The Washington herald., 1913-08-05
COMMENCE YOUR DAY
WITH A HAPPY SMILE
Good Start u Morning viii Give
Pleasant Tone to Your En-
tire Surroundings.
BY FRANCES sHAFFER.

II it is true-quite likely 1t is-that
chickens come home to roost. and IL by
Chickens one may be permitted tc
mean some of the little things We dc
any say and some OF the other little
things said and done to US, II is mighty
important that they come back. glossy
and bright. with not q feather weighed
down by a burden Of our infiction.
For one sometimes wonders just how
far-reaching are the little acts and words
that make up the day and often enough
decide whether the day shall be good or
bad, gay or very, very sad.
One wonders, too-if some Of them could
come back, telling their own story OF
the impressions they had left upon
others, the hurts they had inflicted and
the damage done on the way, would
we send them out SO Iight-heartedly. and
when we looked upon them again, would
We feel proud OF our work?
1t is strange how easily the tone of
n whole day is changed by little hap
pening at the very start. stranger yet
how persistently it clings to mind.
soothing or upsetting as it chances
For. after all, we are not so far re-
moved from children, and our world Is
easily made. sunshine and shadows alike.
II at the start OF the day there Is
something that brings a smile OF pleas
the dull hours that may follow. And If.
when the day begins, the ugly shadow
comes first, II somehow casts its dark
ening spell till the curtain drops down at
night, unconsciously coloring the whole
day like its unwholesome self.
1t is bad enough to sit in the shadow;
but TO make it'll II is worse.
Value of the Kind-Hearted.
And as for me, as the years go by.
the truth grows more and Yet more
apparent, that sunny, good-natLred folk.
whether they are so very brilliant or
not, are the ones that keep the human
end of the world-machinery well and
comfortably oiled.
Because, you see, these optimistic foik
who look at the good side first. never
count it worth their while to say and
do the needless things that are certain
to badly rufie human feathers They
have no use for the sarcastic tongue. the
tongue that twists to unkind criticism,
and never are tempted at all to throw
out sharp little filings that, more than
anything else, betray bit OF meanness
under cover. They cannot possibly
understand how some strange natures
eel better for the license to take folk
down from their self-constructed ped
sstals, for they reckon it pleasure TO
make their little corner In the word
a hit the SUMMER for their presence
there.
And so, instead OF the sharpness that
hurts and the bitterness that does
nothing more than to clog the wheels'
they say the pleasant things that linger
in another mind long after the speaker
has forgotten them. Maybe they add a
mite to someone's self-love, perhaps 10
some ones vanity; but never MIND; they
bring a smile instead of a frown and
they play a good, wholesome part III
the game of life.
A "Rins1nE EPitaPh."
Away off in a little country church
yard, there is modest gravestone.
marred and worn by the rains and
SHOWS Of many long years, ana tne
tribute to the wife and mother calmly
resting there is the cloquently simple
she was so pleasant"
That ringing epitaph ought to make
the little churchyard still shine with Its
radiance.
And on the DAYS when some Of us feel
something disagreeable stirring within,
something sarcastic and bitter and ugly.
II would be well indeed if we might stroll
10 the obscure resting place of the wom-
an who was not great or famous at all
but so pleasant"
For we know. without the telling, that
her world was the happier for her pass
ing that way.
And II We tried very. very hard. men
and women alike. just to be pleasant
his would be a far easier world than II
=.
And the best of it is that while We
we're making life a shade or two brighter
sor others we would be gaining friends,
friends all along the line. We may say,
we like and if We believe it true, that
We do not care so very much for the good
will of all kinds Of folk, but down in our
learts We know right well that We do
are and care very much.
We care how We affect the happiness
IF the folk at home, the others we meet
outside fields: end We care for the
,tranGer-folk And they. in turn, care
,ery much for the folk who are always
so nlea SAINT"