The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1915-06-24
PULLING UP OR DOWN.

PULLING UP OR DOWN.
No matter how unimportant you may
seem to be in the worlds affairs, you are a
vital force pulling one way or the other
pu]ipg either up or down in this life. We
do not. as a rule, realize the debt we owe
mankind and the payment OF whlch Is 10
our hands alone. Those of us who do not
succeed, as we measure success IN tnls
world, take it for granted that we alone are
affected thereby and sometimes because we
are depressed and discouraged we say that
it does not matter. We do not take into
consideration the fact that such an attitude
is a mistaken one and tends to increase not
only our own misery but that of others who
are more or less intimately associated with
US. In other words, instead of pulling
up'' we are ''pulIing down." instead OF
building we are destroying. tits very easy
to make companions of our woes and to
allow them to so prey upon our minds as to
make US unfit for the higher and nobler
duties of life; it is not easy to bear troubles
in silence and with high courage but IN the
end, when the final adjustments come, it
will not be difficult to decide which OF the
two courses will result in greater beneht
not only to ourselves but to all those with
whom we are thrown in contact.
We may not believe that we are OF mucn
importance in this life; perhaps the more
or less sheltered lives we lead increase this
impression but for all that, even in our
own little circles far removed from the
worlds activities and COMMISSIONS, we are
undoubted forces either for good or Tor
evil There are few persons who DO not
exert some inflence one way or the otner'
We make a certain impression upon the
minds of those with whom we are IN con-
slant intercourse and it remains with US
entirely whether that impression be happy
one or the contrary. OF course, We often
have a mistaken idea of our duty and yet
be entirely conscientious about it. We may
have the desire to do the right thing in all
circumstances but, unfortunately, we are
prone to follow our own opinions to the
end, regardless of the fact that they may
not always be correct. We do not like to
give up our ideas but at least we can re-
frain from insisting upon their acceptance
if they are not pleasing to others, and from
holding stubbornly to them with that air Of
superiority which is so trying to others anc
so disastrous in its effects. In such condl.
tons we sspull down. unnecessarily much
work that has been accomplished through
hard and earnest effort. Even in the small
details of life passed in the narrowes
and most limited manner we cannot ge
away from the fact that we are necessary
in many ways to its demands. No one Il
ever so unimportant as not to be account
able in some measure for his lack of con
sideration to those about him.
There are many forces naturally in thi
world which build up or tear down and
rests with US individually which we shall
use. They are not difficult to discern and
indeed, they enter into every phase of ex
istence, from the small, intimate details o
our personal lives to the large public ques
tons of the day. They cannot be ESCAPED
and because of this fact it is necessary tina
we should be cautious how we allow our
selves to be influenced by them. We can
not afford in this day Of large achievement
and magnificent development to drift int
narrow, strait laced ways, nor can we at
ford to devote the greater part of our live
to the task of making money at tn
sacrifice of the better and higher duties Q
life. We need not expect to sweep alon
with tremendous power, deciding weight
matters and influencing large affairs, bu
we can find the happy middle ground an
ally ourselves with those forces that wor
for the moral uplift of the world at larg
and ourselves in particular. 1t is so muc
better and so much pleasanter to do wha
we can to pull the world up, and by thi
is meant to increase the happiness OF tn
majority of mankind and to better the con
dition of their lives. One person here an
there may not be able to do very much b.
working together each in his own way, da
in and day out, year after year, untold goo
could be accomplished and the world b
made better place in which to dwell. W
can begin by letting in the sunlight wher
only darkness has reigned, by finding OF
for ourselves something of life's real sig
nificance, by doing what we can to foste
and promote the healthier aspects of ex
istence, by helping others to help them
selves and by ignoring the many opportu
mites which are offered us to lower OF
individual standards. We are, indeed
pulling one way or the other every day {
our lives, and it is part of the duty "
owe ourselves to find out in which direc
ton we can pull the hardest.
NO BAIT NEEDED.