The Washington herald., 1915-10-16
Beginning the Day.
BY JOHN ID. BARRY.


ness and, seemingly, from far distance In some
instances they do not completely separate them
selves from sleep for several hours.
This condition, it should be noted is different
from depression irritation ugliness, though
| it may be associated with one or all three
There are very good-naturcd people who are
slow walkers In my acquaintance there is ono
who seems never to be fully alive till about II
O'Clock in the morning, though he is UP and about
between and 8. Till then he moves and has his
being in state OF haf-somnolence. AS might be
Expected, he does not care much for the morning
hours. Like every OF us, he prefers those
hours when he is most alive.
! Here is point worthy of consideration When
arc we most alive 1t may seem as if we ought to
! be most alive when have come back from
refreshing sleep. Such is the condition of most
children, all people know who occupy or visit
lhouscs where there is a group of children And
! yet some children who good slecpcrs wake
badly and stay cross for while. The cause NAV
be traced either to temperament to physical or
nervous weakness, to injudicious diet or to dis
turbing conditions that might easily be detected
by one who understood children.
AS for tho successful walkers .thcy are not al
ways regarded with favor by their immediate rca-
lent 'Pcopc who cxubcrant at breakfast
ought to be killed." says bad walker of NV ac-
quaintancc. Good-humorcd during most OF the
day, he confcsscs that he feels murderous at
breakfast and wants to be Lett alone
Though spontaneous enjoyment of living in the
early morning is good sign it should be borne in
mind that 1t may be unattractvc social quality
suggesting lack of tact. JOYOUS walkers may be at
their i'm he Al I
themselves. They know how to have a perfectly
goodj alone: In this regard they differ from
Inc majority OF people. who take the greatest
pleasure in those activities connected with work or
associations procurablc when the dav's work is
over. The happicst hours for me are at the end
OF the day.: says one OF the hardest worked men
know. Then | can re lax and forget my respon-
sibties.' He is frank lover of late hours, and.
like most people OF his kind bad walker But
IF went to bed early he says. "liic would mean
practically pr all work. should feel like slave"
if he would follow the healthy guidance of nature.
he would feel better most OF the time. he would
be more efficient and he would have more leisure
His way of waking is judgment on his way of
spending.the day.
In spite OF the exceptions, already referred TO-
the rule holds good that waking in the morning
besides being test, is a Judgment And the
it has grown 20 be fashionable to say that one is
unsocal and cross in the morning. Many OF those
who like to express themselves in this way simply
create and parnper their discomforts BY
simple effort OF the will they could make them
selves feel cheerful waking up. Among them
we often hear some such remark as, 81 am simply
dead. or Il am fit to be tied till get my coffee
in the morning" The speakers pass Judgment both
on themselves and on coffee. If they were to be
told by physician whose word they revcred an
expensive specialist, that their dependence on cof
tee was imaginary. and all nonsense. they would
instantly be freed from this kind OF slavery
In this regard arc all more or less alike So
many OF our slaveries are purely imaginary II we
We're to make up our minds to look them square in
the face VIC should find that they weren't there at
Good habits may be slavery as well as bad hab-
ITS. Consider the cold bath in the morning for |
example Some men say that if they were to omit |
the cold bath they would feel miserable ali dav.
Their dependence has made critics take a |
resentul attitude toward the cold morning tub !
They, say it is as stimulating cocktail. So it |
may be. But it differs from cocktail in one par
tlcular; the cocktail poisons the system The cold
BATH on the contrary, if taken by those who are
able to secure quick and vigorous reaction starts
the system into healthy activity
There are unauestionably those who ought
never to take cold bath. They are too.wcak to
cope with 1t and, so to speak to get above it, In
stead Ct stimulating them it tends to make them
feel chilled and weak. Sometimes however. the
trouble lies not in their physique but in their ic
Those only derive benefit from the cold bath who
fcel sure that they can get away with II. And
this feeling ought to be accompanied BY confidence
in being able to get along without it,
Like all healthy activity. the inspiring motive |
ought to be enjoyment. The people who shrink
from cold baths and. nevertheless, take them on
principle. will derive little no benefit till they
begin actually to like the experience, and to ac-
ccpt it as of the days pleasures
There arc those who refuse to accept plea sure
as an inspiration to sound living They are in
fuenced by the old notion that pleasure and evil
go together. And yet all agree that the lasting
enjoymcnts Of life, those really worth while come
from those kinds of healthy living that are indis-
putably good.
Pleasure is only transient associate Of evil Il
Inevitably 1t is bound to give way before pain No
matter how often it may come back. pain in one
Of many forms, always gets the best of il. More
over. there are different kinds of enjoyment those
that arc deblitating and those that are stimuIatng
10 worth while endeavor. And with both kinds
one finds pain as an accompaniment
All life is struggle between pleasure and main
and the only kind of pleasure that can CONQUER
pain is the kind inspired by good motives and
leading to good results.
Some of the hardest workers in the world have
been those who have most enjoyed life. And
among their greatest enjoyments has been the CON
luering of difficulties, sometimes verv painful
The labor delight in physics pain" saws
Shakespeare in "Macbeth" The yery eho.,. .f