The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1918-11-16

of time or money haunts his vision;
he simply gives himself up to the
passing moment; enjoys himself un-
Swallowed by dreams of what is to
come.
This does not mean that we should
never plan for tomorrow or have
pleasant anticipations of things that
are to come. 1t only means that we
should not so focus our eyes and at
tention on the future, and be so alb
sorbed in anticipation of tomorrow
that we get nothing out of today;
that we lose the pleasures, its oppor-
tunities and its joys.
1t is not intended that we should
always live in anticipation. Imagina-
ton, that blessed faculty, was given
us as an occasional retreat from suf-
fering, from trying conditions, a re-
treat to which we can fly and get
better outlook on life, where we can
refresh our minds and renew our
fancies.
Living too much in the magma
ton makes life seem dry and dreary.
1t makes our vocations drudgery in
stead of the delight which they were
intended to be. 1t destroys our power
for enjoying the life that now is.
If you have made a botch of 1918;
| if it has been a failure; if you have
not succeeded in your undertakings;
if you have blundered and made a
lot of mistakes; if you have been
foolish, have wasted your time, your
money, do not drag these ghosts over
the new year line to haunt you, to
destroy your happiness. Let it all
go. Forget it; bury it. Do not let
it sap any more of your energies,
waste any more of your time, destroy
|
any more of your peace or happiness
You cannot afford to give it more
thought or attention. "Leave the
low-vaulted past"
One Of the greatest delusions that
ever crept into mortaPs brain is
that which robs one Of the blessings,
Joys and comforts Of today either by
regrets for the past or the expecta-
ton Of something better tomorrow.
Our future is in our present.
Looking for some fAr-of glory,
some future joy, some unknown hap
piness that may come, shall we lose
the present joy of home, lodge and
friendships and the daily opportuni-
| ties to do good and scatter flowers
as we go along?
When we struggle to get away
from the disagreeabIe routine and
drudgery Of the present, in the hope
that we shall find in mystical flu
ture, freedom and happiness, we la
Dor under a deIusion similar to that
held by those who think that, if they
could only get rid of the thorn which
pricks at the moment, or Of the gravel
in the shoe, they would be happy.
Yet how do we know that they who
do not laugh today will will laugh to-
morrow? If the enjoying faculties
are not used, will they not wither
and atrophy? If we do not cultivate
habit of enjoying as we go along,
that portion of our braincells in
which the faculty of enjoyment CEN
ters will shrivel and decay, and we
shall soon lose the power to enjoy,
Just as Darwin lost his passion for
music because he did not exercise 1T
as he went along. He thought he
would take it up again when he had
the leisure; but, when the leisure
came, the power had gone.
Everywhere we see men restless in
their business, pacing their stores or
offices-like animals in their cages,
which dream of liberty in the jungles
or the forests-dreaming of the glo-
rious future, the freedom and the
happiness which wealth will bring.
In the meantime they thrust from
them and pass over without appre-
citation the little pleasures and en-
ioyments that are within their grasp
each day as they go along.
If we could realize that only the
present is real, that only the present
exists, or ever can; that there is real
lily no yesterday or tomorrow; that
we can never be certain of anything
but the moment we are living in;
that we cannot project ourselves into
the future, nor can we step back
wards; that there is only one eternal
Now-and that the years, the months,
the days, the minutes are mere arbi-
trary divisions of the eternal Now
Iif we could only fully realize this,
how it would multiply our power and
increase our enjoyment and eff
cheney!