The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1902-11-27

J HEN We take an unbiased,
wv earnest look into our
Y Y hearts; when We scrutinize
and weigh the SUM total
of our experiences in the past; when
we realize that in spite of the many
disappointments, illusions. heartaches,
etc, that fall to the lot of all men, there
have, nevertheless, been times when
we experienced feelings of genuine
happiness, or the joyfulness of exist
ence; and remembering such moments,
and drawing the right lessons from
opf experiences, it seems every right
thinking individual, male or female, if
perfectly honest with him or herself,
must conceds that he or she has seen,
hoard, felt, or enjoyed many things
that have made life worth the living,
and that therefore we should cultivate
in us the spirit of thankfulness. (The
reader is requested to lay aside the
paper, and take five minutes rest in
order to give the seed of thankfulness
a chance to sprout, bud, blossom, and
bring forth fruit. If five minutes is
insufficient to bring about the much
desired state of mind resulting from
the proper cultivation of the spirit of
thankfulness, take five hours, or if
necessary five years, but don't give up
until you succeed. For if ever you
reach that division in your existence in
which, while passing through it, you
can truthfully assert you have nothing
to be thankful for, it is.time for you
to hunt the happy hunting grounds.
Don't delay. Take any old road. The
shorter the better. You're nuisance!
You infect the atmosphere! Heraus
NIT DichD
But why should we be thankful? !?
First of all, because we are living
'Tis better to be alive in a dungeon than
to be dead in palace. The average
able-bodied and able-minded man finds
pleasure in living no matter where he
is. The truth in this chunk of wisdom
is so self-evident that even blind man
can discover it without the aid of a
microscope. Live, and be happy! Be
happy because you are living! Let
your mind-be free, even if that "muddy
vesture of decay" in which the mind
resides is forced to yield to restrictions
And remember while there is life there
is hope. Have we taken few steps
in the wrong direction? Right-about,
face! Forward march! Left-left-left
left-left-Halt! Now carefully survey
the ground and try to re-discover the
trail that leads to the Elysian fields,
the abode of the blest! What! You
can't find the trail? The path has
been obliterated? Well, make an
earnest endeavor to find it, and if you
happen to break your neck while
searching for it you will die death
more glorious than any soldier who
seeks ''the bubble, reputation, cen at
the cannon's mouth"
Have we friends who would be glad
to have us with them that we might
offer up our thanks together? Are
there loving hearts that still remem-
ber us? If so, and we fail to be CRATE
full, sincerely thankful, we are brutes!
It's no use to mince matters. Let us
be truthful that we may he useful. He
who does n0tsappreciate friend that
'sticketh closer than a brother" is we'll
nigh past redemption! He who, while
in this place of isolation, receives a
cheering, hope inspiring word from a
true, disinterested friend, and feels not
life's exultant stream flow faster, or
who feels not the spirit of thankful
ness expand within him may be a de-
scendant of some arboreal, quadruma-
nous, quasi-human progenitor, but he
falls short a few degrees of being a
MAN! Down on your knees! off you
have friend that's true" be thankful,
because one of the greatest blessings
the gods vouchsafe to any mortal, is
yours.
Let us not forget to be thankful that
"things amt as bad as they might have
been." Every one confined in this ine
stitution can say, and most likely can
truthfully say, that he or she has seen
better days. But let the light of truth