The Saint Paul globe., 1905-02-21
YOU MUST LOVE
YOUR MOTHER-IN-LAW
Look for Good in People and
Their Faults Will Gradually
Disappear

If you want to look at the bright side
of things and enjoy life, you must love
your mother-in-law. This advice is
not aimed at anybody or any sex, but
indiscriminately to people in general.
Now l hope no one will write and ask
me what the unfortunate folk are to
do who have no mother-in-law, for
should not know what to say in reply.
Really / do not see what they are to
Go, for some of them are misguided
enough to believe that one of the ad
vantageS of single blessedness is the
freedom from a mother-in-iaw. But il
happiness depends upon her, the the
ory is considerably knocked out and
the possession of a motherin- is
the one thing desirable. What led me
to the belief that an in-law' is neces
sary to ones we'll being was a head
line in New York paper which read
as if life would be one long beautiful
dream when amicable relations are es-
tablished with the relative in question.
But like many other articles, the body
of it did not bear much relation to the
headlines, and l discovered by further
perusal that the motherin-law story
was not exactly what one had been
led to expect.
woman somewhere went to a ply
sician and informed him she was
physical wreck because of the nagging
and eXactiOnS of her mother-in- law,
and as she could not get rid of the
lady she wanted a tonic or something
in the way of medicine to counteract
the effect of the treatment referred to.
The physician only said: GO home
and love your mother-in-law and come
back to me In three MONTHS
The woman thought this very foolish,
but finally decided to follow his advice.
In six weeks she returned, feeling
very well and informed the doctor that
her mother-in-law was SO perfectly
lovely that she had to come back to
tell him about it. This story was told
by a woman at a club meeting to prove
an assertion that we can make our
lives what we please and that our own
mental attitude does it ALL "The
meanest relative you have on earth
Will become lovely IL you only look
for his or her loveliness," said the
woman who told the mother-fn-law
story. She declared further that un-
happiness was bad habit and a weak
ness, sort of luxury with some per-
sons. There is truth in what that wom-
an asserted. We have all known wom-
en- of whom it could be said that they
enjoyed poor health Just so a sorrow
seems necessary to the well being of
some women.
The woman who spoke to the club
appears to believe that the world is
lovely if we will only think it so. Very
excellent philosophy to preach and to
believe if one can. and there is much to
prove it. The habit of looking for
good in everybody is the very best
kind of habit to form. and Will help
a great deal as we go through life.
Likes and dislikes are curious things.
Sometimes they are almost involun-
RI ha
tlpathy for a certain person, while for
another a natural liking. IT is not al
ways possible to overcome these an
tipathies, and If circumstances are
such that persons we dislike can be
avoided and let alone, they disturb our
lives but little. But if you find your
self detesting some one who comes in
daily contact with you, then 1t is well
to look for the good in that person and
try TO overcome your dislike. There
are those-and good haters they are
who cannot see spark of good or a
decent trait in those they do not like.
On the other hand the man who hates
SO intensely will also love as ardently,
and fails to see fault in his friends.
This cannot be called a thoroughly well
balanced character. For we will find
much good in those we do not like and
those we love the best are but human
and may possess qualities which are
Aot otti dCll"e' bul IL you ma your
self placed as was the woman men
toned above, with an uncongenial
mother-inlaw. the only thing to do is
to look for the good in her and ignore
ways that may be unpleasant 1t
might be that that mother-in-law had
her side of the case, and undoubtedly
did, and who knows that she had not
called in a physician to quiet her
nerves. little introspection at times
will show us that we may be hard to
get along with and the fault is not
always with the other person.
n