| Show e r Z r r r r 33 3 r r s r r r r r r r r r r r r r r r rT EH The H Hoto w to T sf I Dispel h Yair- Yair t m of n r r r r r r r r r. r rr rr rr r Vi c c-c- c c-c-c- c Ec- Ec c- c c E t Note The following article was F written at midnight by a student who was r subject to fits of gloom and despondency It was written immediately upon returning returning return return- ing to his room after a mile four-mile walk toward the outskirts of the city in desper desperate desperate des des- per ate meditation upon the question f What will dispel despondency an and how r- r can on-coming on gloom be resisted The th thoughts here expressed were the spontaneous spontaneous spontaneous result of his mile four-mile walk and they may be suggestive and helpful to others ers for the birth of these thoughts marked an epoch in his life I Even if all the imagined conditions that bring on my gloom and discouragement were indeed real real even even if it be true that I shall fall far below my ambitions ambitions it it should be kept in mind that I have to pass through life in some condition or other and the high higher r that condition the better even if the best be very poor Therefore to indulge in gloom and despondency is b but t cutting off the whole hand in the sorrow x of losing a single finger for fits of desp despondency despondency de de- sp are ruinous to the mind and thereby cripple lifes life's attainments If v then I am to attain to the best possible possible I IE E I must not give way to this weak weakening ning p pas pas- sif s- s if sion SlOn ft Moreover the te very causes a se of my desp despondency despondency de de- sp instead of bringing on despondency despondency despondency de de- ought on the contrary to be incentives to action Because the greater my disa disadvantages 1 vantages in life ife and the more numerous the obstacles obstacles i cles to be overcome the greater great r must be bemy my efforts my-efforts efforts the must be my labors in order to attain to the heights of success i f r X And b because ca the deree of f my happiness happiness- iu later life will depend l largely upon the severity of the trials that I have successfully successfully successfully success success- fully endured and t. t the consciousness of having accomplished an and 9 overcome mu much h And because every di difficult task th that I perform and every temptation to ind indulge 4 in the gloom of despondency that I resist 1 will only strengthen strength n my character for the j accomplishing of more difficult tasks and for more readily resisting on coming on-coming coming gloom in the future 1 fIt t f It should be understood and kept well wellin wellin well in mind that all men have the their shares of disadvantages as well as of advantages J the the rich are unfortunate in the very things in which the poorer are fortunate and the brilliant are unfortunate in the 1 very things in which the less brilliant are fortunate It should be kept well in mind that hundreds of men have passed over and hundreds of men are now passing passing- I ov over r and will in the future continue to pass over the very same course that I am r endeavoring to pursue pursue and and many of i these were probably less fortunate and less qualified than I. I An And it should be remembered that probably every man has fits of despondency and that the number and the frequency and the severity of those fits of despond despondency ncy are proportionate proportion proportion- i ate to the degree in which they are in indulged indulged indulged in- in or subdued i j Despondency always magnifies its causes to prodigious size and it propagates propagates propagates gates itself at a marvelous rate The disadvantages disadvantages disadvantages dis dis- advantages and obstacles of lif life thus become become become be be- discourages discourages discourages come a prodigy or chimera that ages and destroys effort and action Despondency Despondency Despondency De De- thus makes a balking animal of its victim the person dispels all endeavor endea endea- vor although n not t an extraordinary effort would probably accomplish the task before before be he- fore him I must therefore consider despondency Fas as largely in the nature of an illusion and shall hall not be frightened by the ghost There probably never was a man perfectly perfectly perfectly per per- satisfied with himself and his attain attain- ments Disappointments come inevitably to everyone Both mental and physical pains are more or less a matter of course to everybody in the world I therefore must expect i reverses and disappointments pains and sorrows and andI I should pass through them as a matter of fact just as I pass uncomplainingly through varying conditions of the wea wea- ther there It is indeed consummate childishness childishness childish childish- ness ness to pine or com complain plain or even be irritated irritated irritated at anything which cannot annot be avoided avoid avoid- ed at anything that is a part of the warp and woof of life Despondency moreover is a conta- conta disease it if brings un unpleasantness pleasantness and gloom to those exposed to its victim It therefore is a moral wrong its possessor possessor possessor pos pos- sessor is guilty of a social crime If then I permit myself to fall slave to despondency I should at least tine ine myself by the deepest confines of sol sol- 1 After all must it not be true that the person who very seldom feels despondent Its is It is s the person who has not the clearness of vision to see his own weaknesses and that therefore the temptation to give up to fits of despondency is really a healthy sign It certainly seems so az 1 As a matter of fact after all is said and done Gone de despondency is only the temporary lacking of some external or internal force forc to set the machinery of being into motion molion And And this force is really cheap and abundant ant ant and and of numerous forms It is but another name for incentive and ti tion n. n Then followed an an enumeration of thoughts and facts which serve as incentives incentives tives and inspiration to the writer of this article But the enumeration is quite quite- personal giving many heart and soul ideals They differ in each individual ual but are really more numerous in each individual when tabulated t than an one ordinarily ordinarily ordinarily imagines To be fully effective each person should think out his own and have them well in mind for frequent fre fre frequent quent recall |
