Evening star., 1935-07-22
Make Most
Of Things to
Be Obtained
Selfishness Classed as
Added Burden in
Trying Days.
BY ANGELO PATRI.

DEAR CHILDREN: These are hard
days for your father and mother.
There is almost no money to be had,
and that means that all there is has
to go for clothes and food and rent
and medicine. Necessities come first.
Are you helping all you can by taking
care of your things and asking for
nothing you can get along without?
Or are you making life harder for your
father and mother by demanding
things they cannot buy you?
I know a boy and girl whose father
and mother have gone without food
themselves to give some to their chill
dren. Neither of them has had any
clothes in long while now, but the
children have good clothes, so they can
go to school. Yet these two children
have made their parents lives more
miserable than ever by insisting that
they have roller skates.
They have no money to buy skates
There is scarcely enough to keep the
family going, and yet these two chill
dren, who are old enough to know bet
ter, insist that they must have them.
"All the other children have them,"
they say.
What shall I do?" the distraced
mother asked. They are so unhappy
because they have no rollers and all the
others have. don't know what to do
about it. I dare not spend penny
for toys of any kind. Yet my children
cry for skates"
Imagine thati Imagine the selfish
ness, the blindness, the utter stupidity
of two children more than II years
old. who insist that they cannot be
happy unless they have roller skates!
Just tell those two children" said
!. that they can be glad they have
two sound legs to run about on and
they better give thanks for them in
stead of asking for skates. And tell
them they are going to have no skates
today. tomorrow or any other time,
until they earn them for themselves.
BY the time they earn the money for
skates they will value it far too highly
to spend it for such things. Don't
pity them Laugh at them. Tell them
to get busy and help around the house,
give you lift with the work and stop
bothering you. Don't take such child
ish things seriously"
But the mother took it very seriously
and cried because her children were
unhappy. She could not help it. If
the children had been as thoughtful of
their mother as she was of them they
would not have let her know about the
skates. Theyt would have been busy
planning to help her manage with
what they had instead of adding to
her burden.
1t is natural to want what other
children have. but if you haven't got
it then get to work and make some
thing else fill the place. Get over the
notion that you cannot be happy un-
less you get everything you want. That
wanting gets you nowhere. The more
you give yourself the more you will
want until by and by nothing pleases
you, nothing satisfies you and you go
about the world uneasy and wanting,
always wanting something, something
you haven't got and which wouldn't
matter if you had it.
Possession of things, is not happi-
ness. It does not bring happiness.
Learning to make the most of what
you have, learning to help the one
nearest and dearest to you, learning to
do without unnecessary things, learn
ing to cultivate your spirit instead of
your body. will lead you to happiness.
1t is surprising how little you need to
be perfectly happy. Happiness is not
a thing at ALL 1t is not in things. 1t
is state Of mind, and child can have
1t simply by accepting it. These are
no days for selfish wanting. They are
days for serving. Just get to work and
help instead of burden your people.
Cordially yours. ANGELO PATRI.
(Copyright 1880