LOOKING CHEERFUL.

New Zealand Mail, 3 December 1896, Page 68

LOOKING CHEERFUL.

However beautiful the world of nature may be, its aspect to each of us is modified by the human beings who surround us. We may look upon the glory of the sea through tearful eyes, or gaze sadly on the fairest views of field or mountain, because someone for whom we care has spoken a jarring word, or because sorrow is clouding a familiar face.

We may waken in the morning after a refreshing sleep ready to exclaim, "Lovely, lovely, all below ” but if perchance we see gloomy faces at the breakfast table the peculiar brightness of our day is gone. Of course we are affecting other people just as they affect us ; so, if we want them to enjoy the good things of life, we need to look as cheerful as possible. Pain will sometimes insist upon telling its taie in the countenance, but it is not necessary to put on a woful expression because of every trivial ache. A right sympathy with others may often preclude merriment, but it does not entail upon us the duty of hanging out signals of distress. Indeed, the times of anxiety which come to every household arc the very times when each, for the other’s sake, should endeavour to look cheerful. Though the expression of a woman’s face is certainly the thing that impresses one first and most, her clothing has its share in the unspoken language of appearance. If she dresses becomingly and tastefully, by so doing she is helping to gladden her own world. The depressing effect of black raiment upon children, and their corresponding enjoyment of bright colours, is a thing well understood by educators. The conductor of a training class for kindergartens will probably ask a young lady who dresses in i mourning to tie a bright ribbon in her button-hole for the benefit of the little ones. Every mother knows how pleased her children are when she dons a new gown, or arrays herself in one which they specially fancy. She does well who makes herself attractive in the eyes of her own family.