Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-09-08
VICTIMS OF MOODS.
A Form Of Tyranny That Should Be
Overcome.
From the Outlook.

From the Outlook.
But to be the slave of temperament. the
victim of a mood, is as ignoble as to ac-
cept any other form Of tyranny. The be-
ginning of manhood is to keep ones Will
acting freely and vigorously; to protect
ones intellect from the false coloring
which comes from emotion and feeling;
to assert ones self in the face OF the
passions and influences that assail the
stability of a mans integrity and indie
pendence. This is never an easy thlns
to do. In some cases 1t is very olm-
cult thing to do; but 1t is always an I'M
perative thing something which no man
can leave undone and be man IN the
full sense of the word.
For the victim of moods or the slave OF
a temperament is never Tree person.
In very thoughtful discussion OF bhese
and kindred matters in his book on line
1cmple Of Virtue" Rev. Paul Revere
rockingham puts the matter OF MOODS
with admirable clearness:
First of all there is the district In the
mysterious land of selfhood that is occu-
pied by our methods. 1t appears to me
that over this each one of us may exer-
else a useful If not an easy system OF
control. Ali of us, that is to say, have
our alternating periods OF sunshine ana
of storm, of cheerfulness and depression,
of energy and relaxation, of faith and
and weak uncertainty. Now we are ll1ted
into conscious joy and throbbing hopes;
but again we feel ourselves forlorn ana
desolate. Life today appears a privilege
and radiant opportunity for usefulness;
tomorrow We seriously wonder II anything
is really much worth while.
So there are times when our Work, our
duties our drudgeries even, are zone
easily and gladly. Instead of finding them
burdensome, we rejoice in the various
cares and RESPONSIBILITIES which fill the
hours of each day so full. But then.
again. deep gloom Expresses us. and we
can neither seem to do nor be our pest
And all such moods are natural They
come upon nearly all Of us. Very Few
people can hope to live in such divinely
ordered ATTITUDES of soul that their sky is
always clear. We cannot therefore, put
an absolute end to these various ana
changeable conditions. But We can and
should control them. Little by little we
may learn by very commonplace expert
ence that the gloom and the depression
need not cause us genuine despair. How
ever dark the curtain of the cloud may
hang the blue sky Is behind 1t stlli-
Night falls, and yet the stars shine out.
All of us may work out for ourselves a
very practical and helpful philosophy in
this respect. and we ought to work 1t out
and discipline ourselves to live by 1t as
we'll. When the soul Is feeble to beneve,
when we feel ourselves indifferent TO the
good and true. when things seem burden
some and life appears a giant load or
care-it Is possible to remind ourselves
that we have been along that very road
before. and have watched the leaden
darkness of those same great clouds, and
yet beyond them we have come out into
sunlight and have been refreshed. We
must have our disbursements, indeed,
but we need not, therefore, be utterly
cast down. We may despond, but We
need not feel despair.