Time.
Every act we do, every thought we think, every feeling we cherish exists
in time. Our life is a succession of flying moments. Once gone, they can
never be recalled. As they are employed, so our character becomes. To
use time wisely is a good part of the art of living well, for "time is
the stuff life is made of."
THE DUTY.
+The duty of making life a consistent whole.+--Life is not merely a
succession of separate moments. It is an organic whole. The way in which
we spend one moment affects the next, and all that follow; just as the
condition of one part of the body affects the well-being of all the
rest. As we have seen, dissipation to-day means disease to-morrow. Work
to-day means property to-morrow. Wastefulness to-day means want
to-morrow. Hence it should be our aim so to co-ordinate one period of
time with another that our action will promote not merely the immediate
interests of the passing moment, but the interests of the permanent self
throughout the whole of life. What we pursue on one day must not clash
with what we pursue the next; each must contribute its part to our
comprehensive and permanent well-being.
THE VIRTUE
+Prudence is the habit of looking ahead, and seeing present conduct in
its relation to future welfare.+--Prudence is manly and virtuous because
it controls present inclination, instead of being controlled by it. A
burning appetite or passion springs up within us, and demands instant
obedience to its demands. The weak man yields at once and lets the
appetite or passion or inclination lead him whithersoever it listeth.
Not so the strong, the prudent man. He says to the hot, impetuous
passion: "Sit down, and be quiet. I will consider your request. If it
seems best I will do as you wish. If it turns out that what you ask is
not for my interest I shall not do it. You need not think that I am
going to do everything you ask me to, whether it is for my interest to
do it or not. You have fooled me a good many times, and hereafter I
propose to look into the merits of your requests before I grant them."
It takes strength and courage and determination to treat the impulses of
our nature in this haughty and imperious manner. But the strength and
resolution which it takes to do an act is the very essence of its
manliness and virtue.
THE REWARD.
+The life of the prudent man holds together, part plays into part, and
the whole runs smoothly.+--One period of life, one fraction of time,
does not conflict with another. He looks on the past with satisfaction
because he is enjoying the fruit of that past in present well-being. He
looks to the future with confidence because the present contains the
seeds of future well-being. Each step in life is adjusted to every
other, and the result is a happy and harmonious whole.
THE TEMPTATION.
+Time tempts us to break up our lives into separate parts.+--"Let us eat
and drink, for to-morrow we die." "After us the deluge." These are the
maxims of fools. The reckless seizure of the pleasures of the present
hour, regardless of the days and years to come, is the characteristic
mark of folly.
THE VICE OF DEFECT.
+"Procrastination is the thief of time."+--The particular impulse which
most frequently leads us to put off the duty of the hour is indolence.
But any appetite or passion which induces us to postpone a recognized
duty for the sake of a present delight is an invitation to
procrastination.
The fallacy of procrastination, the trick by which it deceives, is in
making one believe that at a different time he will be a different
person. The procrastinator admits, for instance, that a piece of work
must be done. But he argues, "Just now I would rather play or loaf than
do the work. By and by there will come a time when I shall rather do the
work than play or loaf. Let's wait till that time comes." That time
never comes. Our likes and dislikes do not change from one day to
another. To-morrow finds us as lazy as to-day, and with the habit of
procrastination strengthened by the indulgence of yesterday. Putting a
duty off once does not make it easier: it makes it harder to do the next
time.
Play or rest when we ought to be at work is weakening and demoralizing.
Rest and play after work is bracing and invigorating. The sooner we face
and conquer a difficulty, the less of a difficulty it is. The longer we
put it off the greater it seems, and the less becomes our strength with
which to overcome it.
THE VICE OF EXCESS.
+Anxiety defeats itself.+--Anxiety sacrifices the present to the future.
When this becomes a habit it defeats its own end. For the future is
nothing but a succession of moments, which, when they are realized, are
present moments. And the man who sacrifices all the present moments to
his conception of a future, sacrifices the very substance out of which
the real future is composed. For when he reaches the time to which he
has been looking forward, and for the sake of which he has sacrificed
all his early days, the habit of anxiety stays by him and compels him to
sacrifice that future, now become present, to another future, still
farther ahead; and so on forever. Thus life becomes an endless round of
fret and worry, full of imaginary ills, destitute of all real and
present satisfaction. It is a good rule never to cross a bridge until we
come to it. Prudence demands that we make reasonable preparation for
crossing it in advance. But when these preparations are made prudence
has done its work, and waits calmly until the time comes to put its
plans into operation. Anxiety fills all the intervening time with
forebodings of all the possible obstacles that may arise when the time
for action comes.
+Procrastination, anxiety, and prudence.+--Procrastination sacrifices
the future to the present. Anxiety sacrifices the present to the future.
Prudence co-ordinates present and future in a consistent whole, in which
both present and future have their proper place and due consideration.
THE PENALTY.
Imperfect co-ordination, whether by procrastination or by worry, brings
discord. The parts of life are at variance with each other. The
procrastinator looks on past indulgence with remorse and disgust; for
that past indulgence is now loading him down with present disabilities
and pains. He looks on the future with apprehension, for he knows that
his present pleasures are purchased at the cost of misery and
degradation in years to come.
The man in whom worry and anxiety have become habitual likewise lives a
discordant life. He looks out of a joyless present, back on a past
devoid of interest, and forward into a future full of fears.