Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-12-06
LIFE'S PROBLEMS
ARE DISCUSSED

In so many OF the letters which reach
me | find the same complaint: II am
so tired of it ALL | feel as if l never
could go on" And that is natural
when one has been struggling with
adverse conditions or attempting to
solve a problem all at once. But
. in every one of us exists a reserve
force which is generally unsuspected
by us, and by drawing on it after
strength seems to have gone COM
pletely one is led often to supreme ac-
complishment 1t is as if accomplish
ment were made possible by that
quality which is stored up in reserve
force.
People call this second wind" A
race horse eXpends his strength ap-
parently in the first rush. but his
trained and experienced observers
know that the thoroughbred has a
tremendous reserve force and that at
the supreme moment he will call up
on ii and most likely be carried over
with flying colors in the final dash to
victory.
We have seen it demonstrated again
and again IN this present war. 1t is
the dogged determination to hold on
which brings up that reserve force
and wins out finally. Men bred to all
the soft things of life have, WITHOUT IL
murmur, accepted conditions they
would have denied ability to accept
in times of peace. They have worked
and planned, achieved and suffered as
they never dreamed that they could.
using the force which lies in each of
us, and proving, what Professor James
asserted some years ago, that we only
use one-fourth of our brain power;
that we have unsuspected abilities
and powers that we never dream of
using.
Women draw upon this reserve
force perhaps more than men, for
they have shown themselves capable
of greater endurance in tests which
cause wonder in those who see its
demonstration. They have not the
physical force, but they have the
greater staying powers.
Men use this force when they have
some great stake in the balance. They
will go without sleep and food, or
change of clothing until they have
solved their problem, and then, after
a bath, a change of clothes, they will
go out unaware that they have been
under any great strain, and demon
strate to a public what they have solv-
ed under the strain.
The annals of this war when we
get them will show us human nature
under severest strains and answering
to the whip of command on ones self
in results of tremendous significance.
And in every instance that very et-
fort will have strengthened and de-
veloped character and made easier the
solving of the next problem to arise.
| know a woman who works at
tremendous strain from to .. Four
years ago, she says, she never dream
ed that. she had strength to do 1t.
When she leaves her office she casts
it all aside, goes home, lamps, she
saws, into another personality,
changes her clothes and mental out
look and Is ready for amusement. She
has won not only professional sue
cess but health of mind and body and
good looks.
Yet there are many people who can
not cast aside their worries. These
are with them always. They are the
problems of the home and family.
The monotonous over-and-over that
wears on the nerves and spirit. But
resignation is deadening to vital force
and there is always some way out.
Sometimes these things are Just the
obstacles that will bring from our re-
serve force the rejuvenating essence
that clears the mental eyes and opens
them to greater visions than we
dreamed of.
Did Pershing, plodding over the
dusty roads of Mexico, hunting an
elusive bandit. putting up with suI
preme inconvenience and hampered
by international complications. lose
heart? Did he, when, in the enervat-
ing climate of the Philippines, chas-
ing rebels in the mountains, repine be-
cause he was not in Washington in
the soft places of the department?
Not a bit of il. He was often drawing
on his reserve force. keeping himself
up to his ideal of a soldier. studying,
squirting, saving his men and storing
up the knowledge. the experience
which has enabled him to supplement
with his men our Allies at the most
critical moment; even to urge them
thrown into battle before foreign
commanders were sure they were
ready. He knew his men. He had
been with them-as Americans-in
| times of trial. He was as sure of their
mettle as he was of his own. Yet he
never dreamed, I dare say. of such {
| thing when plodding day after dat
over the dusty deserts Of Mexico, err
| during heat and cold. and keepirE
| himself. even there. the perfectly a5-
| pointed soldier, an example ald
| model to his men.
Edward Rowland SilPs poem, "op-
portunity,' is a fine inspiration to