The Harrison times., 1908-10-17
The Difference in Men.

During the depression in the life In
suranco business following the legis.
latiye exposures concerning it, when
a great many insurance agents be-
came discouraged and went out OF
/ business, and while others were hang
ing on the ragged edge, barely exist
ing, a branch manager Of one of the
/ large insurance companies shut his
| teeth, clenched mis- fists and resolved
that he was going 10 beat his biggest
| record.
/ The result was that during the most
/ discouraging year in the history Of
modern life insurance, this young man
| quadrupled the best record he had
ever made. This is what grit did.
He thought he had worked hard be-
fore, but his unprecedented record
when he put forth all of his efforts
shows what a man can do when dom.
mated by a mighty purpose-one un-
wayering aim.
If Mr.. Wake had said to himself,
as many others did during this his
toric slump" "NoW, the situation
looks pretty bad, but I'm going to
buckle down to it and do my best"
he would have done fairly well, no
doubt But his grim resolve to do
better than he had ever done before,
regardless of the hard times and the
dark outlook, Quadrupled his power Of
| achievement.
Nothing else stimulates us like the
spur of great resolution to do some
definite some particular thing.
To have merely an understanding
with ourselves that we are going to
do our level best is not enough, To
do the best thing possible to us we
must have a great aim a mighty pur-
pose, an inyincible faith in ourselves.
| This will call out all our reserves.
If Napoleon had said to himself, be-
! fore some Of his great battles, 'Now,
! am going to do some great fighting;
we are going to do our level best to
beat the enemy" he would have been
| beaten hmself But he resolved that
when he went into the battle he
would beat the enemy at all hazards,
| He had fought the battle oyer in his
mind before a gun was fired He did
not start out with a loose determina-
| ton to do his level best, but with
| grim resolution to win the battle if it
took his last man, This is the kind
of resolution that calls out a mans
last reserves.
1t is astonishing how difficulties
get out of the way Of a man who
carries resolution and determination to
his task in the right way The way
we approach our problems, the atti-
tude of mind in which we face obsta-
cles, the grit in our aim has every
thing to do with our success in life
We must face difficulties as an ami.
nal trainer faces the wild beast. He
knows that the slightest indication Of
| fear is fatal. His eyes must carry
power, his manner must indicate that
he is a conqueror.
The above aptly applies to us in
this Order today. If we will resolve
that we are going into the battle to
perpetuate our order with a firm de-
termination to win, we will win. Many
of us think that the difficulties Of the
Order are too great to surmount, that
is because we do not face the obstacle
that confronts us with true grit, let
us say with Napoleon | am going to
do my level best to upbuild the Or
der | am going to do my level best
to help brush aside the only stumbling
block in its road to prosperity, and
we will succeed, Let us face our last
and only difficulty as true men, and
we will wonder why we ever doubted
| the result