The Washington herald., 1916-12-08
When a Man Is Lucky.
l was trying recently to encourage
By oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN.

/ was trying recently to encourage
a young man to push ahead, to ad-
vance himself to a better position.
Advanced" he said. "Why, feel |
am mighty lucky to hold my job
down. to say nothing of promotionP
This feeling lucky merely to hold
ones job is pretty dangerous thing.
A person is lucky only when he is
growing and improving; when he is
advancing in proportion to his ability
and his opportunity. No man is lucky
to hold down his job when he is
capable of something infinitely better.
No man is really lucky until he is
doing his level best. He is not lucky
when he is doing his second best or
his third best. He is merely tending
to get into hopeless rut, to let the
best in him run to seed.
No matter how poor or how hedged
in by iron circumstances youth may
be, there is always hope for him If
he is filled with a divine discomfort,
!! if he is consumed with a desire to
develop his possibilities, if he is
anxious to improve his condition and
rise in the world. But what can you
expect from one who is more than
half satisfied to be a nobody? What
chance is there for him to rise above
mediocrity?
know great, strapping, vigorous
young fellow, only a few years out
of college, who acknowledges that he
is practically failure, and that there
are no probabilities of his ever
amounting to anything. The most dis
couraging thing about him is that he
accepts failure as if he had no respon-
sibility in the matter. He is perfectly
willing to lean upon others, to accept
help from his father, and to drift along
without any real, whole-hearted effort
to improve his position.
One of the most unfortunate things
for this type of young man is the
fact that he has father to fall back
on in case of need. Great generals
after having crossed a river have
sometimes burned bridges behind
them largely for the moral effect upon
the army, to kill all possible coward
ice, all temptation to retreat. There
is nothing like burning ones bridges
hah;od ooa apd c,,tt;,n off al oossi-
BILE retreat; then one will fight with
the desperation of self-preservation.
There are many men in the coun-
try today who might have amounted
to much more than they have but for
the fact that they had a good, COM
Portable home to return to in case
they didn't succeed so we'll as they
expected when they started out for
themselves.
Now, remember, John" the good
parents will say to their boy when he
starts out, that you can always come
home; there will always be welcome
for you here. If you do not succeed
as you expect, come back to the farm.
There is plenty here for us ALL" The
very consciousness of pleasant re-
treat has often proved the turning
point with young people in moment
of weakness and discouragement; and
they have gone back to the country
home and settled down in the old
familiar groove when they might have
made splendid places for themselves
in the big world outside their little
community.
There is always a dangerous point
in every new undertaking, tempta-
tion to quit, especially if there is any
thing to lean on The first few weeks
in college are very trying for most
freshmen, and they often get home
sick with longing to get back to
those dear to them. 1t is especially
hard for girls the first time they go
away from home, either to school
or to work, among strange faces and
in new environment.
hSlS dlC tllhCS WHICH CNCu SllOhS
men are tempted to turn back. At
such times courage is the only thing
that can save the day. The success
of such men as Grant and Lincoln
turned on the difference between a
point where weak hearts falter, faint,
and turn back, but where the stout
heart pushes on, never gives up, in
spite of Encouragement and obstacles
ahead.
Samuel Smiles says that success
treads on the heels of every right
effort. There is no danger of your
making a failure of your life if you
care enough and dare enough. That
is, if you have a noble life purpose
and have the courage of your con-
viction. If you have the courage to
go ahead, even when the way seems
dark and you are tempted to turn
back, nothing can keep you from
your own.
Secretary of the Treasury McAdoo
has informed Congress that the gov