The coastland times. [volume] (Mnateo [i.e. Manteo], N.C.) 1947-1959, 1951-01-26
TROUBLES

temper the metal of which hum
an beings are made. Some people,
fortunately, are the better for it;
a few are warped in mind and
body. The troubles Of youth are
worse than those of old age, be-
cause age can look back down the
years and realize the worst trou-
bles never happened.
All of us know that troubles
usually put up false front. They
present a frightful aspect when
viewed from before. But when we
analyze them and strip them down
to the core, we find there is not
much to most of the things we
first view as troubles. Troubles
are as false as the props in a
show. They make a great show
ing, but on looking around be-
hind them, we find there isn't
much foundation.
A great many people do little
/ but sit idle and think how bad off
they are going to be if this or that
should happen. They brood over
the possibilities until they reach
stage of nervous exhaustion.
Some people resort to drink to
drown their troubles, which usual
ly are not troubles at all, and
make the matter all the worse.
Young people, lacking bro "a d
knowledge of the world, frighten-
ed by the unknown as it were, suf-
fer grief more intensely than old
er people.
1t has always been the unknown
of which man has been most a.
fraid. First of all the hereafter
has been most dreaded because
man to this day has never,
throughout the centuries, learned
single thing about it. And so,
long ago, dreading the hereafter,
fearing for his own safety and
comfort, he devised a means of
comforting himself. He prepared
a creed to live by, and to teach.
The sum Of it is love thy fellow
man, and by following the Golden
Rule, many people depart this life
without regrets, and enter the I'M
known without fear. Those who
have so firmly believed in this
creed, and lived most staunchly by
it, have lived most happily and
most peacefully died.
So it is with troubles of all
kinds, the young and the old fear
, what they do not understand. The
young suffer worse when loved
ones die, while the real old people,
resigned to the ways of life, re-
fleet that death is only relief
from toll and sorrow and pain,
and find comfort in such medita-
ton.
Small debts of a few dollars
give more concern to some peo-
pie than large debts of many
thousands give to others. The one
man may fear he can never pay
off. The other man may feel sure
of his ability to work himself out
of debt, and be strong and able
to do so. If man worries about
his health failing, or other mis-
fortune overtaking him, he is
cooking up trouble before it is
Matched. Needless trouble at that.
Worry also comes to those who
look backward too much upon the
mistakes or misfortunes of the
past. Never cry over split milk
is an apt adage. The thing to
spend energy on is devising means
to keep the milk from spilling a.
gain.
We have found time after time
that trouble, fancied or real, new
er proved as bad as we feared. We
know by comparison that we have
so much to be thankful for when
we compare our lot with those
more unfortunate, that we should
have no time to waste in useless
fears. We know that to be men,
we must face our troubles man.
| fully, fight them out, and never
fear them. No army ever won a.
gainst odds if it was afraid of the
enemy and ran away.
Troubles are never so bad as
they look when they first show
up. Tear 'em down, and see how
false they are, and how foolish
it is to worry about them. If we
worry over them openly, younger
people will observe and follow the
! example. Never admit there are
troubles, and there won't be so
many, and those who follow af-
ter won't 500 so many either.
food, we can report that Inez
| H. ..~.-.