Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1895-07-24
Causes for Unbappiness.

1t was an optimistic old philosopher
who said, There is no such thing as
trouble; it all depends on the way you
look at it." There is so much of cheer
full pessimism in philosophy that the
statement about trouble shines like a
jewel in a handful of grain. There is
such a delightful touch of the imper-
sonal about it that we know at once he
meant other peoples troubles. When
funeral train calls up no regretful
memory we can count the carriages
with optimistic cheer that would hard
ly pass for genuine sympathy. How
ever, the trouble" theory of the sage
holds, because trouble isn't SORROW
Trouble is immersion in littlenesses. !"
An old Latin sage gives it in those
words. Troubles are more often sub
jective than objective, .. e., they
dominate in the mind of the one af-
fiicted with them, and are not the re-
suit of environment as much as we may
imagine.
There should by rights be moral laws
and legislation in favor of happiness.
In the days of John Calvin and John
Mather Austin there was a fashion of
writing books on morals. Those books
still exist, but we have outlived their
teachings. The sentiments are al!
right, but they are not dished up with
the right kind of seasoning. There is
a rawness about morals as they were
hurled about by those well-meaning
literary lights that excites derlsion in
the present age. Realism belongs to
the hour and a moral has to be sugar
coated and hidden in the jam tart of
cleverness to get itself taken into the
system nowadays. The playwright
knows better than to stamp his moral
on the drop-curtain. Now, if there are
such we'll defned, negative rules relat-
ing to morals, why not have positive
rules adapted to the times? Suppose
some one was sent .canvassing from
door to door, like the census-taker,
for causes of unhappiness. No names
need to be mentioned, but all testi-
mOny could be entered in a book and
then later the whole result could be
submitted to committee and eventu-
ally the decisions could be issued in
book form and make tolerably inter-
esting reading. We all thirst for the
realistic and we all like object-lessons,
and in the book referred to we would
doubtless find our own cases duplicated
on every page. Everybody's unhappi-
ness naturally hinges on some one else.
A little scheme carried out by teacher
in one of our public schools would seem
to illustrate the point about the odious
''some one else" When a juvenile
plaintiff comes to her with tale of
woe about what ''he did" and what
The said" she quietly turns the tables
by saying, Never mind what he did,
tell me what you did"
The unhappiness that intrudes itself
upon so many homes, that surcharges
the very atmosphere with it's mighty
presence, may be resolved into
problem that will lead itself to solution
if attacked with fractional part of
the zeal that enters into other and
minor problems. Unhappiness in the
home arises from lack of harmony,
from creating an unfavorable environ
ment, from the absence of the power
of adjustment; in short, it is built
upon a foundation of troubles-things
that exist mainly in the Imagination.
The black spot in your sunlight is only
your own shadow after all. Carlyle
said that last. 1t is worth considering.
Bait. Sun.