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Contents |
LAUGH AND LIVE
CHAPTER III
ADVANTAGES OF AN EARLY START
It is the young man who has the best chance
of winning, Then why shouldn't youthfulness be
made a permanent asset? We have recovered
from the idea of putting a man into a sanatorium
just because a few grey hairs show themselves in
his head. We should not ask him how old he is
. . . we should ask: "What can he do?" The
young man may have the advantage of years but
the older one has the advantage of experience
and knowledge. Now if this older man could
carry along with him that spirit of youth which
actuated his earlier activities he would be pre-
pared against incapacity. Our fate hangs on
how we conduct ourselves in youth. The world
has great need of the sober, thoughtful men above
the fifty line. By right of experience and knowl-
edge they should become our leaders in the shap-
ing of our policies. It is all a matter of how a [26]
man comes through, mentally, physically and
spiritually. Age should not count against him.
The first thought is to keep healthy. In fact,
we cannot harp on this too much. The second
requirement is confidence in ourselves, without
which our career is short lived.
Already we perceive that one must keep track
of his inner self. This breeds confidence. The
very fact that one stops to probe into that hidden
land of thought shows that he is keeping tab on
himself with a sharp eye. That's the stuff! We
mustn't fool ourselves. The majority of failures
come as a result of not being able to trust one's
self. The moment we doubt, or acknowledge that
we cannot conquer a weakness, then we begin to
go down hill. It is a subtle process. We hardly
realize it at the time but as the days go by, the
years roll on, the final day of reckoning draws
near and relentlessly we are swept along as drift-
wood toward the lonely beaches of obscurity.
And all because we lacked self-confidence! We
did not realize it until it was too late. We were
too busy with self-indulgence to struggle for [27]
success.
Most of our troubles in later life started with
failure to take hold of ourselves when we were
young. It may be that we put off making our
choice of something to do. If we had been com-
panionable to ourselves we might have thought
out the proper course while taking long walks in
pursuit of physical development. That would
have been a fine time in which to fight out the
whole problem—the time when optimism and the
will to do are as natural as the laughter of a
child, or the song of a bird. That was the time
when the world appeared roseate and beautiful,
when success lay just beyond the turn of the road,
when failure seemed something illusory and im-
probable. Then was the time to jump in with
both feet and a big hearty laugh to solve the
problem of what to do and how to go about it.
It is surprising how readily the world follows the
individual with confidence. It is willing to be-
lieve in him, to furnish funds, to assist in any way
within its power. And that is where the man
with a smile is sure to win—for the man who [28]
smiles has confidence in himself.
So long as we carry along with us our atmos-
phere of hearty good will and enthusiasm we
know no defeat. The man who is gloomy, taci-
turn and lives in a world of doubt seldom achieves
more than a bare living. There have been a few
who have groaned their way through to a com-
petence but in proportion to that overwhelming
number of souls who carry cheer through life they
are as nothing—mere drops in the bucket. If
the truth were told their success came probably
through mere chance and nothing else. Such
people are not the ones for us to endeavor to
follow. We cannot afford to allow our visions
to sour.
Beginning early takes away timidity and builds
for success while we are young enough to enjoy
the benefits. Although it is never too late to
start a cheerful life we don't have to kill our-
selves in the attempt. There is no necessity for
throwing all caution to the winds, but we should
press our advantages. With self-analysis comes
a certain poise, a certain dignity and kindliness [29]
that tempers every move with precision.
Once we get the proper start we have only to
take stock now and then in order to keep our
machinery in a fine state of repair. If we have
chosen wisely we love our work and stick to it
closely—not forgetting the home duties and our
share in its success. Right here we run up
against the danger signal if our business success
wins us away from the hearthstone. Love of
home is a quality of the workers of the earth.
"What doth it profit a man to win the whole
world if he loseth his own soul?"
To sum up the case—once we have made up
our minds to win and how we are going to do it,
the next step is to act. Health is synonymous
with action. The healthy man does things, the
unhealthy man hesitates. And when we get ready
to act we will act with the air of a conqueror.
We must supply from our own store our atmos-
phere of confidence in order to win confidence.
The successful man is the one who knows he is
right and makes us realize it.
It is always worth while to study the successes [30]
among our acquaintances. Are they gloomy,
morose and irritable? If they were to that extent
they would not be successful. On the contrary,
they are robust, confident individuals who have
taken advantage of every rightful opportunity
and possessed the power to smile when all about
them were in the dumps. When everyone else
thought that there wasn't a chance to win these
fellows stepped in and took charge.
When we interview the failures we find that
all of them give one excuse: "I didn't have the
confidence." They may not say it in exactly
these words but the meaning is plain. They ran
through the whole gamut of self-distrust which is
the natural result of not having started early in
the study of self—the serious realization of their
own capabilities.
This makes it easy to understand their plight.
If we know ourselves we are strengthened that
much, because we can bolster up our weaknesses.
We will know enough to combat timidity. We
can then know what we are capable of, and thus
become conscious of our innate powers that only [31]
need to be called into action in order to become
useful. We cannot imagine for an instant a great
violinist going out on the concert platform in
ignorance of the condition of his instrument.
And yet failures go out on the stage of life know-
ing nothing of their strengths and weaknesses
—and still expect to win!
If we are to become successes we must keep
success in mind—banish all thought of losing.
Success is just as natural as anything else. It is
only a matter of the mind anyhow. We are all
successes as long as we continue to think so. Self-
depreciation is a disease. Once it gets a hold on
us—good-bye!
And that is why it is wise to begin early—to
take hold of affairs while we are young. Superi-
ority over our fellow man comes from a superior-
ity of mind and body. A healthy mind breeds a
healthy body. The most superficial study will
convince us of this fact.
Appearance counts for much in this world. We
Judge largely by appearances. We haven't time
to know everyone we meet intimately and as a [32]
result must base our opinions upon first impres-
sions. The fellow who comes in an office with
his head hanging down between his shoulders and
a frown upon his face doesn't get far with us.
We find ourselves looking over his sagging shoul-
ders toward the individual behind him who comes
in with a swinging step and the confidence born
of health and good spirits.
Self-confidence in youth makes for self-con-
fidence in after years. This is far from meaning
that one can be brazen and inclined towards
freshness and get away with it. It merely means
the marshalling of one's forces, the command of
one's self and the ability to make others recog-
nize that we are on the map because we belong
there. And one of the quickest ways to accom-
plish this is to have a smile tucked away for
instant use. Again, this does not mean that we
are to carry round a ready-to-wear grin which we
wear only as we are ushered into the presence of
another. A real smile, or a hearty laugh, is not
to be counterfeited. We easily know the genuine
from the spurious. A real laugh springs nat- [33]
urally out of a pure, unadulterated confidence
and a good physical condition. What triumphs,
what splendid battles, have been won through the
ability to laugh at the right moment.
Whenever we find that we are losing our ability
to smile let's have no false notions. We are neg-
lecting our physical well being. Let us then and
there drop the sombre thoughts and get out into
the open air. Run down the street and if pos-
sible out into the country. If we see a tree and
have the inclination to climb it—well, then, climb
it. If we are sensitive about what our neighbors
might say—too bad! But we can romp with easy
grace. If we but knew how gladly our neighbors
would emulate our gymnastics if they knew the
value of them the laugh would be on us for dread-
ing their opinion. One thing we do know—they
will envy us our good health and spirits.
CHAPTER IV
PROFITING BY EXPERIENCE
Experience comes by contact. There is no
way we can have experiences without passing di-
rectly through them. If we are up and doing
they come thick and fast into our lives, some of
them weighted down by the peculiar twists and
turns of circumstances, others simple, easily un-
derstood, and still others complicated to the point
of not being understood at all.
People are divided into two classes—those who
profit by experience and those who do not. The
unfortunate part of it all is that the latter class
is by far the larger of the two.
The man of vigorous purpose, fine constitu-
tion, and the full knowledge of self, sees through
an experience as clearly as through a window.
The glass may be foggy, but he knows what lies
beyond. Self-reliant and strong he seeks knowl-
edge through experience, while the weak man, [35]
the unhealthy-minded, the inefficient, stands aside
and gives him the right of way. In later years,
however, they bitterly complain that they were
not given the same chance to succeed.
The man of experience having long since
passed through the stages of indecision has,
through careful self-analysis learned to bridge
difficulties that would make others tremble with
fear. He knows that every lane has a turning.
He may not see it at the moment. He may not
know where it is. But that doesn't worry him.
He picks up his bundle and trudges ahead, con-
fident that victory awaits him somewhere along
the line.
The fact that he believes in himself, sets him
apart from ordinary mankind. Many great men
have been at loss to understand why they attained
success. It is well nigh impossible for them to
outline the causes that led them to the top rungs
of the ladder. The reason is that their lack of
fear of experiences was an unconscious one,
rather than a conscious one. However, they are
willing to admit that acting on the principle of [36]
profiting by experience loaned them initiative
with which to proceed. They soon came to know
opportunity at sight and had only to look around
to find it.
The young man standing on the threshold of
life is, from lack of experience, puzzled over the
future. He looks above him and sees the tower-
ing successes. He reads in the papers of the
massive characters who have risen from the bot-
tom to the top. Naturally he would like to meet
one of these giants of success and hear what he
has to say. The interview is quite needless.
"Get busy and profit by experience," is about all
the advice one man can give to another. There
is no way to profit by experience until we have
had experience so there is nothing to do but get
busy and experience will come as fast as we can
absorb it. Our duty is to strive for success and
not expect to attain it except by successive steps.
A wholesale consignment would be our undoing.
Quick successes through luck or good fortune
have not the lasting value of those won by virtue
of knowing how—of accomplishing what we [37]
started out to do.
Faith in one's self does not come from the
outside—it must spring up naturally from within.
A healthy body and a sane mind are the best
foundations for this. The young man who be-
gins his career with these facts in mind is given
a running start over his competitors. Poverty
and failure are the result of an ignorance of the
value of experience. Worry, anxiety, fear of not
doing the right thing, lack of insight into charac-
ter . . . these, too, are the result of a lack of
experience.
Good health is necessary to experience, but a
majority neglect to take care of it. If we are
to profit by what we learn we must have the
vim with which to push forward. We must have
every ounce of vitality we possess at command—
ready for use. This we conserve for the big
emergency which we know is coming. New ex-
periences are pushing us forward and previous
experiences are helping to move the load. Ex-
perience tells us what to do at this point and that
—and at last puts its shoulder to the wheel and [38]
over she goes!"
Every mind is in possession of an enormous
amount of dormant power and only experience
can release it into proper action. We often hear
a fond mother say that her son is full to bursting
with the old nick, which means that the young-
ster is overflowing with pent-up energy. With
experience he could find good use for it—but
without it this surplus may turn out to be a dan-
gerous possession. Young men of this type
should be guarded most carefully and advised
to "get busy" early in life at something worth
while. Many a bright fellow brimming with
excess power has gone as a lamb to the slaughter
into the maelstrom of vice because of being held
back from legitimate occupation. He just had to
blow off steam so he did it in a gin mill rather
than a rolling mill.
This dynamo called the mind can be trained to
do anything. Not only can it be guided at the
start but it can be guided by all that follows.
It can be used for building additional dynamos
to be called into action in times of need. This [39]
statement may seem at first far-fetched. If we
think so it is proof that we have not profited by
our experiences and should get down to "stock
taking" before it is too late.
The practical man, after all, is only one who
takes advantage of opportunities. He could
double and triple his power if he only realized how
superficial the average setback really is. The
young man has just as much chance of being
considered practical as the so-called older one,
always provided that he has a store of experiences
to profit by. The first big experience of life usu-
ally makes or breaks us. For this experience we
need to be prepared. We must have a strong heart
that we may bear defeat nobly from this is not to
be our last kick—our last breath—not by a jugful!
We are going to start all over again after our
setback and we are not going to wait any longer
than it takes to bury the dead. This will be done
decently and in good order—our training will
admit of no indecorum. If the smash was a bad
one we will assume the liability, nevertheless, and
get back on the job. We are out to win and [40]
eventually we will win.
And that is what we mean by taking profit
from experience. The powers that break down
are also the powers that build up. The electrician
who handles the motor could just as well end his
own existence by that mysterious current as he
could make use of it for the good of humanity.
He spends years of conscientious study and mas-
ters the knowledge of it so that its uses are as
simple as his A B C's. There is no doubt in
the world but that he had to learn by experience.
He had to go into the shop and climb up from
the bottom. There was no other way by which
he could come to know how to turn a deadly force
into a well-trained necessity.
Yet the average man goes into life with as
little knowledge of its forces as the baby who puts
its foot upon the third rail. That fact keeps
the thoughtless man down until experience comes
to the rescue. When it does come, if he has the
sand, the common sense, the will to do, there is
naught to hold him away from his goal.
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