The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1896-07-30

MIN NESOIA, IHU RODAY, y
ficult to uproot when formed than
habits of action, however silently and
secretly they grow, and they are the
upon which all character
and all life are built.
The habits which the mind gradu-
ally acquires are multitudinous. The
thoughts of one man will be vague,
loose and desultory; those of another
clear, concentrated and to the purpose;
one will think mainly of luxuries and
pleasure, another of duty and effort.
There are thoughts of excellence and
thoughts of Sinking, thoughts of self
ish schemes and of generous plans,
thoughts of what we shall be and
thoughts of how we shall appear,
though they come and 60, cross and in
termingle, yet those which are cher
ished pertinaciously come at length to
assert themselves as masters of the
field. Among those which deserve to
be thus welcomed and nourished, yet
which seldom receive such attention,
is the habit of happy thought By this
we do not mean the exclusive contem-
plation of pleasant things or the avoid
ance of all that may be hard and sad,
but rather the sunny outlook upon life
in its many phases and details. This
is doubtless largely temperamental.
Some persons naturally seek the sun
light, while others as instinctively enter
the shadows. Yet each tendency may
be increased by yielding to it or dimin-
ished by resisting it; and the habit of
happy or of gloomy thought is quite as
much the result of continual exercise
as of innate bias.
There is scarcely anything in life
which may not be viewed in both these
ways, from the pettiest affairs of an
ordinary day up to the most profound
philosophy, which is either optimistic
or pessimistic. TO one man beauti-
full day, that thrills the world with joy,
only suggests the thought that some
where rain IS needed; to the other the
same reflection occurs only consola-
ton for the disappointment caused by
a storm. Every event that happens
every person we meet, every book we
read, every task we perform, every
truth we discover, has pleasant and
less pleasant side, and the choices are
continually before us as to which we
, will emphasize. Mr.. O. S. Marden, in
his "Architects of Fate,' says: "If one
loves beauty and looks for it, he viii
see it everywhere. If there is music il
his soul, he will hear it everywhere
every object in nature will sing to him
Two men who live in the same house
and do the same work, may not live il
the same world. Although they ar
under the same roof, one may see onl.
E deformity and ugliness; to him tn
+, world is out of joint, everything i
+ cross-grained and out of sorts. Tn
: other is surrounded with beauty ant
Q harmony; everybody is kind to him
Q nobody wishes him harm. Thes
= men see the same objects, bu
+ they do not look through the sam
:, glasses, one looks through a smoke
Q glass, which drapes the whole world i
It mourning; the other looks throug
rose.colored lenses, which tint every
l. thing with loveliness and touch it wit
y beauty, X Give me the ma
n who, like Emerson, sees longevity i
t. his cause and who believes there is
It remedy for every wrong, satisfactio
l. for every longing soul; the man wh
l. believes the best of everybody, an
l. who sees beauty and loveliness whel
ID others see ugliness. Give me the ma
N who believes in the ultimate triumI
D. of truth over error, of harmony ov'
re discord, of love over hate, of purit
I'd over vice, of light over darkness,
c. life over death. Such men are Il
vi nation. builders
9y This habit of happy thought is n
in to be obtained by any selfish desire f
it happiness, no matter how full SUI
r. desires may be fulfilled. It is som
is thing quite independent of riches
IN fame, or power or pleasure. Th
of may accompany it, but can never pr
if duce it. Byron uttered the truth VIII