The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1907-09-04
Helm Him to Decide.

Held Him to Decide.
A great many young men act as II they ala
M, know what 10 40 with themselves. They
se.m moi 10 have solved The vital question:
Why they are here ana what they ARE here
Tor.
Most boys have good homes and indulgent
parenLs. Inc responsibilities OF lille rest
nightly on lnem, and so they DRIFT along
where the CURRENT takes them without hold
ing u helm or Watching u rudder.
The msjurlLy vi Doys 30 " school, study The
grades without knowing just why they DO so.
The purpose III view seeIns 10 he merely 10
get through, 10 nnish, and get u certlncate
The"Why" VI II all never enters their minds
once, and sometimes, SAD ~ say, IL Is Inc
teachers fault, but more commonly IL IL tne
fault OF the lislless, lazy lie Inc boy IL living.
How much more couId he accomplished II
each boy could make up his mind while ne ID
IN the grades what he IL going 10 90, and
from that time On bend every energy anu
every resource 10 the consultation VI that
purpose!
A boy living without q purpose is q ship
without q ruddsr. Neither will reach q port
unless by accident.
The fhlher who says he 10 going 10 make d
lawyer or a doctor or a merchant or a man OF
any profession out OF his son without con.
sulting the natural bent and the Unborn In
clinatlons Of that son eckons without bis
host. 1t is a question the father cannot sell
tie. The father can help and advise but 1t ID
for the boy 10 say what his life work shall
be.
1t takes some men a lifetime to determine
what work they are best fitted for, n when
they look back over their past, their lives
look TO them like q rail fence over rough
country. zlgzsging, from Job 10 job in which
every calling takes q part from fence build.
ing 10 finance. Some philosopher will say
that such q life was this mans fate, that this
piece meal existence could not be helped,
mere fate. And SO 1t is fate, but the Al.
mighty has given man free agency to make
his own fate.
When you see q man who has lived a crazy
quilt OF q life, made up Of scraps of all kinds
and characters you msy know that irresolu-
ton has been his sheboleth.
The boy should make up his mind what he
10 best fitted for and 60 at IT,. 1t is hard TO do
sometimes but there will be harder things in
life unless this 10 done.
One thing is certain, DO one can succeed be-
yond his faith. Should You think that you
might possibly succeed at q thing you may be
sure you will make q dismsl failure. Should
you feel that You can and are determined to
doa certain thing you are sure to succeed. >
It is just as difficult for q boy to make q sue
cess In life when he Is without ambition and
q guiding star as 1t is for an architect to build
ahouRe without q plan.
When a boy should make up bis mind as TO
what he is going to do is a quantity under the
radical. One thing, however, is certain, 1t
ought to be done and at the earliest possible
moment. Times hour glass never stops and
the Scythe' Is ever sharp.
Help the boy make up his mind. Let him
determine what field he will enter and then
bend every energy to prepare him for 1t. You
csn do no more, the rest is with the boy.
There-are consultations In the heavens that
make their rounds by ordered laws. They
ply their course through ethereal sxpanse BY
the paths marked out for them with mathe-
NAUTICAL exactness. There are other wander.
ers Of the heavens that have no course. stars
that fly through space without an orbit.
Such ore soou chusnt III Inc htInoePuote W
some flying sun or world and burned to
blackness. The analogy holds.
What more pitiful picture ever presents IL
self to us than that of the man for whom the
shadows are frightening over the hills and,
on whom the frost Of age ia fast falling when
gathering up the broken threads Of his life
he finds them full of fault and failure7 What
more touching than when the feeble. shakey
hand Sits the ashes of existence for some
nugget OF worth only 10 find the dust OF dead
opportunities? J.
The boy has only one life to live and 1t is
hard TO reslizs.this In youth. The boy should
be taught 1t and urged to make the most OF
bis opportunity while: o~pportunity's fore
lock Is to the front.
Help him to decide.