It is generally known that he who expects much will be often
disappointed; yet disappointment seldom cures us of expectations. But
one of the saddest thoughts that come to us in life is the thought
that in this bright, beautiful and joy-giving world of ours there are
many shadowed lives. There is but one way in which we can succeed,
when we admit that happiness is but a state of the mind, and that
success is the faithful performance of known duties, then shall we
acquire both. Though we may wander the wide world over and gather
wealth and fame, they will be found impotent to confer happiness, and
life to us will seem full of disappointments; but it is because we
failed to seek for life in that spirit of quiet content which conducts
it. It never happened to any man since the making of this world nor
ever will, to have all things according to his desires. If you risk
nothing, of course you lose nothing. Let him who is enlisted for the
war expect to meet the foe. It is with life’s troubles as with the
risks of the battlefield—there is always less danger to the party who
stands firm than to the one who gives way. To give way to
disappointments is to invite defeat. To bravely cast about for means
to resist them is to put them to flight, and out of temporary
misfortune by the foundation of a more glorious success, by sending
disappointments to the winds; taking life as it is and with a strong
will, make life as near what it should be as possible.
The most pure lives sometimes are those who are met with the most
disappointments. With some it is the wreck of a great ambition. Yes,
he has built his ship and launched it on the sea of life loaded with
the richest jewels of his strength and manhood. And behold, it comes
back to him beaten and battered by the fury gale. We may add some rays
of sunshine to our path if we earnestly try to dispel the clouds of
discontent that may arise in our bosom, and by doing so enjoy fully
the bountiful blessings that God our creator has given to his humblest
creatures.