INDOLENCE.
There is no greater enemy to improvement than an indolent spirit. An
aversion to effort paralyzes every noble desire, and defeats every
attempt at advancement. If you are naturally indolent, you must put
on resolution to overcome it, and strive against it with untiring
vigilance. There is not a single point, in the process of education, at
which this hydra-headed monster will not meet you. “The slothful man
saith there is a lion without, I shall be slain in the street.” There
is always a lion in the way, when slothful spirits are called upon
to make any exertion. “_I can’t_,” is the sovereign arbiter of their
destiny. It prevents their attempting any thing difficult or laborious.
If required to write a composition, they _can’t_ think of any thing
to write about. The Latin lesson is difficult; this word they _can’t_
find; that sentence they _can’t_ read. The sums in arithmetic are _so
hard_, they _can’t_ do them. And so this lion in the way defeats every
thing. But those who expect ever to be any thing, must not suffer such
a word as _can’t_ in their vocabulary.
It is the same with labor. The indolent dread all exertion. When
requested to do any thing, they have something else to do first, which
their indolence has left unfinished; or they have some other reason to
give why they should not attempt it. But if nothing else will do, the
sluggard’s excuse, “_I can’t_,” is always at hand. Were it not for the
injury to them, it would be far more agreeable to do, one’s self, what
is desired of them, than to encounter the painful scowls that clothe
the brow, when they think of making an effort. Solomon has described
this disposition to the life:--“The slothful man putteth his hand in
his bosom: _it grieveth him to take it out again_.”
But indolence is a source of great misery. There are none so happy as
those who are _always active_. I do not mean that they should give
themselves no relaxation from severe effort. But relaxation does not
suppose _idleness_. To sit and fold one’s hands, and do nothing,
serves no purpose. Change of employment is the best recreation. And
from the idea of employment, I would not exclude active and healthful
sports, provided they are kept within due bounds. But to sit idly
staring at vacancy is intolerable. There is no enjoyment in it. It is
a stagnation of body and mind. An indolent person is, to the active
and industrious, what a stagnant pool is to the clear and beautiful
lake. Employment contributes greatly to enjoyment. It invigorates the
body, sharpens the intellect, and promotes cheerfulness of spirits;
while indolence makes a torpid body, a vacant mind, and a peevish,
discontented spirit.
Indolence is a great waste of existence. Suppose you live to the age
of seventy years, and squander in idleness one hour a day, you will
absolutely throw away about three years of your existence. And if we
consider that this is taken from the waking hours of the day, it should
be reckoned six years. Are you willing, by idleness, to shorten your
life six years? Then take care of the moments. Never fritter away time
in doing nothing. Whatever you do, whether study, work, or play, enter
into it with spirit and energy; and never waste your time in sauntering
and doing nothing. “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy
might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in
the grave, whither thou goest.”