Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1889-02-06
The JOY of Pursuit.

1t Is natural for man to be always
looking forward to something beyond
the present, hoping for something he
does not possess, expecting something
that has not yet appeared, pursuing
something that is not yet attained.
Naturally, too. happiness seems to him
to be centred in this future attainment
or possession. He is always going to
be happy bye-and-bye, when this or
that hope IS realized. Meantime he is
content to labor and strive for 1t. and
endure as patiently as may be the pres
ent hard work or self-denIal in the an
ticipation Of what Is 10 come. Pope
says truly:
Hope springs ct ernal in the human breast
Man never is, but always TO Dc blest.'
Yet, whatever pleasure may reason
ably be attached to success, there is a
still greater and far more lasting one
connected with pursuit. Every one
with normal abilities is striving for
something, and it is in this very stTiv-
ing that he gains the most real happi-
ness. This is seldom realized. The
sportsman will probably admit it.
Whatever be the pleasure with which
he bags his game, he knows it is not
for its own value chiefly, but for the
excitement of the chase, that he has
followed and taken il. The same may
be said of all amusements, without fear
of dissent. The success lies not merely
in any point to be attained at the last,
but in the interest and enjoyment of
the whole, as it goes on. The means
and the end are the same. But when
1t comes to the serious business of life,
most persons would scorn the idea that
IL ls IN the pursuit more than in the
objects pursued that his welfare is TO
be found. 1t is the wealth, the hon
cradle name, the official station, the
public tribute of applause, the well
done," either from the lips of others or
IN secret consciousness, which seems TO
people to contain the essence of happi-
ness. 1t is when the physician has
cured his patient, when the lawyer has
won his case, when the architect has
finished his structure, and the artist
has put the last touches to his beloved
picture, that each concelves his plea
sure must begin. And those who toll
chiefly or only for the livelihood it af-
fords them, or for the comfort of their
| families, or for the pleasures of ac-
cumulation, would, perhaps, most CT
| all resent the idea that their happiness
lay more in the pursuit than in the at
tainment OF these things. Only when
they receive their daily or weekly
pages, their monthly or quarterly
salary, when they spend what they
have earned, or put it into some safe
! investment or promising speculation,
do they imagine themselves really
! happy; and were these motives with
| drawn many would lay down their in
struments of toll forever.
Now all these things DO bring much
concentrated pleasure, more or less in
| tense according to the strength OF the
desire thus gratifled. Yet the activity,
! the energy, the striving, the very toll
Itself which has led TO these results,
are more essential to the true and per-
manent happiness of the toiler than the
prizes which he so eagerly grasps. No
other proof of this would be needed
than the experiment (were it posslblel
of gathering these prizes without the
preceding effort. Speedily would they
I lose all their preciousness. partly be-
cause the unused faculties had infused
their dullness into the whole nature.
! If diamonds were always under our
feet We should soon cease picking them
up, and II the prizes of life were to be
had for the asking, the time would soon
come when they would be no longer
asked for. 1t is great mistake to
| imagine that success without effort
Will ever make man or woman happy.
| What we cease to strive for ceases to
be success, and gradually becomes
| more and NOSE worthless. Suppose
the same wages to be paid for nothing
that are now rendered for skill ana
energy and perseyering work; or the
same applause to be showeTed on the
mere triher that is now given to the
public benefactor, could they possibly
kindle the same joy in the heart of the
receiver that they now dop They
would mean nothing, stand for nothing
and in a short time would be nothing.
| Mol 1t is the pursuit which gives all
the Zest to life, the toll, the energy, the
perseverance, the endeavor that bring
the Joy both in 1t and after ii. These
strengthen the faculties, whet the de-
sires, invlgorate the whole nature and
make happiness possible Without
them we should sink into the hopeless
misery or inertia. No failure, no ad-
versity can be half so disastrous as the
ennuI, the discomfort and the vacuity
of the idler.
We all need to honor our daily pur-
suits more than we do-to realize that
if we follow them honestly and earn
estly their best results can never be
taken from us. This would take the
sting out OF much that we call failure.
No one who has done his best can ever
wholly fail. He has that stored up
within HIM which is of more value
than many transient successes. If, rs
as Byron tells US, They never fail W.
die in a great cause" certain 1t is th@'
they too never fail who lire in the
energetic and persevering pursuit ol
whatever is good, or true, or useful tc
| mankind.