The Washington herald., 1916-06-09
The .,iainspring Of Life.
BY ORIsON SWIFT MARDEN,

According to an old legend when God was
hhIShlng and equippng his greatest workman
re was about to add the quality of content.
ment and perfect satisfaction, but the good angel
asslstlng Him touched the Creators arm and
SAID No, no: If you give that to man he
WIN never make the necessary effort or strug-
gle 10 develop himself and to unfold his power.
II IS this divine discomfort, implanted in us
Iat me beginning, this God-urge in our nature
whch is ever forcing us to better our condition
ITO grow. Since we became conscious OF life
| we have been, as it were, on rung of in
definite ladder. We cannot see the top or the
bottom but we have an instinct an insistent
urge, TO chnb, and feel great uplift, a
higher and higher rounds
But for this God-given climbing instinct the
very handspring of our life, we should stag
nate 1t is this inner urge which will never
let us rest, which is always pushing us on prod
ding us and bidding us up and on, that over
comes our natural inertia. 1t is the secret OF
| all education, OF all improvement of all prog
rcss 1t has lifted man up from the animal, edu-
Gated the brute out of i'm. But for this God
urge, we should never discover ourselves. never
grow.
There is nothing else in this world so bene-
hcial, nothing else which will cause the individ-
ual so much satisfaction, as the perpetual i'm
proving habit, the habit of everlasting reaching
make each day larger and broader and richer
than yesterday, this is the way to growth and
IpOwer.
| There are thousands Of pcop1e who only live
veloped just sufficient intelligence for living
getting, while the rest Of their brain is practi-
! cally atrophyng. The cells are gone out OF use
from lack OF exercise for Natures motto is use
! or Lose"
If we carry our arm in sling any length OF
time Nature will soften and weaken the mus
clcS; the life, the strength the God-given en-
! crgy will go.
Keep any part OF the brain in the sling of
ldlencss, never exercise it by proper variety OF
lcxPcrisncc, and Nature will shrivcl it almost to
mbccity.
The energy, the quality, the intensity and the
tcrmne your goal.
1t is pitiablc to see a man facing Tfc's sun
set with fifty or seventy five per cent Of his
been called out or developed.
The man who had ten talents, but has not
developed even one to Its utmost VIII pas, on
a power in the world, force which might have
given uplift to civilization.
Never having tried 70 make good, never hav-
ing tried to do ones best, never having half
artist in ones career instead of mere artisan
causes more disanpointmcnts, more regrets than
any other one thing.
To find ones scIi we'll along in years and to
| tccl that one has not amounted to anything
| that he has not made the most OF his life that
he has not backed up his chances in life, is hell
enough for any human being.
How often VIC hear Young people cautioned
! about aiming too high, but my experience has
| been that most people ann entirely too low II
! IS infinitely better to aim too high than too low
| The great thing is to cultivate a climbing in
stnct, that put the climb in everything
we do, make everything look up. Every job
that goes through Our hands should have an up
ward look in it. If you lack the climbing in
stinct YOU will never. get up, very high in the
world. Ii IS the persistent climber who reaches
! the top 1t is he who has 4 strong vigorous
climbing instinct with plenty Of staying power
! that reaches the heights. Most OF us get of
at way stations. some OF us pretty near the bot
tom of lifc's hill, others half way up, some two
thirds. Only now and then one reaches the
heights where excellence and superiority dwell.
If YOU have the spirit ot the climber If YOU
are characterized by an upward look, if there
IS an upward, an Onward trend in your nature,
this Characteristic will strengthen Your whole
being because it is the man who keeps growing.
who is constantly cnlarging his personality, en-
rChing his naturc-hc IS the one who continues
to grow and it is the persistent grower the
persistent improvcr, who makes ldc worth
while.
lCo9rt2h:. els