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About The Chemawa American (Chemawa, Or.) 19??-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 28, 1923)
The ChemawaAmerican P r in te d a t C h e m a w a , Vol. X X V 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 r I n d i a n E d u c a t i o n W ednesday, F e b ru a ry 28, 1923 T H E R IG H T , A N D T H E W A Y , TO B E H A P P Y People were m ade to be happy. T h e desire for fun, for am usem ent, for joys th a t endure, is very stro n g in every norm al peison. If th e m ajority of the people in the w orld w ere asked to express th eir three g re a t est w ishes they w ould u n d o u b ted ly be happiness, health and w ealth. If every hum an being were told to ask for his suprem e w ish in life the m ajority w ould ask for happiness. In fact, every norm al hum an being is really on a perpetual search for h ap piness. H e m ay not th in k th at he is, b u t this is the m ighty m otive w ith every h u m an being. W e are all striv in g to better o u r condition in life, to m ake life a little m ore livable. W e are all try in g to get, little by little, m ore and m ore em ancipation from d ru d g ery and hard w ork and ex actin g conditions. A nd yet. w hile the en tire h um an race has been h u n t in g for happiness from the daw n of history, few have ever found it or have m uch of an idea w hat it is. T h a t they have not found happiness w here they e x pected to find it has been th e experience of every hum an being w ho has made a specialty of h u n tin g for it. H appiness is not gained th a t way. Real happiness is so sim ple that m ost people do not recognize it. I t is derived from the sim plest, th e m ost quiet, the m ost u n p reten tio u s th in g s in the w orld. H appiness does not abide w ith low ideals, w ith self ishness, idleness, and discord. It is a friend of h a r m ony, of tru th , of beauty, of affection, of sim plicity. M ultitudes of men have m ade fortunes, b u t have m u r dered th eir capacity for enjoym ent in th e process. H ow often we hear the rem ark , “ H e has m oney, but can n o t enjoy i t . ” H e who seeks happiness selfishly will never taste th e blissful satisfaction w hich comes from the u n qualified approval of an act. H appiness alw ays eludes th e selfish seeker. Selfishness and happiness cannot live to g eth er. W e inw ardly despise ourselves for every sel.fish act. People who are alw ays th in k in g of them selves, who are alw ays try in g to find som ething w hich will m ake them h ap p y , some indulgence w hich will satisfy th eir selfish cravings, are always disap pointed seekers. O nly he who seeks a n o th e r’s good, a n o th e r’s w elfare, a n o th e r’s happiness, can find his ow n. No. 19 No man can be happy w hen he despises his own acts, w hen he has any consciousness of w rong, w h e th er of m otive or act. No person can be happv w hen harb o rin g th o u g h ts of revenge, jealousy, envy, or hatred W e m ust have clean hearts and clean con sciences or no am ount of m oney, ex citem ent or o th er things, can m ake us truly happy. W ith the sense of having done rig h t wre are generally happy am id the most adverse conditions. W ith o u t th a t sense people are, as a rule, m ost m iserable even th o u g h every w ant is supplied. W e may not recognize our motives, b u t we are all— every one of u s—try in g to better ourselves, to get a little more com fort, a little easier position, a little more happiness, a little m ore out of life th an we have been g ettin g . But happiness, stu d en ts, does not come from the gratification of desires or of possession. Real happiness is born of noble endeavor - o f a useful life. It is go tten a little here, a little there, from a kind word, a noble deed, a generous act, helpful assistance. W e get it from every rig h t th o u g h t, from every kind w ord or deed, and it cannot be found anyw here else. Y our happiness can never be found outside of yourself and it m u st be bounded by your lim itations. Y our ability to appreciate and enjoy will m ark the bounds of your happiness. E veryw here we see people crow ding, jam m ing th e stro n g , cru sh in g the weak, all try in g to get som ething aw ay from somebody else w hich they th in k would add to th eir happiness, if they could only get hold of it. T h e trouble w ith most of us is th a t we try to find happiness w here it does not ex ist— in tran sien t, im perm anent th in g s; we try to find it in the gratification of desire; we seek it in anim al pleasures. H appiness lives in giving, not in g ettin g or in grasp in g . W hat we are, not w hat we have, m akes us happy. H appiness is th e rew ard for w orthy service to others, for heroic endeavor in try in g to do our p art in th e w orld, to perform our d u ty . T here m ust be the desire to be helpful, to m ake ou r little w orld, w h er ever we are, a better place in w hich to live because of our efforts. L ittle kindnesses, pleasant w ords, little helps by the way, trifling courtesies, little enco u rag e m ents, duties faithfully done, unselfish service, w ork (C ontinued on pagi 4)
