Evening star., 1936-05-02
Work Done
Willingly
NotTedious
Right Mental Attitude
Makes Chores
Easy.
BY ANGELA PATRI.

MY MOTHER taught me that il
A was not the hard work that
did that wearied me. 1t was the way
I thought about it. When I learned
to think happily as I worked it did
not tire me nearly so much"
That thought was sent to me in a
letter from a mother who was prov
ing the truth of her own words. She
and her husband, with a family of
children and a couple of grandpar-
ents, were working out their own liv-
ing problems on farm among the
mountains of the West. They were
all very happy because they had
learned to think happily as they
worked.
They kept thinking. for example,
how much they had to be thankful for.
Nobody was sick in the family. Every
one could get about and make him.
self useful doing his share of the
work. Each, as he worked, thought
of the others, for whom he was will
ing and glad to do this job. Doing
it we'll would make them more conf
Portable, bring them more JOY. That
thought made work lighter.
There was a garden to keep along
with the other things. Keeping a
garden is mighty hard work. unless
you have another thought about it..
If. as you push in the spade, you
think of the fine crop that is to
come: if. as you pull out the weeds,
you think of the food you have saved
for the growing plants and of how
much they will add to the beauty or
to the health of the others; if, as you
pick the berries or gather the vege-
tables, you think of the smiles they
will bring when they appear on the
table, the whole job seems easier.
lighter. lovelier.
Most of us have to do ordinary jobs
one after the other all day long and
do them day after day. They become
tedious and begin to wear us down
with their monotony. If we dedicate
those tasks to people we love, to
causes for which we long to give
ourselves, for some purpose close to
our hearts, the dreariness and the
fatigue are reduced to the minimum.
We begin singing again as we bend
to the task.
Looking forward instead of holding
our eyes on the immediate duty helpa
to ease the burden of daily work. The
mother who tends her little ones day
by day thinks: by and by they will
grow up and go to school and out to
work and away to homes of their
own. They will be fine men and
women and will be proud and glad
they are my children"
The thought that the routine of
baths and bottles and diets and rules
is to create finely reared young
man. a finely educated young woman.
takes the curse off the drudgery and
lifts it into the plane of high service.
We can teach something of this to
children. 1t is hard for them to un-
derstand why they have to do some Of
the things they are asked to do.
They have to give up play. pleasures
OF all kinds. personal wishes and they
do not know why. Some one wants
them to do a job. learn lesson, carry
responsibility. If they once get the
notion that what they do is going to
be useful in promoting some dream,
some ideal, some deep wish; If they
can be shown that their works helps
some one they love. their thoughts as
they work will not only relieve them
of pressure. but will inspire them
with a will and a power foreign to
grudging, shirking, whining perform
ance.
What you think as you work is what
puts power, beauty and success into it.