The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1917-11-22
Little Problems
&fcWarried Life
BY
WILLIAM GEORGE JORDAN
HOLDING MoNoToNY AT cay.


Monotony is the malaria of matri-
mOny. 1t poisons the home 'atmo-
sphere, gradually exhausts the llfe-giv-
ing oxygen of love and comradeship
and leaves one sitting in an air of dis
content, protest, and rebellion. Il
means dull, deadly depression of spir-
its, a general tired feeling regarding
life, weakened hope and will, loss of
appetite for the trifies of everyday
living, a listless, languid indifference,
nervous irritability difficult TO con-
troll. 1t takes all the brightness and
vividness from the color scheme of life
and thought and leaves them a cold,
dismal gray. This nonotony saps the
vitality of mental, moral and physical
resistance to trivial cares and worries
that assume portentous proportions like
figures blurred into bigness by fog.
1t needs the fresh tonic ozone Of
change, the vitallzing sunlight of a new
interest, the windows of life opened
wide for freer air and broader out.
look.
Monotony in married life is an in
sidious evil. 1t is hard to cure but
easy to prevent. Husband and wife
should realize that ii rests solely with
them; the conditions are absolutely
within their control when acting In
unity and harmony; either can do
much, neither can do all. They can
create an atmosphere of comradeship,
cheerfulness, and courage that defies
monOtony 1t takes so little to hold
1t at bay, in the beginning; 1t takes
so much to kill it, In the end. 1t is
easier to dodge a few snowflakes than
the wild fury Of the storm at its worst.
The secret Of monotony Is overall
sorption of the head or the hands
where the heart is not in 1t. 1t is the
overlooking of one side Of life at the
expense of the other; it is the pros
trating effect of unbroken sameness
In an environment.
The wife in her devotion to her home
She may become house bound; never
crossing the threshold except when alb
solutely necessary, she may unconsci-
ously convert her home into a prison
and submerge the wife in the house.
keeper. The unending repetition OF
the same duties, this continuous per-
Torrance without change or intermis-
sion, begins to chafe and fret and
weary her; 1t seems like the regular
tramp of q vast army on the march,
continually passing but never passed.
The deadly routine begins to wear on
her nerves, like the irritating, insist
ent tick of clock in q sick room.
The narrow horizon of her living de-
presses her spirits; she grows fault
finding, dissatisfied, helpless and hope
less. The salt of life has lost its sa-
YOUR.
She must lessen the tension some
way, drop the whole outfit occasional
ly, forget she is a machine and re-
member she is q human being, and
get out for a change of thought and
experience. Let her turn her steps TO
the green pastures of rest and resto-
ration, take a walk or a drive, hear
a little music or see a play, make a
visit or entertain a caller, go shop
ping, that does not require money, for
It is only buying that costs, read some
book even though 1t is only zone Of
the best sellers"-anything that will
freshen the mind, quicken the blood,
gladden. the heart, or put a new edge
on life.
Some people do take duty a bit too
seriously. 1t is delightful occasionally
TO turn your back deliberately and i'm
politely on a duty for a while, to give
saintship little vacation, for the duty
does welcome you so when you return
and it does not seem half so hard.
Much of our loyalty to duty is simply
disloyalty TO higher duties and when
we are dulled by monotony, we do not
differentiate clearly between them.
There are honest, earnest, good women
who, like Martha of old, are numbered
with much serving" They let the
house eclipse the home, creature COM
fort overshadow heart comfort; they
make themselves unfit companions for
themselves, much less for their hus-
!. bands. They should cultivate the
courage let go; they should realize
that monotony is never a bargain, new
err worth what they pay for 1t.
There are other wives who have no
cares nor responsibility, no tax on time
or energy. no money worries; burdens
Of housekeeping are reduced to n min
imum by the help Of efficient servants;
the children are away at school. These
wives, too, often face monotony. 1t is
not the monotony of work, but of leis-
ure.
In the absorption of making money
for the support of home and family
husband may lose the true perspec-
tive of life. He may become unduly
anxious for more money; he may keep
his desires too high; he may be sac
rlficing too much of his real self in &C.
curing wealth. In over-absorption In
providing all that money can buy he
may forget the greater things that
moro rnonpv cnnnnt huv forpet that