The Western advance. [volume] (Worthington, Minn.) 1872-1874, 1874-09-05
The Misery Of Nothing to Do.

The Misery Of Nothing to Do.
We have taken occasion during the |
heated term to suggest that one of the !
best defenses against the discomforts &C. |
casioned by the weather is to keep too |
busy to think about it, The same sug- |
gestiOn may be made in reference to pro-
lection against many other ills beside |
those produced by the weather. The gen.
eral inclination is to think of work as a |
curse, and to long for freedom from it. |
This is as grand mistake as ever was |
made. There is no ill Of the vast brood |
to which flesh is heir which is not a |
worse i'll to those who have nothing to
do than to any other class. |
A large share of the troubles of this |
world are borrowed. Those which are
expected never come, though the expec-
tation makes them about as real and
hard to bear as if they did come. Those
which are not expected are the ones
which do really come. The busy man,
he who has head and hands full, has very
little time to peer into the future, except
at nighttime, and he is too tired and
sleepy to do much. of it then. So the
busy man comes upon his trial, or the
trials come upon him, without the agony
of anticipation. 1t is like having tooth
suddenly and unexpectedly knocked out.
soon over, and is not half as bad as lying
awake Ill night with the toothaChe and
the dread of the cold steel, and, when
morning comes, dragging ones self to the
dentists office, and deliberately, though
reluctantly, mounting the chair. The
busy man, who has no time to borrow
trouble, gets rid of large portion of the
pain he would suffer if he were not busy,
and those troubles which do actually
come arc not half as hard to bear as they
would be if he had long looked for and
expected them.
AS with troubles in the future, so with
those which are passed No greater
blessing can bc given man or woman
who has lost friends, property, or what
ever else it is painful to part with, than
something to do. Not only something,
but all that can possibly he done; some
thing which demands constant thought
and labor. And no more prolific source
of pain can be found for the afflicted
than nothing to do. Such live their
troubles over and over again, much as
an OK will spend the hours in chewing
the cud gathered and swallowed once,
though the OK has the advantage of a
sweet cud, while troubles lived over are
bitter. 1t seems a little hard to brush
away the tears and take up promptly the
old cares and labors after the dead are
laid aside, or after the debris from some
wreck has been cleared away But
PEELED to do it. 1t takes away half the
agony of a painful loss.
Not few of the physical ills to which
HpSh "a roc,11t of
do, or, at least, are made worse thereby.
1t matters little what pain we have, if we
are not conscious of it, if such an ex-
preston may be allowed. With bodies
as full OF sensations as are those of most
OF us, there is plenty to give us uneasi-
ness If we sit down to think of them.
Those who have little or no work to busy
themselves about have full time to note
each ache and pain, and to cultivate it,
no matter how young and tender, to q
full-grown one There are hosts Of peo.
pie who would feel very badly if thew
only had time to think how they feel,
AS it is, they don't know that they have
a headache or backache or any other
kind of ache till they stop work. And
often it is the case that the ache becomes
indignant at waiting so long for recognl-
ton and leaves before it is recognized
at all: 1t is good thing to slight these
unwelcomc visitors, and it can be done
with the best grace when one is busy
II these ills arc courted and pcttcd they
come to stay, and finally come to be con-
slant and most uncomfortable cOmpan
ions. No small share of the sickness of
avery large class of people would be
avoided altogether if they had some &C.
cupation demanding attention and effort
Besides having time to think about their
symptoms, and thus making them worse
by the peculiar influence of the mind
over the body, they also have time to
begin doctoring, which often is the
worst thing that can be done. 1t is
serious question whether more diseases
are not created or aggravated by the
doses Of medicine that people pour down
their threats than are cured or alleviated
thereby. Physicians arc most useful
members of society They would be
more useful if they had the courage to
brave the displeasure of their patients
by telling them they do not need medi-
Cines when such is the case. Medicines.
100, are useful at proper times and in
proper places. The best place for half
that which people take, however, is in
the slopbucket or out of the window.
The man who is too busy to take medi-
cine is often great gamer thereby, es-
pcclally If he will exercise little COM
mon sense and denial in reference to his
diet and his habits generally. Occupa-
ton is the best doctor for people with
little to do
How it may have been with Adam we
DO not pretend to say; neither will we
theorize upon how it might have been
with his descendants if he and his wife
had not tasted forbidden frn;t. lnt oe -
is, work saves the sons and daughters of
this ancient pair from many Ills thew
otherwise would suffer, and, while some
are ovcrworkcd and worked to death,
there are not few who would be hap.
pier, more healthy and live longer if
they had more to do. Charles Lamb
once said, "The best thing a man can
have to do is-nothing. And next to
this, good works, perhaps" But after
trying it a year or two he changed his
tune and wrote, "Overwork is better
than no ork."-Terre Haute (Ind.) NaSl,