MAKING WORK AGREEABLE.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5290, 9 March 1878, Page 1 (Supplement)

MAKING WORK AGREEABLE.

(From the Philadelphia Public Ledger.)

There are very few persons so indolent or lethargic as to avoid every description of labor, to be impelled by no enthusiasm, and to take no active interest in business or pleasure. ; The general verdict upon shell a person would bo that he was deficient in vitality, and lib would be pitied for his torpidity rather than, severely condemned for conscious wrongdoing. There, is, however, a large class of persons who, with sufficient activity and power to lead a useful and valuable life, yet fail to do so, from a real or' fancied distaste to their employment. Some things they like exceedingly, and when engaged in them they show zeal arid energy enough ; but their, own common occupation excites no ambition, rouses’ no enthusiasm, awakes no interest. Of course it is poorly done ; much of it, indeed, is probably left .undone; and whatever of value creeps into it is only the result of some ulterior motive, which compels exertion, even against the will. Probably more of tho badly executed labor of the world is due to this cause than to any other. Tho schoolboy, brimming over with life and undeveloped power, is intent upon everything save, his regular schoolwork. He puts all his heart into the ball, match, or the skating pond ; but his studies he deems dull and tedious, and only gives them a halfhearted attention. On some future day, when they are no longer his daily occupation, but the resource of his leisure hours, he will look back with regret and wonder at his former self. So the laborer in the field or workshop, in office or factory, often feels tired and impatient of his own proper business. Ho is not idle or torpid, he enters with spirit into other things, and imagines that, were his occupation something different from what it is, lie would perform it with enthusiastic alacrity. As it is, he contents himself with going through its routine in a lifeless, mechanical way, as the quality of the work soon attests when compared with that into which intelligent and zealous energy have been infused. Now, although the utmost care should be taken in selecting an employment that it shall, if possible, be congenial to the taste, it is quite essential that this alone should notbo depended bn for success. Often tho one that promises the most in this respect disappoints us most in actual working. Perhaps we mistook fancy for fitness; perhaps we are fickle and grow weary of one thing, and long for change; perhaps wo had not counted upon the hard work which every worthy employment demands. Whatever be the cause, it is certain that in very frequent instances our daily employments are not at all what wo should choose were we free to choose now. Either wo dislike .them, or, what is much the same, we like something ! else. so much bettor that, by comparison, our own work seems disagree-

able and hard. Where this is not the permanent condition, there will yet he seasons when this state of mind arises—times when our regular business seems dull, tiresome, and flat, and wo droop over the task.

No one can do heartily what he dislikes any more than lie can eat heartily of food that is nauseous to him. It is not in nature to put heart, energy, and enthusiasm into anything positively disagreeable. An urgent necessity may compel the actual performance of the unpleasant work, but even then it is never done in the best way, and the chances are that it will be a feeble and valueless affair. It maybe said that, if this is true, all idleness and languor are excusable, and that it only remains to change the occupation until one is found that shall be in all respects congenial. Yet this by no means follows, for although our work may at present be distasteful, it need not always remain so. There is a power within each one of us which, if strongly and continuously exercised, can change the; disagreeable, first to the tolerable, and then to the actually agreeable. We have first to inquire whether this work really belongs to us. Iu the majority of cases the true answer will be found in the affirmative. Education, training, circumstances, and perhaps our own unbiassed choice, have placed us here, and given ns just this task to perform. We ban, do it, perhaps there is nothing else .wo can’ do so well, perhaps there is nothing else open to ns to do. Except in raio instances duty and prudence call upop, us to continue in our present sphere of labor. If this be so, however, then they equally call upon us to make that sphere an agreeable one.' This is not the iriipossible task that it inay appear. All effort is at first painful and difficult, but perseverance makes it easy, and at length it becomes a chief element of happiness. The real wrong of idleness, languor, and half-heartedness is the refusal to accept this discipline. Let any one who expediences this .distaste of his daily work set resolutely to work to conquer it. Let him first avoid all outward expression of his repugnance, and scorn to claim sympathy for it, as these can but serve to' increase it, and weaken his own power to subdue it. Let him then, day by day, labor assiduously and porseveringly, forcing himself to do so, if riecessary, bringing all his powers to bear upon it, searching for improved methods, and welcoming all the light which modern science br his own unfolding faculties can give, to enable him to perform it in the best, most thorough, and most speedy manner. Let him do this, not: spasmodically, but steadily, constantly, firmly, day by day, week by week, and lie will find—no sudden or startling change, indeed, but a gradual growth of interest and awakening of attention within himself ; he will discover far more to engage his thought and arouse his energies than he conceived possible ; and by degrees he will learn to like, and even prefer, the occupation that once so painfully excited his repugnance. , 1