The Washington herald., 1914-06-22
DR.. MARDEN'S
UPLFT TALKS
Fun Is a Necessity.
Nv ORIsON sNFTT NARDEN.

BY oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN.
! CAuthor Of Pushing to the Front etc)
Most people have the impression that
fun and humor are life incldentalS, not
necessities: that they are luNuries and
have no great bearing upon ones career.
Many think of fun as frivolous. indicat-
ing a lack of serious purpose in life
There are parents who rebuke their chill
dren because they want to have fun and
go in for good time. These parents
have yet to learn the great part which
fun and humor play in the physical econ
omy. and their influence on the life
Most homes are far too serious. Why
not let the children dance and play to
their hearts content? They will get
enough of the sad side of life later.
There is a moral influence in things
which amuse and make us enjoy life No
one was ever spoiled by good humOr: but
tens of thousands have been made better
by it. Fun is a food as necessary as
bread.
What a complete revolution in your
whole physical and mental being comes
after seeing a really funny play! You
went to the play tired. jaded. worn out.
DISCOURAGED. All your mental faculties
were cIogged with brain-ash; you could
not think clearly. When you came home
you were a new being.
A business man. on returning home
after a perplexing. eXhausting, eNasper-
ating days work, experiences the same
thing. Romping and playing with the
children. spending a jolly evening with
his family or friends. telling stories and
cracking jokes, rest his jaded nerves and
restore him to his normal condition.
Anything that will make a man new.
that will clear the cobwebs OF discourage
ment from his brain. and drive away
fear, care and worry, is of practical
value. II is the shrewdest kind of busi-
ness policy 10 do what will recreate. re-
freshen. and rejuvenate one for the next
days work.
What is needed is more play every day.
play mixed with work. Don't take your
vocation so seriously. Do not let a spur
ious culture keep you from laughing
out loud. or from giving yourself up with
abandon to the fun-loving instinct.
Wherever We so We see men in whom
the bow has died out long before they
have reached middle life. They have lost
their capacity for play. they have lost
their buoyancy. When the boy has died
out Of a man he is in a pretty bad plight.
PLAY is Just as imperative to a normal
person, noymatter how old he may be, as
air is. and the moment a man loses his
ability to play he begins to wither and
dry up. to shrivel.
Laughter Is a good health builder. Give
me an employe who loves to laugh, who
enjoys a joke. who always sees the
ludicrous side of things! There is some
thing wrong about a person who seldom
laughs.
I know a man who rarely smiles: who
looks disgusted when ne sees any one
convuIsed with laughter. He is cold
blooded and selfish; he lacks tenderness.
sensitiveness, delicacy. and is very un-
popular.
A cheerful disposition that scorns every
rebuff of fortune and laughs in the face
OF disaster is a divine gift. Fate itself
has to concede a great many things to
the cheerful man." To be able to laugh
away trouble is greater fortune than to
possess the mines of King Solomon. 1t
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.
tCopyrirht iaIIl