The mirror. (Stillwater, Minn.) 1894-1925, 1915-04-15
The Obligations and Difficulties
That Arise in the Path of One
Determined to ssMake Good
By ''Chilo''..

"Making good is term which has
found wide acceptance because it expresses
number of kindred ideas, among them
being: To fill promise, to carry out a
determination, to achieve results planned for.
to fill a position satisfactorily, to live up
to what is expected of you, to overcome
difficulties, to meet obligations, to rise and
| become successful. Taken by and large,
"making good" is maD-size proposition
The young man who starts his career
with the determination to make good, has
big order to fill. 1t means that if he
really is to make good he must live up to
it in every possible way-that the expression
HAS a meaning of its own apart from those
commonly given to it. 1t is a combination
of two words, each with positive meaning
that affords significant combination. To
make, is to construct, to create, to shape;
it is word of action. Signifying work,
good, is that which is of benefit - the
opposite of that which is bad or harmful
1t is word which bespeaks results.
There are many books from which we
may learn much, if we are careful in oui
selections.
A learned and wise man does not become
one by greedily devouring the contents of
vast number of books. 1t is by judicious
selections of few which he will particular
lxy III ho
his associates, and try them. 1t is not the
man who reads the most books who is the
most learned and rational; it is the man
who makes the best selection of few, max
ing himself acquainted with their principles
and then trying them out by practical ex-
perience.
To read good books yields beneficial re-
suits. and to "make good" you should
have your work yield likewise. One can
not be said to have made good if benefits
are the result of accident or pure good for
tune, one only makes good when one has
achieved ''good'', as the one result of
making for it.
| No matter how great or how little the
success that comes to u.s. it is measured by
what we have done to earn it; circumstances
may be arrayed against US; others may
usurp our rights, place obstacles in our
way; conspire for our defeat; we may lack
advantages. Yet, what we do or what we
do not do to meet these adverse circum-
stances and to overcome those obstacles and
| to make the best of those disadvantages,
determines the extent of victory, or of our
defeat
He who always does his best under all
circumstances, who actively works to sue
coed, who always conscientiously strives
for good, comes nearest to making
good. 1t takes thought. it takes practice,
it takes will; but these things are the
mortar that binds together the bricks in
the structure of success.
"Making good requires positive pursuit
rather than negative following. Pursuit aims
to overtake following is merely trailing
behind. Aggressively we make conditions
Yield; we make opportunity admit us; we
make improvement in our work; we make
the future.
1t is not every man who "makes good.
There is always an uncertain quality about
every man. No two mems actions are ex-
actly the same. No two men have received
exactly the same education. A man comes
into this world with certain nodded ply
sique; but whatsoever his mold be, he can
make for himself the kind of character
that he will. A man comes into this world
and finds himself in circumstaces that GER
tainly were not of his own choosing. Yet,
if he chooses, he can make for himself
character that would be an inspiration for
many.
A man in his early days may be given
certain kind of education, but when he
reaches the age of accountability, he can
choose for himself how he will use or mis-
| use the education that he has received.
So. the whole problem of ''making good"
SINNERS down to this solution: The secret
of making good" is to "MAKE GOOD.