It is well known (see “Alison’s History of Europe”) that those who have
lived for many years in hot climates are so saturated with warmth that
they keep warm for some time after they have come into a cooler climate
like ours. Somewhat similarly, whenever we _are_ happy, if we let our
whole self--every cell and atom within our body from tip to toe--become
saturated with Happiness whenever we feel happy, we should be able
to carry on the habit when the conditions seem less satisfactory; we
should still feel the glow. But we simply _must_ be and feel happy
“with all our mind and with all our soul and with all our strength,”
at the happy times. Without feverish excitement, we should thrill
throughout with Happiness, and be happy “all over,” as someone was said
to smile all over! It is a good phrase.
For why not let all the cells and fibres enjoy themselves with us? Why
keep the Happiness--as if we were autocratic and despotic Monarchs,
instead of Representatives of a Democratic Community--to ourselves? Why
not let the cells all “rejoice with us that rejoice”?
They will repay us a hundredfold in times of trouble and trial. They
will then thrust back Happiness to us, as the roots of a plant thrust
up stems and leaves and flowers in return for the warmth and light and
air and moisture and chemicals that they have absorbed.
If--as Virchow and many others hold--cells have some individuality and
some intelligence, will they not respond to our Happiness, at least as
much as you and I respond to the Happiness of our Nation and Empire
when there is good news and success of the whole of which we form a
particle?
To enjoy an Environment, or the memory of it, is a pleasant Avenue. If,
instead of rushing through our sweet holidays and hours of peace and
pleasantness, we “pause on every charm,” and concentrate our attention
on the Pleasantness, we can make the Environment, on which so many
people depend for their Health and Happiness, our own possession,
within our minds, by means of picture-memories, or sound-memories, or
even word-memories. Here is one, from J. Beattie:--
“_But who the melodies of morn can tell?
The wild brook babbling down the mountain-side;
The lowing herd, the sheepfold’s simple bell;
The pipe of early shepherd dim descried
In the low valley; echoing far and wide
The clamorous horn along the cliffs above;
The hollow murmur of the ocean-tide;
The hum of bees, the linnet’s lay of love,
And the full choir that wakes the universal grove._”
After all, what is our real Environment? Most people would say, at
once--the air, the building, the scenery, in which, and the people and
paraphernalia among which, we happen to be at any time. And these are
indeed part of our Environment.
But our true Environment is, first of all, the contents of our
mind, and especially that part of the contents--whether memories or
imaginations--to which we give most attention and interest; secondly,
the Divine influence in which, whether we recognise it or not, we “live
and move and have our being.”
And, chiefly, we live in whatever we think of or allow ourselves not to
refuse as residents in our mind.
I have said little, in these few pages, about what are ordinarily
regarded as Environmental helps. I rather wished to emphasise the
importance of keeping happy, and of using such means as we had always
or often with us. I could have written much about colours, music,
books, friendship, and so on. But I had to leave unwritten far more
than I have written here.
If these ideas help the reader to keep happy more consistently, less
spasmodically, and more independently of outside conditions, they will
have served their purpose.
Perhaps even the mere titles of some books may be of use towards this
end--“All’s Right with the World,” “Just Be Glad,” and “Keep Happy.”
To keep happy means enjoyment and ease, peace and poise, health and
fitness, during work-times and non-work times; it means more work
and better work; it means better opportunities and openings for our
activities in the future; it means better rest and sleep after work;
it means constant, all-round improvement for oneself and others. It
is, like Health, part of our duty towards God, our neighbour, and our
self, and the myriads of cell-lives working within us.