Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1869-10-27
LIFE te yrha. We -Eaks It.

/ One Of the most prolific sources Of open
complaint and secret discomfort Is the
apparent inequality Of the human lot ID
/ life. In proof Of this, we are pointed TO
| the outward differences so palpabie to
all. Wealth and poverty, health ana
sickness, education and Ignorance, abIl-
/ iIv and feebIeDess, aUCcess and failure,
certainly present very opposite appear
/ ances; but that they are either the fixed
] and inevitable lot OfULOse who now pos
/ sess them, or that hey are themselves
/ the true elements oi iife's happiness OF
/ misery, are erroneous, though very pre-
valent ideas. The truth that ought to
/ be impressed on every mind, and espec-
/ iaIly upon the young, both to prevent
repining, and to animate the energies to
/ their fullest extent, is that life is what
we make it. Two men stand side by
side gazing on the same scene in ma
ture. To one, who has q cheerful dispO-
sitfnu. It reveals only beauty and glad
ness: while TO the other, gloomy and
sad. the whole scene is spread over with
2 Ieaden pail. 1t is our own state of
mind that creates for Us, even Nature
herself, and paints the same scene in
beauty or in gloom.
Still more is our social world what we
make it ourselves. The selfish and
coId-hearted viii ever find selfShness
and GOODNESS in others: the proud viii be
treated haughtily, the angry and passion
ate will receive rudeness and violence,
and those who dishOnOr Themselves
will be dishonOred By others. But So
cietv to the good the gentle and
+ba benevolent. is different. Their eN-
amuIe wins others to similar virtues
and develops the germs Of good, which,
though they may be hidden, yet exist
in every heart. From q mans estimate
( Of society as q whole, We may gain q
very fair knowledge Of his own chaTac-
ter. for as he Is, so VIII others appear to
him. To the pure all things are pure
/ because their purity, like the magnet
attracts the same quality in Others
while the heart that is itself estTanged
from virtue, can find none elsewhere.
Equally true, is it, that our world OF
circumstances and events is what we
. ourselves nakeit. The luNuTics OfWealth
the triumphs OF success, the scin-
tilIati0ns of genius, and even the bless
ings OfheaIth, may be converted into
bitter evils if the well springs OF nature
. are corrupt; while the severcst trials and
. temptations Of nature can, to 4 pure and
noble heart, be changed into blessings.
The power Of trial does not reside in it.
self, but in our ieeblencss to resist or en-
dure it.
Every temptation resisted purifies and
eIevates the heart, and every suffering
rightly borne, strengthens our nature.
Business life seems to dry up some ma
lures, and lead them away from higher
things: while in others it creates viTtu-
GUS Independence, manliness and integ-
Titv. Pleasure to one proves q poison
Gus draught, while to another it is 2
heaIthful refreshmGut. Thus life IS what
we make it. It is not made up, in It's
intrinsic nature, OF the material world
nor of the society in which we move,
nor of the external circumstances which
surround Us. It is our own internal
character that mOulds and fashions all
these outward things, and extracts from
them the bitter or the sweet that best
/ assimiIates with itself. These outward
circumstances contain the essence of
both happiness and miseTy-bOth good
and evil. Happy is the person who can
extract the sweet and leave the bitter
who can develop the good and eEtin-
guish the evil. As q chemist works up
/ the element into the desired condition,
and obtains fresh knowledge from all
the difficulties they exhibit, so in the
moral, everything external may be re-
solved into good by the patient effort OF
man, and all that seems most adverse
may be overcome or endured so rs to
prove a greater blessing than the most
apparently favorable events.
This view of life will lead US to put a
iuster estimate upon complaints which
are so rife among all. Iflife is whatwe
make it, we must look within and not
without, for the sources of discomfort.
We complain of society, of circumstan-
ces, of everything external, but in a
most literal sense, they are all what We
make them. In proportion as we are
/ industrious and viTtuOus shall be honor
ed and rewarded; in proportion as we
are lovely, we shall be beloved; and
even in the most trying situations, and
| the sOrest trials, the main point as to the
| severity is the spirit in which they are
received. Patient, faithful endeavOT
never results in continued mhappiness,
and is never ultimately unsuccessful.
| Misery chiefly arises from insufficient
effort, and consequent iII-success. If,
then, we should find life good, we must
! fill our hearts with goodness; if we
would have the world shine brightly
upon us, we must kind.e n light in our
own souls and cause it to shed 4 Tadi-
/ ence on all aroud.-[Georgc W. Childs.