The Washington herald., 1916-12-06
Real Living.
By ORIsoN swETT MARDEN,

BY ORISON SWEET MARDEN,
A short time ago there appeared in
the Atlantic Monthly an article en-.
titled Twenty Minutes of Reality"
The article sets forth an experience
of the author while he was convalesc-
ing in hospital after a surgical
operation.
1t was gray March day, with a
cloudy sky. There was nothing un-
usually exciting or exhilarating in
the convalescent's immediate atmos-
phere or environment, when suddenly
he felt as if he had been translated
to new world of light, happiness,
and joy.
al cannot say what the mysterious
change was" he said. II saw no
new thing, but l saw all the usual
, things in a miraculous new light-in
what | believe is their true light. I
saw for the first time how wildly
beautiful and joyous, beyond any
! words of mine to describe, is the
whole of life. Every human being
moving across that porch, every spar
row that flew, every branch tossing
in the wind, was caught in and was
part of the whole ecstasy of lowell
ness, of JOY of importance, of intoxi-
cation, of life. =. For those glorified
| moments / was in love with every
| living thing before me-the trees in
the wind, the little birds flying, the
nurses, the internes, the people who
came and went. There was nothing
that was alive that was not miracle.
Just to be alive was in itself mir
acle. My very soul flowed out of me
in a great joy"
If it is possible to live in a world
of happiness and beauty for twenty
minutes, is it not possible to prolong
the time-to live always in such
world?
Lincoln said that folks are usu-
! ally about as happy as they make up
their minds to be-" The experience
of the writer in the Atlantic Monthly
as we'll as thousands of others that
might be cited-shows that the posi-
bilities of happiness are inside, not
outside, of us.
The great mass of people do not
extract 10 per cent of the happiness
possible in their everyday life, largely
| because they were never trained to
think of the normal sources of enioy-
ment. Their minds are blank, except
for the little grooves which their daily
routine has stamped in their brain
tissue. They are as ignorant of their
possible mental resources as the .early
Indians were of the natural resources
of this continent, when the Puritans
landed at Plymouth Rock. They
raised just enough barley to exist
upon. They did not know how to
iced, to ciothe, or to enjoy themselves.
Their minds were blank, and they
lived in wretchedness, while the vast
resources of the richest continent in
the world were all unknown to them.
Ruskin said he was not so much
surprised at what we suffer as at what
we lose, which might furnish infinite
pleasure and satisfaction. We hear a
great deal about the enormous loss
OF our natural resources, the coal.
the waterpower, and the forests. but
they are nothing compared to the
tremendous loss in the possible re-
sources of happiness all around US.
The things which really make life
worth living are very common, very
ordinary and within the reach of ali.
How often we hear the poor berat-
ing the rich whom they envy, bemoan-
ing the cruel fate that has kept about
everything worth while away from
them. but when We stop to take stock
of life in the things that are really
worth while, that count for most, we
are pretty nearly all on an equal foot
ing;
The great Chemist himself has
mixed the atmosphere so that it is
just adapted to create health. vigor.
robustness OF body and thought and
exultant feeling for all alike. The
sunlight with its marvellous chemistry
performs millions of miracles every
moment in root and rootlet, in plant
and flower, in tree, in animal life, in
human life, while painting pictures of
marvellous colorings, in flower, in
plant, in landscape.
The poorest, the humblest person
on earth has the same amount of
time as the proudest monarch or the
greatest money king. Andrew Car
negie said he would give $4,000, 900
to have his life prolonged ten years;
but all his wealth cannot purchase
one instant of time. Nor has money
power to purchase the best things in
llte-love, friendship, sympathy. The
sweetest, the most desirable things
we know are purchasable only with
effort, with conduct, right thought,
right effort.
If, like Pollyanna in the play of the
same name which all New York is
flocking to see, we make a habit of
looking for something to be glad
about, we shall very soon master the
secret of happiness. We shall master
the art of real living.
When railroad managers and stockboId-
ers assume friendly attitude toward the