash it down
as they reach for more.
No use to say how and what we feel when
we attend such performances. It is all right to
say "Look the Other Way," but it can't be done.
It is human nature to gaze upon horror—some-
times in sympathy, but more often in amazement.
Sometimes a well staged scene of gormandizing
viewed from a seat in the second or third row [110]
center of a softly lighted, thick carpeted food
emporium saves us the price of our own meal.
We no longer hunger on our own account. Our
appetite is appeased by proxy, so to speak, and
we calmly fix our eyes on the "big show" and
sigh for a baseball bat.
No wonder a noted bachelor of medicine de-
clares "People are what they eat!" The excla-
mation point is our own. We quite agree with
our medical brother for we have seen people eat
until we thought we would never be hungry
again.
But there is more to self-indulgence than the
food specialist has to answer for, so we will be
on our way. For instance, there is the spend-
thrift; surely he is entitled to a short stanza.
We all know him. He goes on the theory that
he has all the spending money in the world, and
that long after he is dead those on whom he spent
it will remember his generosity. Vain hope!—
Whatever memory of him remains will be of a
different kind. Those who have been bored by
his gratuitous attentions will take up the threads [111]
of their existence where they left off when he
drove them away from their usual haunts. No
longer will they have to dodge down alleys and
run up strange stairways in an effort to avoid his
overtures.
When alive and in full operation he knew more
about what was best for us than we could pos-
sibly think of knowing. Left to his own devices
he would have us smoke his particular brands,
drink his labels, eat his selections, wear his kind
of a cravat, overcoat, cap, hat, shoes, and under-
wear. And to make his proposition sound busi-
ness like he would willingly pay the bills! In
this little amusement we are supposed to play
the part of receiver and praise his generosity.
Whatever may be our verdict on this chap we
must keep in mind that his inordinate desire to
waste his substance was no less than a vice if
for no other reason than its example upon others;
it is just as bad to be a "receiver" as it is to be
a spendthrift. If we cannot build up a reputa-
tion for generosity without becoming ostentatious
we might better take lessons in refinement from [112]
someone "to the manor born."
There is no desire to single out and set down
by name and number every sort of self-indul-
gence. Excesses of any kind are indulgences,
and it is easy to fall into them if we have not
built up our stamina to resist.
Our failures are usually traceable to ourselves.
No matter what excuses may be offered in our
behalf we know in our own minds that we are
to blame. Somewhere along the line of our en-
deavors we faltered—then we fell. Our conser-
vatism reinforced by our strength of character
finally gave way at a given point and put the
whole plant out of business. Our system of in-
spection had become cursory instead of pains-
taking. Everything had been running along so
smoothly we forgot that everything must wear
out in time if it isn't looked after properly.
A previous chapter entitled, "Taking Stock of
Ourselves," has a specific bearing upon the sub-
ject in hand. It emphasizes the necessity of tak-
ing stock of ourselves early in life in order that
we may know our weak spots and take immediate [113]
steps to dig them out by the roots and replace
them with "hardy perennials" which thrive on
and on unto the last day.
And that reminds us that it is well to take
stock of ourselves every little while. Even
"hardy perennials" have to be looked after—the
ground kept fertile and watered against the
draughts of forgetfulness and neglect. And so
it must be with our mental and physical processes
in order that each day of our lives we may go
forth with renewed forcefulness—with every
atom of character in full working order.
Having started off on the right foot, we are
less likely to have trouble with our higher resolves
during the lean and hungry years of our youth
when we go plunging headlong toward the goal
of our ambitions. Usually it is not until we come
into "Easy Street" that we find that we dropped
something somewhere along the line which we
must replace at once or we will be laid up for re-
pairs. But lo and behold! "Easy Street" is fair
to look upon. It dazzles the eye—it takes hold
of the sensibilities. Everybody wears "Sunday [114]
clothes" on this street and seems to be superla-
tively happy. Surely it wouldn't hurt to linger
awhile and see what is going on. Why, this is
the most talked about street in the world! Some
of the people we have dealt with have told us
about it. They said it was the only street for a
man of means, for there could be found the very
things for which we strive in life. They told us
that the people we would meet represented the
higher order of intelligence, brainy, alert, ac-
complished—a grand thoroughfare for those who
would know life in the fullness thereof.
Now it is a fact that "Easy Street" may be
crossed and recrossed in safety every day of our
lives if we do not tarry. Financial competence
might permit of it, but competent efficiency de-
mands that we trot along—keep moving—get
away before we settle down into its ways. The
action we need is not along this brilliant lane.
But suppose we do take a chance just to
test the serene confidence which we think is so
safely nailed down within us. The very thought
of it makes the "caution bell" tinkle in our ears [115]
—but caution is a species of cowardice, after all,
we say—a man of courage may dare anything
once. And just at the moment we waver who
comes along but our old friend Self-indulgence!
—the well dressed, carefree fellow who once told
us all about "Easy Street" and invited us to look
in on him sometime. Nothing would please him
more than to show us the whole works—and here
he is shaking us by the hand and pulling us along
—for he is an affable fellow and will not take
"no" for an answer.
Our struggle is feeble—a huge chunk of our
strength of character falls off into space then and
there. Even at the gilded entrance we try again to
beg off—to slip away—but Self-indulgence will
not hear. So together we go through the portals
leading into a grandeur we had never known—be-
yond our experience and power to believe. This is
likely to become the turning point in our career.
Bill Nye once said "When we start down hill
we usually find everything greased for the occa-
sion." We might add—"except the bumps!"
CHAPTER XIV
LIVING BEYOND OUR MEANS
Living beyond our means is a big subject that
must be treated broadly, for circumstances alter
cases. There is a sane way to look at every prob-
lem, and the matter of living beyond our means
is one of the major problems we have to face.
If every man was alike and every avocation in
life was on a parity, it would be possible to dis-
pose of this subject in a paragraph. But men
are not alike. What one could do successfully
might easily baffle another. Therefore, it seems
advisable to consider the subject by looking into
its depths.
To most people debt is terrifying. To some
it means nothing—and thus we have individual
temperament as an angle from which to consider.
Living beyond our ability to pay means going
into debt via the shortest route. Getting out of
debt means a revision of our code to the extent [117]
of ceasing to live beyond our means and saving
something with which to payoff what we owe.
Some men can do this successfully—others fail
while seemingly trying their best to succeed—
and still others do nothing to stem the tide. With
these it is a matter of how the tide serves. If
favoring winds should drive them to opulence
they would more than likely pay up, particularly
those imbued with sufficient personal honor to
"make good."
Such are the exigencies of life, we may as well
concede that a vast majority at some time or
other find it necessary to owe more than they
can readily pay. Emergencies arise which force
us into expenses that require credit, and if we
have so ordered our lives that when the pinch
comes we have no credit established the fact that
we payout our last dollar and go hungry to bed
does not bring us much sympathy. Thus it
would seem that to be able to say: "I pay as I
go," or, "I owe no man a dollar," or, "I never
live beyond my means" is not much of a boast,
when, after a death in the family, or other un- [118]
foreseen circumstances, we find ourselves broke
and nowhere to turn for accommodation.
It has been aptly said that "People can save
themselves to death." In other words, one may
develop the saving habit to such an extent that
"Laugh and Live" can find no room beside us
on the perch of our existence. We must admit
that the systematic saver of pennies misses a lot
as he goes along, and, with time, degenerates into
a sort of "Kill Joy." In the matter of regulating
his family to his way of thinking he usually has
an uphill Job. Sons leave home as soon as they
can; daughters marry and breathe a sigh of re-
lief, leaving mother behind to slave on in order
that the hoard may grow.
While all of this is true it only represents ex-
treme cases, therefore it should not be construed
that this chapter is launched against the habit
of saving. Rather, its purpose is to suggest the
thought of not "over-saving" at the expense of
personal welfare. Our best plan would be to
save in reason, not forgetting that life is here to
enjoy as we go along. Then, too, we must have [119]
a credit rating among our fellow mortals, just
the same as a business person must have credit
rating among financial institutions.
Credit in business is worth more than money
because it allows for expansion whereas money
in the bank is only good as far as it goes. Many
a merchant who bought and sold for cash all his
life found when he came to enlarge his business
that one thing was lacking—credit. The fact
that he had always paid cash threw a doubt upon
his financial condition when he proposed to bor-
row. He had neglected to build up a credit as
he went along. The business world only knew
him as a man who paid cash and exacted cash.
Taken at his fullest inventory he had "scalped"
a living out of the world for which he had done
but little to make happier or better. One calam-
ity might easily scuttle his prospects forever—
for instance, a fire, or a bank failure. And with-
out credit it would be difficult to start over again.
By all means we must save something for the
"rainy day" as we go along—and our savings
can be made up of other things than actual cash [120]
in bank. One item of our savings is the habit
of keeping up our appearances. Living beyond
our means does not incorporate the thought that,
in order to save every possible cent, we should
become slipshod and shabby. Carelessness in
dress takes away from our rating as nothing else
will for it has to do with first impressions of
those with whom we come in contact. Gentility
pays dividends of the highest order, being, as it
is, a badge of character. Neatness bespeaks char-
acter, and it is just as cheap in dollars and cents
to keep ourselves respectably clothed as to in-
dulge in shoddy apparel under the delusion that
we have saved money on the purchase price.
Good clothing, costing more at the start, lasts
long and looks well as long as it lasts. Shoddy
apparel never is anything else but shoddy, and
well might it proclaim the shoddy man.
When we throw away our opportunity to pre-
sent a genteel appearance, just for the sake of
the bank roll, we doom ourselves to defeat in the
pursuit of knowledge. We cannot get all we
want to know by the mere reading of books. We [121]
must mingle with people; we must interchange
thought that we may crystallize what we know
into practical knowledge so it can be made into
tools to work with. While a man of brains is
welcome everywhere the matter of his appear-
ance has a lot to do with how he is received and
with whom he may fraternize.
"Isn't it a pity," we hear people say, "that,
with all his brains, he hasn't sense enough to make
himself presentable?" But the worst phase of
the situation is that the unkempt man sooner or
later loses faith in himself and either ceases to
hoard at the expense of his gentility or he gives
up his opportunity to mingle with others
and lapses into habits consistent with miserly
thoughts.
The phrase "a happy medium" is well known
and decidedly applicable to the subject of sav-
ing as we go along so that we may avert the sor-
rows which follow in the wake of living beyond
our means. It suggests a desirable middle course
which permits us to adopt a sane policy, rather [122]
than flying to an extreme.
It cannot be said that we are living beyond our
means when by reason of our association with
men of affairs we need to spend more money
and thereby save less in preparing ourselves for
the larger opportunities which will naturally fol-
low. Young men often go through college on
their "uppers," so to speak. There is not a cent
which they could honestly save as they went
along without cheating themselves. The point is
that their situations in life force them to spend
rather than to save money. But in so doing the
real saving was in the spending thereof. They
enlarged their knowledge and decreased their
bank accounts for the time being. What man
parts with in an emergency is no license, how-
ever, for him to fall back into profligacy. Never
should a man entirely lose the idea of putting
something by. The college boy in this case has
simply invested his money in an education in-
stead of a bank account.
Once on the highroad of life with a plan of
action well defined and a regular income the habit [123]
of putting money away should become a fixed
procedure. In no other way do we accumulate
except by investment, and investment means put-
ting away money at interest or in some project
which promises better returns.
If we were to interview a thousand men on
the subject of saving and draw upon their ex-
periences we would find that by investing money
at interest we pursue the safest course, far safer,
in fact, than the seeking of outside investments
that promise greater returns. The latter invites
the mind away from the regular avocation and
educates it in time to take chances that are likely
to turn into setbacks. The mind, instead of ap-
plying itself to the duty of making the most out
of its regular employment, allows its interest to
become scattered over too broad a field.
It is not within the province of all men to be-
come wealthy and, after all, wealth is not the only
desideratum; the happiest of mortals are found
in the middle walks of life and not in the ex-
tremes. The struggle should be to escape the
life which saps our strength, keeps our nerves [124]
on edge and drives us away from the green
pastures.
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