CHEERFULNESS.

Hokitika Guardian, 8 December 1923, Page 4

CHEERFULNESS.

ITS MONETARY VAI.EE. ’ (By J. Eredcrick Sander- in Sydr icy paper). r 1 What !.- the monetary 'a.uc ol JlajTv l.aiider's laugii. or oi t’harlie Chaplin's drollery:' You may make ' earn, 1,-uf you cannot e.-tim.’tc w luu ' good thev dr> --llnongii the gloom they tiisp-i.- ' acd riic health-giving mug.!’ter ! -icy lai-c. These ll'.-II have s]ic( ialised in liumour, good--, liver. 1 and good Icllow snip, and have cii--1 filled the world iiiiineastii’iilily more ‘ than them.-elvi-. rh>*iv i- money in eic-ei lid in-—. and ' il i- liol nil mad I the stage. “Dive us, oh. give- us tin- man who 1 sings at liis work! ' says Carlyle. “Re liis o: ci!palion wliat. il. may. lie is 1 c.|tial lo auv id Dose wlm follow the 1 siiine j.role--ion in -dent sidlenu -s. “ ||e will do more in tic same time, lie ‘ will do ii lieiler. lie will persevere ' longer. One is scarcely sensible l 1 fatigue whilst In* marches to 11111-10, 1 Tlie verv stars are said to make liar- ' mony as they revolve in their spheres. YYondrous is the sirengtil of clieerlui- " lies-, altogether past calculation are its powers id endurance." \!;,ik the cheerful mail, and con--1 side r tlu- atniospliere In* creates. the 1 magnetir drawing power ol liis personality. ii.- i- welcome as llnw -r- in * May wherever lie goes. See him workin-: with a gang of men. lie loivman may la* tlie head, lull h - i- the 1 ,-otd of the gang. No leavens the company with good Icllowship. makes the grumbler forget his grievances, and ] the shirker ids dilatorincss. and thus increases the efficiency oi tlie gang and their output of work. See him in the office or in social gatherings, or in public meetings; wherever lit- is von feel the contagion of his presence. Pessimism and despondency cannot , thrive in the presence of such as he. When the directors’ meeting is . gloomy with reports ot loss and trade depression, it is the cheerful soul who . dispels the gloom, helps his fellow-di-rectors 'to regain their perspective and find a way out of their embarrassment. When tlie political arena is charged with disruptive elements it. is the cheerful soul who conciliates the discontented, steadies the wavering, gives heart and hope to liis political chief, aml often stives the .Ministry. When tlie Trevessa is abandoned in mid-ocean and the crew sets out ill frail lifeboats on a lots) mile voyage j to the nearest port, it is not only sit- ) perb seanmiisliip. but an invincible spirit of cheerfulness which unites in bringing them saiely to laud. It is the crisis of life, in hours big with fate, when the power of cheerfulness is fully recognised. It is a bigger factor than reason or intellect in getting men out of a tight corner. When all seems lost, when skill and diplomacy are impotent, cheerfulness I will often convert disaster into I triumph. For the cheerful spirit refuses to abandon bone or recognise defeat. Roosevelt’s hearty laugh often extricated him from, critical situations. During the darkest months of the great war. when every despatch from the front was ominous with dis-nsn-r. TJoyd George maintained his. high spirit.-—and sang 'Welsh hymns 1 while taking his morning hath! Camp-bell-Bannerman owed his political success to ids genial nature rather than to strength of character. Nay. rather in cheerfulness lay Ids strength of character. All front-rank leaders of men are cheerful souls. When Jowett of Balliol lay dying, and his friends gathered round his bed waiting for the end. he looked up with a twinkle in his eye and said; “You can go away to lied. I don’t think I am going to do any-

thing definite to-night.” He could greet the unseen with a cheer. You cannot imagine a doleful Dickens or

a despondent Shakespeare. Of tlie former it is written by-one who knew him: “When Dickens entered a room it was like the sudden kindling of a big lire by which everyone was warmed.” And Shakespeare thus expressed himself: Wliat thou wilt, Thou must rather enforce it with ihy smile Than hew it with thy sword. “All very well.” retorts the pessimist, “we admit the power oi cheerfulness. Imt it is a matter of temperament ; the suniiy-naturod soul is horn, not made." I rue. Il pessimist, we quite agree, the sunny-nnturc-il soul is horn, not made. aye. horn, with a sensitive temperament, dangerously sensitive, easily soured, easily metamorphosed by adversity into a weeping Jeremiah” or a “melancholy Ja(|iics." The cheerfulness which survives and triumphs over the rough usage of life is routed in something deeper than temperament. There is a capacity for eliocrlillness inherent in every man—and it may he cultivated. It. is a quality of spirit drawn from higher spheres into tlie lives of men. It is horn in man s consciousness of that 1 nseen Hresence within and around him. lie who realises Dint his life is ill a Gull Stream of spiritual aetivitis which are hearing him on to splendid issues, with the wi-aloni ol heaven directing, and the power ot hoavoii sustaining him. needs must lie cheer! ill; he needs must be a centre of attraction, a centre of progressive activity. And he who recognises the monetary value of clu-eifidnc-s. what a powerlul lactor it i> in any walk ol lite. who knows (he spiritual nature ol it. and the means whereby it is acquired, will see with open eyes Unit the cultivation of this quality ol soul is an indispensable part of his business training.