The Washington herald., 1914-07-11
DIR. MARDEN'S
UPLFT TALKS
THE CURATIVE QUALITIES OF A
GOOD LAUGH.
By oRIsON SWIFT MARpEN.

CAuthor of Pushing to the Front" etc.
There is a new play that seems to be a
favorite, called Make Me Laugh" de-
picting the dismal condition of king
who couldn't find anything funny enough
to laugh at This fabulous parsonage,
however. is not alone in his plight, and
the skit holds a lesson for many Of US.
Long ago Emerson said: Il question
n care and doubt ever wrote their names
so Iegibly on the faces Of any other popu-
lation. Old age begins in the nursery"
Every man We meet looks as IL he's
gone out 10 borrow trouble. with plenty
Of II on hand" said a French lady, upon
arriving in New York.
The Americans are the best fed, the
best clad. and the best housed people in
the world" says another witness, but
they are the most anxious; they seem to
hug possible calamity to their breasts. "
And II is indeed true that the American
people as a rule take life much too seri-
ously They do not have half enough fun.
Europeans look on our care-worn. SOL
emn-faced people as on pieces of machin-
cry run at forced speed and which squeak
for lack OF oil.
II a man Is living in q perfectly nor
NAL way. he ought not to have. as SO
many have. a haunted. bounded look. as
though he suspected either a policeman
or a detective were on his track He
ought not to be worried and anxious
every minute. He ought not to take his
vocation so very seriously, and should
not give the impression that the whole
universe Is hanging upon the result Of
his task
Away with these fellows who go howl
ing through life." wrote Beecher. "and all
the while passing for birds of paradise
He that cannot laugh and be gay should
look to himself. He should fast and pray
until his face breaks forth into light"
Some people have an idea that they
comfort the afiicted when they groan
over them" says Talmage. Don't
drive a hearse through a mans soul
When you bind up a broken bone Of the
soul. and want splints. do not make
them Of cast iron"
Why take life so seriously. anyway? A
lot Of play will not only improve your
health. but increase your efficiency won
derfully.
Happy recreation has a very subtle in
huence upon ones ability, which is en-
phasized and heightened and multiplied
by IT. How our courage Is braced up our
determination. our ambition, our whole
outlook on life changed by IL! There
seems TO be a magic fluid from humor
and fun which penetrates the entire be-
ing. bathes all the mental faculties. and
washes out the brain-ash and debris
from exhausted cerebrum and muscles
We have all experienced the transform
ing, refreshing, renewing. reJuvenating
power Of good. wholesome fun.
There Is certainly something wrong in
the very idea of sacrificing the Juices Of
our lives for the husks which we get. Re-
member that there is something else in
the world even more important than
making money. Your health. your fam
lily. your friendships should mean a
thousand times more to you than dollar
chasing.
Life was given US for enjoyment. not
for one long. strenuous, straining strug-
gle in the dreary drudgery OF scraplng
dollars together. Living-getting was In
tended to be only a mere incidental in
the larger life Of growth. OF freedom OF
soul expansion. mind-enlargement.
To be able to laugh away trouble Is
greater fortune than to possess the mines
OF King Solomon II is a fortune, too
that is within the reach OF all who have
the courage and nobility Of soul to keep
their faces turned to the light.
TaIk happ4ness The world is sd enough
Without your woe. No path Is wholly rough.
Look for the places that smooth and clear.
And Ereak < then TO ress the weary ear
OF sarth, hurt By continuous strain
OF mortal diSoontent and Erief and pain
Copyright. lsNl