The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1909-09-23
CHEERFULNESS.

CHEERFULNESS.
High among the virtues is cheerfulness.
Fortunate is he who has bouyant dispo-
sition and is always on the watch for the
better day. Among the first lessons that
should be impressed upon the young scions
of the family is the Importance OF searching
for the brighter side. The loss OF friend
ships, affection, anything We have pos
sessed, may be greatly softened by mag
nifying the value of the things that remain
witt =. 1t is excellent self-discipline to
reflect upon the calm resignation with
which afflicted persons bear ills far greater
than our own.
Consider the unflinching courage with
which persons suffering from the disabling
loss of faculties face life and rise tri-
umphantly from a hard fate. Weighed
against the great disadvantages under
which their success has been reached, the
ordinary impediments and misfortunes that
daunt many of US are as dust in the balance.
We envy the witty but conquering opti-
mism of Sydney Smith. II have govt,
asthma and seven other maladies, but am
otherwise very WE'LL" Such natures rsdi-
ate happiness. The lustre of some mems
fame has been marred by their lack Of
companionability. Some one has observed
that Dante was very bad company, and
was seldom invited to dinner. Our appre-
citation of Thoreau's gifts is somewhat low
cred by the estimate of one of his friends:
81 love Henry, but cannot like him. AS
for taking his arm, should as soon think
of taking the arm of an oak tree" Oliver
Wendell Holmes, himself a cherry philoso-
pher in youth and age, while holding that
cheerfulness is Unborn, admits that it is a
virtue that can be cultivated to some ex-
tent:
"The truth is that persons of that bouyant
disposition that comes always heralded by
a smile as yatch driven by favoring
breeze carries wreath of sparkling foam
before her, are born with their happiness
ready made. l give you the precept, BE
cheerful for what it is worth, as would
recommend you to be five feet ten in stat
ure. You cannot settle that matter for
yourself, but you can stand straight and
give your five feet five their full value"
The biographer Of one of the illustrious
women of France finely says that every
month in her year was April. Such peren-
NAL good nature is the endowment of few.
and they are the elect among the worlds
benefactors. Most children are light.
hearted unless their natures have beer
chilled by depressing home atmosphere
A hopelessly sad-faced child is a most dis.
tressing thing. five can carry the bouy'
ancy Of childhood through life we are SURE
to command troops of friends. Good ma
tuee is ian estate for life,'' of which NJ
writ Of execution can deprive Us.
Aniability is expected in woman, but i
is not an exclusively feminine virtue.
you are man, cheerfulness is capital TO
your firm. 1t brings business to you.
helps you to lift the mortgage. 1t vii
carry you along to high places. All door
swing inward to him whose presence is
benediction. Good nature has high ap
prisal where men strive for anything. w
are captivated by it.
Little pleasantries are the torches tina
light the way in the darkest hour. sd
not hang dismal picture on the wall; d
not daub with sables and gloom in you
conversation. We wish it were true TIA
fortune knocks at every mans door once
With the mass of mankind misfortun
knocks loudly, perhaps many times. 1t j
fatuous to be always looking for the un
welcome guest. There are gentle pessi
mists who have an exhaustive store of if
and butts. We are advised to avoid mega
tive propositions.
There is time to laugh, and it shout
be the most of the time. Jeremy Taylor
when his estate was sequestered, rejoice
that the sun and moon, some friends, hi
merry countenance and cheerful spir
were left. If We were all SO far sighted a
to obtain view of life as a whole, Their
would be little but optimism. This is
fair world for the great majority. 1t ma
take the color of the gloomy mind. Hap
piness is in ourselves rather than in GU
environment. A famous divine thu
preached the gospel of optimism: