The Newberry herald and news. (Newberry, S.C.) 1884-1903, 1894-07-18
Life Is What You Make 1t.

Mr.. Editor: We have been thinking,
yes, thinking all the day long, and as
we thought we wondered in our minds
if the hot weather would melt US, and
just as we would decide that melt we
must, oh!.what a cool breeze from off
the mountain top would gently fan our
brow and then we would feel that it
was not quite as hot as we thought.
But some times we wonder how it is
that you town people don't melt be-
tween those brick walls where you are
bid from this mountain breeze and get
nothing but the hot sun rays. We
guess its because you get the ice cream
while we get the breeze. But, Mr..
Editor, this has not been the only sub
iect of our thoughts to-day. Our
thoughts have kinder wandered round
as we painted and sighed for another
breeze, until we struck tremendous
thought, one that makes US wonder
how it is that all people are not happy.
That's been the subject of our thoughts
all day long, and the only conclusion
that we have reached on the subject is
the one that we have CLEANED from the
fields by years of past experience.
Men are not happy because they will
it so. They murmur and fret their
lives away when they could be happy
if they would. We have learned by
y ears of experience that life is just
what we choose to make it. Now We
don't mean by this to convey the idea
to your mind that men must not neces-
sarily have adversities, and at times
have their visions clouded by the soE-
rows Of this life, for we do believe that
the good Lord never intended man in
his fallen state to be perfectly happy
and have no sorrows. For if this were
the case we would make no effort to
reach our heavenly home. And besides
this, if we had no sorrows in this life
we could Lot, in our depraved state,
enjoy as fully the happiness that we
gather through life as we DO. So that
the sorrows and crosses Of this life tend
in a great measure to prepare US for a
fuller enjoyment of the happiness that
it is our privilege to CLEAN from the
fields of this life as we pass on to the life
beyond the skies. But we must not
let the sorrow rob US of all the sweets,
so that we look only for thorns and
thistles and forget the pleasures that
cluster around them. There Is no sor-
row in this life that is not more than
counter-balanced 10y happiness if we
only choose to search for it. So we
state that life is what we choose to
make it. It's ours to gather wild roses
that have been scattered by the hand
of God among the thorns and thistles,
but if we choose we can gather all
thorns and no roses. So, then, we
should be careful as we pluck the roses
that we leave the tborns. Some peo-
pie gather thorns and thistles all their
lives because they choose to do it. and
then complain that their lot in life has
been that of sadness because it was 80
decreed at first that they should not
CLEAN in fields of roses. But let US all
remember that God has strewn all of
our fields in this life with roses and if
we fail to find the roses it's because we
are satisfied with the thorns and this
ties. Then We should hunt for the
roses that are scattered among the
thorns, and if by chance We should
pluck thorn with our rose, remember
the sweetest rose has its thorns.
Thus we may spend our lives in gath
ering roses or in gathering thorns.
But if we strive to gather only roses we
are sure to have plenty of thorns.
"RUsTICUs."