The Duty of Cheerfulness

The Duty of Cheerfulness By Dr. Frank L. West, Director, Division of Interior Instruction, Utah Agricultural College We ought to be as cheerful as we can, not only for our own sakes but for the benefit of those around us. The most ef- fective way to make others happy is just to be happy ourselves. A genuine smile is appealing and contagious. Have you not noticed how much a cheerful friend is like a sunny days that sheds brightness all around? Such a one is obliging, kind, and pleasing. Let us make our neighborhood brighter, happier and better because we are there. To be bright and cheerful sometimes requires an effort. In fact it is an art to keep ourselves happy. We need to watch and manage ourselves almost as if we were some one else. When annoying things have happened, or misfortunes have overtaken us, then we must act as if we are truly happy by sing- ing some cheerful song, telling a funny but clean story, or count- ing our many blessings. In this manner we will force the thought of our recent reverses out of our minds, and we will soon find ourselves actually happy. The cheerfulness which was at first forced will thereby become free and natural. Nothing is gained by becoming despondent and discour- aged, thus appearing to others sad. A frown is ugly, a scowl forbidding, a grouch abhorrent — a crabbed, disagreeable, sour, sullen, ill-natured one is hideous and repulsive. To talk about our troubles makes us live through them once more and makes us more unhappy. Then, too, it makes those who listen unhappy. It therefore serves no useful purpose, is unfair and unkind to the one who hears and therefore should not be engaged in. We have no right to make others sad. Be- sides, some of our reverses are often blessings in disguise. Thorny paths, full of obstacles, call forth patient endurance, stimulate greater effort and produce strength. Some of the most attractive and lovely spirits are those who have had much trouble and have not succumbed and had their spirit broken, but have overcome. To be happy and hopeful in the face of great trials and difficulties requires courage. The real test of a man is this. How many times can he take a drubbing and still take heart? The world has only contempt for the quitter. Man has not yet

454 IMPROVEMENT ERA contrived a substitute for determination, nor a machine that can produce artificial courage. When drenched with trouble and despair, we need to keep our jaw squared and our wills dogged. We must demonstrate that we are daring, self-reliant, plucky, fighting men. We should never give up, but play the game to the very end — afraid of nothing except cowardice. Let us not brood over fond hopes, unrealized, but be as nature intended us to be — fountain springs of cheerfulness. We should forget our blunders and start each day serenely and well and with a high, care-free spirit. Those who desire to be cheerful must not be sensitive but be sensible. A man needs enough self-confidence to keep him- self sweet. He will not then chafe under the obstinate ques- tionings as to his own worth, or be depressed by the thought of his defects, or sensitive to the random attacks of criticism; not quick to take offense nor fearful lest he be unequal to any emergency. Hope and confidence (not boastfulness) breed op- timism, earnestness, and enthusiasm; and enthusiasm is like steam in the boiler, or like juice in the trolley wire. Believe in yourself. If you are competent you can and will repeat your former success. Those who succeed are usually cheerful and hopeful. They go about their business with a light heart and radiant counte- nance, and take the changes and chances of life like men. Let us wear the smile that suggests well-being — the peace of self-forget- fulness. What if we have suffered financial losses and have become encumbered with debt! Very few, if any, are actually suffer- ing from cold and hunger. Too much lamentation might indi- cate that our hearts are set too fully on earthly treasures, rather than on eternal riches. How happy we should be when we consider the many blessings that are ours. We live in the best country in the world. We have the true and everlasting gospel which has brought us joy and holds bright hopes and promises for the future. Unexcelled schools and libraries are ours. We have health, good, peaceful homes, friends and loved ones. How great would the loss be if we had to part with but one of these. How thankful we should be that the great war was so success- fully terminated, and that the influenza scourge has passed by. Let us then maintain a brave, resigned and hopeful spirit, "have faith where we cannot understand, travel the hardest road with patience, and carry unto the dark places the light of a cheerful heart." Logan, Utah