Evening star., 1933-03-03
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES 3. TRACEWELL.

synonyms are distress, disquet, worry
pain, vexation. torment, sfliction. care,
cross, and, with special meanings, sor-
row. misfortune. anxiety, fear.
Onhapd, one might seem to be calling
q roll Of the depression.
These are times that try ones soul, y
too.
It is ones soul which Is tried, In q
very special sense.
Every man Is driven back onto his
own dignity. as human being.
As old institutions show signs OF
crumbling and men lose confidence In
others and In themselves, they see the
full glory Of true individuality.
Every human being stands alone with
himself and his God, at the last.
When earth's elories fee, or at least
self and the Maker Of that SET.
There Is nothing great in the world
except man." some one said, "snd moth
ing great about man but mind"
Whether that Is entirely true or not
1t seems to have some points Of merit
to it.
The mind OF man Is what finds Life
interesting, whether its runs happily
or not.
He who manages to hold onto interest
In times Of trouble has the advantage
Of him who fuses and fumes overmuch
Elementary psychology points to the
fact that too much concentration ON a
given subject defeats its purpose. Every
one who has had the experience of q
good nights sleep upon q difficult prob
lem knows how easily the work goes on
when resumed. Often the solution
which evaded one simply pops into the
mind then.
If trouble Is undiluted by sheer In
terest in the difficulty, whatever it may
be, the concentration Is too intense. It
needs diffusion to permit the subject to
look into 1t from every angle to see the
fine points Of the situation.
No one need be afraid that interest
in situation viii put one in the posi-
tion Of q scientist peertng at q bug I'M
paled on q pin.
Here we are dealing with life itself.
The doctor knows that sore may be
beautiful sore, In Q sense; that it may
manifest the healing processes Of Ma
ture in a peculiarly striking way.
As horrible as anything is, it still may
be an exceedingly fine spectme4. Of Just
that type of horror.
Anything which happens, anything
at ali, has It's aspects Of interest il one
can keep command Of himself to the
extent that he is able to grasp the sew
eral aspects as they arise.
One summA1tly hoisted on q stick Of
dynamite may be excused from seeing
the interest inherent In his situation.
He Is simply not in q position to see
it. All he can do Is 60. There are,
in less striking scenes, many similar
movements, both Of masses and Of indi-
viduals. All any one can do at the time
Is 60.
Short of these crises. there are few
situations which do not present some
thing interesting in the many wide
senses enumerated hitherto. II 1t Is
not pleasing, 1t NAV be exciting; II it is
not amusing, 1t may be absorbing.
The interested individual never for
5 that he is both an actor and a
spectator. Which role shall prevail
must depend upon his individual tenn
permanent, which Pope called the ruling
passion"
He will make supreme effort at all
times to see the interesting aspects,
whether peaceful or painful, In every
situation.
Life is not something on parade, but
in and for itself.
Every moment Of It Is worth while
and always will be to him who sees in
terest where others might see only fear.