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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 8, 1920)
. A MAY 8 The Chemawa Am encan P r i n t e d a t C h e m a w a , O r e g o n , a n d D e v o t e d to t h e i n t e r e s t s o f I n d i a n E d u c a t i o n Vol. X X III W ednesday, D ecem ber 8, 1920 H A P P IN E S S We believe th a t if questioned upon the subject that practically every m illionaire and m ulti-m illionaire in th e U nited States today would state th at they are not a bit happier now th an when they were in poorer c ir cum stances. So would the vast m ajority of men and women who have reached the goal of th e ir am bition, w hatever it may have been, express them selves. T he w hole world is engaged in th e quest for h a p piness, b u t, ju d g in g by appearances, very few succeed in th e ir quest. Some expect to find it in m oney, some in fame, some in gratification of th eir am bition, in th e attain m en t of a certain object, but when they get th e th in g th at was going to m ake them so happy thev find happiness ju st as far aw ay as ever. W ith the m ost of us th e trouble is th a t we are always looking for happiness in the fu tu re , ex p ectin g to find it in some big th in g a fo rtu n e, some g ran d o p p o r tu n ity , some great stroke of luck, some vague indefi nite th in g w hich we are at a loss to describe—and we seem to th in k th a t w hatever th is th in g is w hich is going to m ake us really happy it is alw ays in the d is tance, never close at hand. It aw aits us som ew here in th e shadow y fu tu re; it is never in the th in g s we have, b u t in the th in g s th a t are far aw ay, or em bodied in those th in g s w hich others possess. E very-one know s th a t riches— m aterial th in g s—do not b rin g happiness E xcitem ent, fleeting pleasures, pleasures th a t often leave a bad taste in the m outh w hen they are past, may be bought w ith m oney; but real happiness cannot be bought or sold. N othing m ean or u nw orthy appeals to it. T h ere is no affinity betw een it and the m erely anim al p art of o u r nature. In one sh o rt sentence we find in the Bible, w here St. P aul has stated the first principle of happiness: **For I have learned in w hatever state I am therew ith to be c o n te n t.” H ow m any of us are co n ten t w ith the state we are in? W o rk in g in a ch eerfu l, optim istic sp irit at our task, w hatever it may be; doing our level best to make it a m eans of gro w th , a step p in g stone to higher things? F o r this is w hat St. Paul m eant. T h e con te n tm e n t of w hich he speaks has nothing to do with the co n ten tm en t of stag n atio n . H e alw ays had a glorious goal in view —the u p liftin g of m ankind to a higher plane. In the p u rsu it of his object he accepted w hatever came to him —im prisonm ent, persecution, to rtu re , h ardships of every sort, in the sam e happy sp irit. H e found happiness in w hatever he was doing; he took it w ith him w herever he w ent. H ow m any of us are doing that? Are not m ost of us doing the direct op p o site—m aking ourselves m iser able by continual g ru m b lin g about our environm ent, No. 10 our w ork, our associates, our condition generally? A lm ost every person is losing the happiness he is in search of by strain in g for som ething he has not. H e is living in anticipation, not in reality. Now, stu d en ts, readers, success and happiness are for you— for every hum an being on th is beautiful ea rth w here God has placed us. H e m eant us to be happy and successful, and it is only w hen we are not in harm ony w ith H im , w orking co n trary to H is plan for us, instead of w orking in unison w ith H im , th a t we are u n h ap p y , unsuccessful— m iserable failures in stead of rad ian t successes. W h at we get out of life depends upon how we look at it, and w hat we put into it. W hen we face life the rig h t way, th a t is, in the rig h t m ental a ttitu d e — cheerful, hopeful, alw ays ex p ectin g th e best to com e to us because we believe in the fatherhood of God, v ho gives only good gifts to us, and th a t we cannot in ju re our b ro th er man w ithout in ju rin g ourselves— th en we have gone a long way tow ard solving the pi oblem of happiness. O u r m ental a ttitu d e and ou r acts determ ine w hether we shall be happy or m iser able, w h ether we m ake of life m usic or discord. H ap p in ess is th e result of rig h t th in k in g and rig h t acting. I t is as im possible for th e selfish, greedy, g rasp in g th o u g h t, the th o u g h t centered wholly upon o n e ’s in terest, to produce a happy sta te of m ind as it is for th istle seeds to produce w heat. E very th o u g h t and every act will produce a harvest like itself. If we sow helpfulness, kindness, unselfishness, we shall reap a harvest of satisfaction, harm ony and h ap piness. If we sow unkindness by th o u g h t or act; if our m inds are filled m uch of the tim e w ith discordant th o u g h ts, envy, jealousy, h atred , we shall reap a harvest of m isery and discord. O ur degree of h ap piness or m isery today is m erely the resu lt of our th o u g h t life— for the act follows the th o u g h t. R ight th in k in g m eans rig h t acting. No one has a “ c o rn e r” on happiness. It is not a p rero g ativ e of w ealth or pow er. T h e kingdom of harm ony or heaven is w ithin each individual. S tra ig h tfo rw a rd , honest w ork, a determ ined effort to do o n e ’s best, w hatever his task, w hatever his e n viro n m en t, an earnest effort to scatter su n sh in e, to m ake o th er people a little better off, a little happier because of o u r existence, these are th e in g redients th a t en ter into the m aking of real happiness. If you d o n ’t w ork up to this recipe today, rig h t w here you are, you will never find happiness tom orrow in some other job, in some other place. H app in ess is a con dition of m ind. Jessie Cleveland was in charge of th e dom estic science d u rin g Mrs. B rickell’s absence the o th er day.
