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The Joys of Living
by Orison Swett Marden
Originally Published: 1913
by Thomas Y. Crowell Company Publishers, New York [Read Plain-Text Version]Click on ebook to turn pages
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-------CONTENTS------- I. Living To-Day--In the Here and Now II. A Professional At Living III. The Hunt For Happiness IV. Training the Young Toward Sunshine V. Riches and Happiness VI. Enjoying Without owning VII. The Sun of Tired Nerves VIII. Think Health and Joy IX. The Joys of Imagination X. Taking Life Too Seriously XI. Happiness Can Be Cultivated XII. The Joys of Friendship XIII. The Tragedy of Postponed Enjoyment XIV. Intellectual and Esthetic Joys XV. "Reading Maketh A Full Man" XVI. The Alchemy of a Cheerful Mind XVII. The Twin Enemies of Happiness--Fear and Worry XVIII. The Strain to Keep Up Appearances Kills Happiness XIX. Contentment, The Secret of Happiness XX. Home Joy Killer XXI. The Power of the Home Joy XXII. The Dangers of Thwarted Ambition XXIII. An Idle Life an Unhappy Life XXIV. Joy in Our Work XXV. Turning the Water of Life Into Wine XXVI. Longevity and Happiness
-------EXCERPT-------LIVING TO-DAY — IN THE HERE AND NOW Happy the man and happy he alone, He who can call to-day his own; He who's secure within can say, To-morrow do thy worst, for I have lived to-day. — Dryden. "There never was a land so dear But found its hallelujah here."
If an inhabitant of some other planet were to visit America, he would probably think that our people were all en route for something beyond, some other destination, and that where they happen to be living is merely a way station where they unpack only such of their luggage as they need for a temporary stay. The visitor would find very few people actually living in the here and the now. He would find that most people's gaze is fixed upon something beyond, something to come. They are not really settled to-day, do not really live in the now, but they are sure they will live to-morrow or next year when business is better, their fortune greater, when they move into their new house, get their new furnishings, their new automobile, get rid of things that now annoy, and have everything around them to make them comfortable. Then they will be happy. But they are not really enjoying themselves to-day. Our eyes are so focused upon the future, upon some goal in the beyond, that we do not see the beauties and the glories all about us. Our eyes are not focused for the things near us, but those far away. We get so accustomed to living in our imagination and anticipation that we lose much of our power of enjoying the here and the now. We are living for to-morrow, to-morrow, and yet, "When to- morrow comes it still will be to-morrow!" We are like children chasing a rainbow. If we could only reach it, what delight 1 We spend our lives trading in "futures," building air-castles. We never believe that we have yet reached the years of our finest living, but we always feel sure that that ideal time of life is coming.
Most of us are discontented, restless, nervous, and unhappy. There is a far-away look in our eyes, which shows that we are not content with to-day, that we are not really hving here and now, that our minds are on something away beyond the present. The great majority of people think that the proper thing to do is to hve almost anywhere except right here and now. Many people dwell on the past with its rich but lost opportunities, its splendid chances which they have let slip; and while they are doing this, they waste the precious present which seems of little account to them to-day, but which to-morrow will begin to take on a new value in their estimation. It is astonishing what new virtues and forces we are able to see and to develop in regretful retrospection, the moment these have passed beyond our reach. What splen- did opportunities stand out after they have gone by! Oh! what could we not do with them if we had them back ! Happiness for many people is marred by memories of unfortunate mistakes or bitter experiences in an unhappy past. To be happy one must learn to let go, to erase, to bury, to forget everything that is disagreeable, that calls up unpleasant memories. These things can do nothing for us but sap the very vitality which we need for correcting our mistakes and misfortunes.
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