The Washington herald., 1917-03-21
Keeping Up to Standard.
BY oRIsoN SWEET MARDEN.

compare yourself with what you
were when your ambition was at the
height of its glory, when life seemed
most promising to you, when you
stood tiptoe on the threshold of your
greatest achievement; try to COM
pare yourself in every way with
what you were at that time.
1t is good plan to look at your
self in the mirror when you are
dressed up and see what kind of a
looking fellow you are. Try to esti-
mate what kind of an impression you
make upon others. Say to yourself,
as this the man who started out
with such high hopes, such glorious
prospects, such superb promise? Am
keeping up to standard mentally, do
| keep growing; am l reading for
betterment, or do l simply read the
slop and slush in the newspapers and
cheap fiction? Am growing intellect
ually, or am l getting into a rut? If
am not growing I am sliding back
wards"
We are all in the life stream, and
if we are not making an effort to swim
up the stream we arc floating down.
There is no remaining still in this
great life stream.
Then examine yourself physically.
Are you keeping up to standard?
Arc you as careful about your
health as you were at the start? Are
you as particular to keep yourself in
superb condition, so that ever,
day you are capable of doing the
highest thing that is possible to
you? Are you as careful about your
food? Are you careful to select those
foods which have the highest po-
tency, force and power in them,
which will make pure blood, which
will back up your brain, or are you
indifferent as to what you eat.
Remember you cannot make first
class brain out of second-class food.
You can get no force in the brain
which was not in your food. Unless
the sun has performed its miracle OF
development, of ripening, of perfect
ing, the wheat, the fruit, the vegeta-
BILE you eat, you cannot get frst-class
brain out of it, and your brain
product will be second class.
Are you keeping up your standard
of dress? That is, are you as par-
ticular as you once were about every
detail of your dress? Are you as
particular about the sort of impress
sion you make upon others? You
know that appearances are every
thing. And very few people ever
go to your home or see what you
have in it They know comparatively
little about your property or posses
sions generally. The only impress
sion most people get of you is what
they see when they meet you casual
ly. The only way they have to
measure you, to size you up is by
the appearance you make. This is
an expression, an outpicturing of
your personality, your character.
Your tastes are indicated in your
dress, the way you carry yourself,
in your general appearance.
People have no other way of es-
timating you than by your manner,
your bearing, your conversation, and
your appearance and every one who
meets you is consciously or uncon-
sciously taking your measure, weigh
ing you by these things.
One of the great dangers of de-
terioration lies in our personal habits
at home, especially when we arr
alone and do not expect callers. 1t
is SO easy to lie about the house in
slouchy, slovenly manner, perhaps
without collar or tie or with TN
polished shoes, perhaps going about
in old slippers.
In other words, We should be verv
careful about our personal appear
ance. about our habits when alone or
when with our family. We owe it to
one another even in our own family
to appear we'll. We owe it to our
selves, to our self-respect to be az
ways we'll groomed, neat, becomingly
dressed, if for no other reason than
its very decided influence upon our
own mentality.
Just imagine yourself trying to do
your best mental creative work
while lounging around the house hall
dressed and perhaps sitting, with
your feet up on the desk, in slouehy,
slovenly position. Do you realize
that your mentality will take on the
same sort of an expression as your
physical will sympathize with your
slouchy position and will refuse to
give you its best?.
Ambition is very seriously affected
by our falling standards. When any
part of us slides. down the rest fol-