Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1920-01-01
Just w at Do
You Think
of You?
BY BEATRICE FAIRFAX.
I'm Acknowledged Authority on the Prob
lens of Everyday Life.

he hasn't much love left to give any
one else" remarked my young
cousin scornfully. "Of course il you
want to LEI him have a room here
when he's, in town next month,
won't say a word, but you'll get no
thanks. He'll think you ought to
be grateful to him for gracing your
home. And he'll expect you to do
every little thing his way with never
a thought :or your own comfort" z
Selfish? asked his mother.
Just darn conceited," grumbled
Ned. TOO conceited to live, or to
see that anyone else has a right to
live. But he's making good, l
don't see how such chap can make
good if there's such thing as jus
tice in the world"
Don't be so bitter about it deaf"
protested his mother nervously.
Bitter" 2huckled Ned with a
laugh that wasn't much like his
usual boyish cheer. Il suppost you'll
be telling me next to admire him or
initiate him. That stuff Of his seems
to work all right. Guess III try it
en- Why, last week he bought a
car. DO you suppose he got fine
touring car with room for his
mother and poor old invalid father
and the kids? Not he! Johnny gets
himself little roadster so he can
take out his best girl. He's thinking
of Johnny. Doesn't know his folks
are on earth. Might not be bad
stunt to try little of that stuff my
self, seeing you admire it SO much
But | don't"-protested his
mother ending in wall and plead
ing glance at me.
A Keen Appraisal.
"I'm not so sure that | don't ad-
mire it," ! replied in the face of
Ned's wide eyes and his mothers
pleading ones. Then | ended my
sentence in italics-"relatively. I'd
rather hear of self-centered
young chap such as you describe
than of a sniveling youth who
hasn't the gumption to believe in
himself" 49,.
meaning me?" demanded Ned
combatively.
Meaning you, as you sometimes
are" l replied, Last week, lad,
when that foreign trade firm ad-
vertised for a man who had some
knowledge Of French and Spanish
and who could write a good letter,
you'd have been better Oft with
Johnny's conceit than with your
own humility and doubts. As 1 re-
member you said you didn't know
much Spanish and your French
hadn't been much more than
enough to scrape along on when you
were across with the Seventh and
your tipping had never been much
account. And, anyway, you didn't
think you had the experience to
butt into a good firm like that. You
hadn't enough faith in yourself to
make a try for position that would
have put your mother on Easy
street"
"Oh, then you'll give me credit for
something's" asked Ned, with heavy
sarcasm. go.
give you credit for the willing.
ness to look out for your mother ii
you had anything with which to
look out for herr" I asked. Surely.
But what good does that do her
when she's seraping along on her
income and wishing you'd get the
kind of job your ability merits:
rather than the sort your limited
faith in yourself let's you go atterF
"Well, Of all the slams| pro
tested Ned. "But 20 on, now, that
/ see how badly you think OF me, |
realize more than ever how right |
am when acknowledge that I'm a
dub and that an eighteen-a-week joo
is about my size" >, =.
"But | don't. You AREN'T It
isn't" / protested, wondering if
Ned's mother would ever speak to
me again.
She spoke right then.
Go on, please. 1t was for some
thing like this I planned to take
Johnny in to board. But
as long as you're doing il right
out this way, maybe Neddy-boy
won't need the object lesson was
going to give him."
you, too, mother!' groared Ned
But with her backing, ! rolled up
my sleeves and lit right into our
Ned.
The Only Way.
Lad. there's a whole world be-
tween Johnny and you. NJ one has
to be SO arrogant and selfish as
Johnny in order to succeed In fact
he'll miss some of the greatest re-
wards of friendship and love and
3syo,ion unless he changes. But
to whatever extent his arrogance
makes him tackle big jobs because
he has enough faith in himself to
try-just so far I'm roofing for con-
eeit and arrogance and vanity and
stiffnecked pride. They force John
to constructive action and so they
sren't entirely destructive
Go on, please" murmured Ned.
well, lad think you've gone on
in your own mind. But I'll say it.:
Humility like yours is abasing-and
debasing. You're afraid to start.
You've So little respect for yourself,
and so little belief in yourself, that
you don't try any big things. And
you keep people from believing you
could, even if you were to try. If
you're going to be happy man, a
successful man, you'll have to cult
vate a little faith in Ned-a little
self-esteem"
How can II"
"Just try something that looks a
size too big. Don't say word
about it, but just plunge in and try.
Maybe you'll make it. Maybe you'll
only come near it. But anyway
you'll find that faith does move
mountains. Not arrogance. Not
servility, are what I'm recommend
ing. But proper self-esteem, faith
un,,rrolf Xnu M st,ccnad