ART OF ENJOYING LIFE

Gisborne Times, Volume LXXII, Issue 11404, 3 January 1931, Page 9

ART OF ENJOYING LIFE

GOOD HEALTH FIRST ESSEN.

TIAL

(Specially written, for the Gisborne Times.)

By Frederick Stubbs, F.R.G.S, (Rights Reserved.)

In my last article I endeavoured to give a popular exposition of prolonging life. But there is little use in prolonging life, unless we at the same time prolong its enjoyment- I therefore propose to deal in this article with , the no less important art of enjoying life. And, first,' for the full enjoyment of.life. How can a man enjoy labor, food, rest, society, without health ? Pain and sickness will more than counterbalance the best gifts of fortune. A single nerve quivering with pain will obliterate all other sensations and impressions. 111-health, too,, reacts powerfully upon our mental states, producing a depression of spirits that distorts our perceptions, colors our reasoning, and prevents our even perceiving, much less enjoying, the blessings of life. Therefore if the reader desires to enjoy life let him take care of his health, practis-, ing moderation and self-restraint in all things. But though health is essential to a man’s enjoyment of life, he

NEEDS BUT LITTLE WEALTH

One of the most mischievous fallacies of the present day is the idea that happiness is an expensive thing and that an increase of wealth means an increase of happiness. If it vyer'e so, the richest men would be the happiest and the poor the most unhappy, which is not- the case. I have known intimately during my long life a few rich men.and many that would be considered'poor, and. it is uiy profound, conviction that- the poor are just as happy as the rich and have infinitely less worry and anxiety. I do not intend to suggest that, no man’s happiness would be increased by an increased income. I believe my own would to a slight, degree and possibly the reader suffers from tlie same delusion. Many men’s happiness would be increased by this means. Nor do I deny that a certain margin beyond necessity is requisite to certain forms, of enjoyment.. But the margin need nob he. large, and after all, more depends on the man himself than upon his income. .Dr. Parker, the famous minister of -the City Temple, tells us that though he had bad houses of various, sizes he was never happier than in his first little cottage : and many a prosperous man could hear similar testimony. Mr. Pullman, of Pullman car fame, once confessed that he was not one iota happier than he was when he had not a- dollar to' call his own save what he worked for. It- is not the number of rooms in one’s house, nor the luxuriousness of their appointments, that makes happiness, but such things as health, love, contentment, hope —and these money cannot buy. Much wealth is not requisite to the enjoyment, of life. Schopenhauer has a passage in which he shows how

LIMITATION MAKES FOR HAPPINESS:

that we are happy as our range of vision, our sphere of labor, and our points of contact with the world are restricted. Thus in childhood our horizon is very limited and we have few' cares, but witli manhood our horizon is widened, our points of contact with the world_ extended and our cares increased. Even an increase of knowledge does not always mean- an increase of happiness. “When I was a bo\,” says Raskin, “I used to like watching the sunrise. I didn’t know then that there were any spots on the sun; now I do, and am always frightened -lest more should come.” One by one our illusions are swept away by widening knowledge, but' many of them were harmless and pleasant illusions, and their loss,is not all gain. One of the principal conditions of enjoying life is finding

HAPPINESS IN LITTLE. THINGS

' Children enjoy life as much as their parents do, although they possess little knowledge and still less wealth; and uncivilised races, with their few wants, easily satisfied, living a careless and contented life, probably enjoy life as much as some of our millionaires. Even wealthy and successful men usually find their chief enjoyment in objects that are open to all. One distinguished and successful man declares that the thing that gave him most pleasure in his life was hunting; another mentions walking; a third,' gardening; a fourth, playing with his children. The pleasures to be derived from beaut'l¥ul scenery, books, the domestic* relations, wholesome amusements, : religious hope—these are among the greatest pleasures of life and are open to all. The greatest crime of oiir industrial and commercial civilisation is that it leaves u§ with’a taste for that only which can be bought with money, and causes us to overloqk the truest and purest joys which ■ are all the time within our reach. ' > ' : s

Another important factor in the enjoyment of life is

I have known not a few who have

declared that they found their greatest happiness iu their work. Indeed, I believe most men would say die same. But work must be congenial, adapted to one’s tastes and powers. I always feel much sympathy for a man whom the force of circumstance has driven to an occupation for which neither his talents nor his disposition • adapt him. But where a man’s work is entirely suitable it, is hardly felt as work, and becomes a source of constant interest and delight. And alternating with, one’s hours of labor there should always be

SOME FORM OF RECREATION

Labor will make recreation more pleasurable, and recreation .will make labor more effective. There is. an old proverb which every one of us believed in his youth, that “All work and no play makes Jac-k a dull boy.” And the saying is true. It is one of the mistakes. of busyvmett to defer the innocent pleasures of life until they have secured a larger income, instead of seizing .the opportunities for happiness as they come. Fe are told that Cine'as, the philosopher, once asked Pyrrhus what he .would do when he had c-on-quertxl Italy. “I will conquer Sicily.” was the reply. - And after Sicily?” “Then Africa.” “And after yoti have conquered the world?” ‘T will take mv ease and be merry.”

“Then." inquired the philosopher, “why not take your ease and he merry now?” Resolve tfi he happy now; this very day and every day seize the opportunities of wholesome enjoyment that present themselves. Do not defer the best things of life to a time" that may never arrive. And if such , daily enjoyment involves some loss of inome,._what of that? Better a strong, happy life-on a small income than incessant labor and anxiety and consequent illhealth on a larger.

PLEASURES OF THE INTELLECT

Probably the largest amount or pleasure, and certainly the most constant and enduring, is to be found in intellectual pursuits. Physical enjoyments are from their very nature transient, and where they are excessive," leave a legacy of weakness and suffering behind. But the pleasure to be deirved .from art science, music, literature, etc., lias practically no limit-, and grows with advancing years when the less noble decline. The pleasures of literature alone would make life worth living, Gibbon declared that'he would not exchange the love of reading for all the treasures of India, and thousands of others (among tlieiii the —more or less;— humble writer of this article) would say the same. My. space is almost exhausted, but I must- not omit to mention that for the full enjoyment of .life

LOVE IS NEEDED

To have- one heart beating ■in unison with, one’s own;, to possess one friend in whose perfect understanding and • sympathy,: love ■ and help one can trust—ah! what a difference to'the enjoyment of life this makes. . “Those who love deeply,” a modem dramatist-tolls us, “cannot age.” And. there is profound truth in the saying'. Love does tend, powerfully'to keep both heart and body young, and the opposites or love—envy, hatred, distrust—tend to shorten life. Whatever else he may possess, then, I venture to say. no man can. be completely, happy:, without love. ■ ■ '. • 1 - > >

I will only • detain the 'reader, to make on other observation, and that is,’ that to the • complete happiness, of man religion is needed. -I do not, make this observation. in aqy. canting spirit; I am a very broad’•churchman myself; but because I believe' it to be profoundly true that without faith or hope as xegards-the unseen and spiritual,-present happiness •; must he clouded. The. art of enjoving life include^- 'the cultivation cf religious faith, and hope and a reach), ing forward 'to things unseen-