WISE SPENDING.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 20283, 16 December 1927, Page 19

WISE SPENDING.

Too much stress cannot be laid'upon the importance of outward and visible signs of prosperity (writes Elizabeth Marbury in the Delineator). Just as no one wishes to listen to chants of misery, so much less will the world endure the dreariness of a depressing appearance. Keeping up a brave front means presenting a cheerful front. This is the key to material No matter how long you have been out of a job, no matter bow desperately you may need one, you must go after it with a smile and with a joke. No employer is attracted by a glum face and a weary manner, ahere is no sense in being miserable. It leads nowhere. It produces nothing. Crossing bridges before one comes to them is a stupid pastime. Give a man a good laugh and he will always remember you. Graveyards are not as popular as stadiums. To keep one’s nerves in shape is a great asset. It often costs money, but amusements are not as expensive as doctors How many old-fashioned people refuse to spend on pleasures? They pinch and save and believe that to go to the pictures, to the theatre, or to listen to music is a waste of their hard-earned pennies. This is bad reasoning. Relaxation is the oil which makes the wheels of life go round. Some enjoyment is necessary. It is the relief from tension. Nothing ages one so fast as to live in dullness. One’s vitality becomes sapped, one’s outlook becomes warped. Doing anything is better than doing nothing. I believe that at least 10 per cent, of whatever income one has should be invested in pleasure. This is as necessary to the brains as bread is to the body. I hear so many criticisms of the working girls these days because they are never too tired to dance. But it is just to get tired out of their minds and souls that they dance. If their fingers are pounding a typewriter all day it is only natural that in order to get even their legs should be exercised over a smooth floor at night. The click of the machine can best be forgotten in the music of a lively band. This is the J modern law of compensation.