River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1889-02-14
cow TO BE Happy.
A Mental Condition TO BE Nurtureo H"o
Fostered by Every Body.

A Mental Condition 70 BE Nurtureo sno
FOstered by Every Body
Within certain limits happiness Is
subject to the viii, and TO be happy is'
therefore, a duty.
OF course, there are mental temper
aments to which the sadder aspects OF
life are first to present themselves, as
there are temperaments which array
the world in rose coloas- 1t Is not to
be expected that the bilious man and
the confirmed dyspeptic will overflow
with the high spirits of the bon-vivant-
But il IS within the power of the VIII
amid the greatest sorrows 10 draw
upon a reserve fund OF happiness-h
one has such a reserve fund-and thus
at once moderate sorrows and glFe
them an enBobling character
In what, then, consists the reserve
fund, and what is its source? II must
evidently be OF a different quality[rom
that happiness which is an affair Of
temperament. Being held apart and
in reserve. il can not be affected by
the ups and downs. the haps ana mis-
haps Of life.
Ii consists primarily in the faith that
amid all the shows of the world there
Is some in-resident power that makes
fer good.
This faith is not one Of those beliefs
which are determined by evidence o.
7 logical demonstration. It's an affirIua-
ton Of the will.
+ The ease stands thus: Either there Is
such a power that makes forgood-cali
I it by what name you will or leave il
nameless-cither there is such power
or the world is ruin. or disorganized
mass. its law and beauty an illusion.
and your own personality an unsub-
stantial nothing.
+ Now. there is no valid argument.
metaphysical. theological or scientific
+ by which the former Of these alterna-
tives may be proved. There is not end
can not be. You may search for it
through all the ages-in vain!
The faith in it is an exercise Of the
will. Ii is involved in that primary
assertion of the will am" it IS IA
/ part of that primary unrehecting faith
/ in the substantially OF the world.
Being an exercise OF the will this
faith may be weak or strong: it may be
. obscured; It may be ostcnsibly rejected,
though. 50 long as reason preservesi it
sanity. it can not be worked out of tho
mind. 1t is there, and we constantly
rocur TO il as the starting point Of all
thought and action, however much
we may seek to evade It or deny il.
II is this faith, we say, that cOnsti-
tutes that reserve fund of happiness
from which one may draw in all tho
ills Of life. That the fund may be full
to OVERLOOKING is then the great desid-
eratum. How is the fund 10 be in
creased?
By recurrence to its source-the will.
We must will 10 be happy. Happiness
IS life, force, creativity. ami
these words do not mean happiness, a
happiness overriding all the changes
and enlightening the shadows OF tho
world. then they mean nothing, arc
but hollow reverberations.
Happiness Is thus a cult kind OF
worship, condition to be nurtured.
fOstered, encouraged. developed.
Will TO DC happy. The exercise il
appropriate to Ill seasons, but Is es-
peciclly appropriate to that holiday
season which we have just passed.
when. by common consent, it Is tho
special business OF men, womcn-and
children of course to be happy.
We help one another in willing 10y
all willing the same thing. Hence the
use of holidays conspire together
to be happy, and we thus strengthen
and enlarge our life for all good ends
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