Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1901-05-28
BE HAPPY.

q solicited. Address: Editor HOHxAAKHRs'
COLUMN. Oxford Democrat, Paris. Maine
BE HAPPY.
Many people-perhaps it would be
we'll to say the majority of people-lose
sight of the fact that to be happy is o
duty which can no more be shirked with
impunity than any other duty. We have
come to think, in way, that happiness
is q something that should come to us
independently of our own action, and II
it does not come and precipitate itself
about us we feel aggrieved and misused
of fate. But most of US acknowledge
that other blessings do not come without
some effort on our part; why, then,
should we demand this one? Again,
why, when some one has achieved this,
when, by good humor, patience and
earnestness, some friend has reached
this haven of restful content, should we
assume that he has made no effort to at
tain it, and lugubriously announce our
envy of his condition, as If, forsooth, it
was simply the result of "luck," or a
special interpOsition of Providence in
his favor? 1t is true that temperament
has much to do with it. 1t is true that
certain natures can easier arrive at the
desired end, but it is also true that the
duty of cheerfulness Involves no rebate
because of difficulties of temperament
or surroundings. Thieving and lying
or any other gross immortality is not ex-
cused on the ground of temperament or
even environment. The world recog-
nizes the necessity of honesty and truth
fulness, of individuals as parts of the
whole, and demands it, admitting no ex-
tenuation of predisposition or prenatal
bias. Why, then, should the natural
misanthrope claim immunity, when
Sinking his duty to contribute to the
general cheerfulness, on the ground that
it is harder for him than for some Others,
when such excuse is not granted in the
case of other sins against the body
polite? The legal code makes no dis
tinction in those sins we call crimes, and
why should social law, though unwrit-
ten, be ignored, to crafty the selfishness
of an individual? Cheerfulness is an ele-
ment of the comfort and well-being OF
the whole community, beginning with
the individual, widening into the home,
and thence into the soc al and business
world. The man or woman WHO'S cross,
Respondent or irritable is moral crimi-
nal, whether the cause be an unmatched
temper or dyspepsia, and it must be one
or the other. On the other hand, the
brave spirit which keeps up good nature
and outward cheerfuiness is blessing
to every household and every commun-
ity. It's no kind of use to say you can
be cheerful under such and such cir
cumstances. You can!
You've no more right to go about with
lugubrious face and mOurnful whine,
carrying shadow or discomfort into other
peoples lives, than you have to add to
their discomfort in any more tangible
way, or, as the lawyers say, by some
overt act. Other people have right to
sunshine, and you've no right to stand
in their light. 1 know all the argu-
ments about sorrows, and trials and mis-
fortunes. But everybody has them. If
yours seem greater to you than other
peoples, it is only because you have
looked at them from your standpoint. !
venture to assert no one OF you would
willingly change with many of your &C
quaintances, even with the few trials
which you know they have, to say moth
ing of those you know nothing about.
In many cases the bright, CHEEKY side OF
some nature that you see is more bright
and CHEEKY because of the conscious ef-
fort to overcome the pressure of un-
satisfying environment or ever-present
misfortune. People whose lives are
fairly even often do not think to be
cheerful, but are SO, because there is lit
tie temptation to be otherwise. But
people who feel the heavy hand of sOr-
row and disappointment find it necessary
| to make an effort to ride abe$e the tide
that threatens to engulf them, and in
that effort become so CHEEKY that it is
observed, and then shallow people won.
der at them.
1t is an accepted fact that the world
does not like long-facedness. Hence,
from a selfish standpoint, cheerfulness
is to be commended. But there is an
ethical side to the question. Whatever
your own opinion, desire or nature may
favor, you are morally bound to add to,
or at least, if you prefer the negative
side, not to detract from, the happiness
of others. That everybody has the right
to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of hap.
piness" is the old formula. Then, il
everybody has the right to go in pursuit
of happiness, you have no right to place
any obstacle in the way of that pursuit
And to set yourself as melancholy
statue right in somebody's path is
equivalent to doing this.
But it is not sufficient to be negatively
happy. 1t is incumbent on every human
being to do something for the worlds
good, and cheerfulness, good humor and
courtesy are each active properties tend.
ing toward this result. Each individual
| is under moral obligation to achieve as
much happiness as possible, in order to
add that much to the aggregate OF
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