The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1945. OF CAREERS

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 89, Issue 266, 10 November 1945, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 1945. OF CAREERS

JTIE choosing of a career is a problem which now confronts many young men. They are finding it very difficult to decide what they shall do with their lives. This is perplexing them and they are asking themselves searching questions. How comes it that they are unable to choose the line which they shall follow? Does this denote some weakness in character, some lack of deliberation? Are they losing time while others more fortunate than themselves are marching along the road to some definite goal? These questions remain unanswered and while they remain so there is experienced a general depression of the spirit. This present travail of the mind is a common experience to youth. It must necessarily be so, for how shall a young man know his own qualifications when they have been put to no test? Youth faces life as some uncharted sea; it is very adventurous, it is exhilarating, but it also is decidedly uncertain. It is the uncertainty that seems to be the disturbing element in the situation. Yet those who have been in the armed services have learned to know that a regulated life, with a vista of sameness or certainty, provides no particular zest. Just as the continuous sunlight of the tropics soon becomes monotonous so an assured way of living, the provision of social security wherein society takes the risks and the individual is protected from the cold winds from the arctic regions of adversity, soon palls. There is something in the make-up of man that craves for uncertainty. It is this trait that is the foundation of the indulgence in gambling which is a particularly strong temptation for those living sheltered existences.

If one were so fortunate as to be able to choose any career at all of those open to mankind, from a chieftain of a West African tribe to a Harley Street specialist, a man might spend ail his life picking and choosing. Few men are placed in such an embarrassing position and they may count themselves fortunate in having a much more restricted field of choice. It is always possible to be beguiled by the greenness of distant fields, but it is a wiser course to take the ground under one’s feet and start from where one is standing. Take the first opening that comes, be it driving a baker’s van or running errands. No matter how small a part one plays in an organisation, no matter how small the organisation nor how large, the day-to-day work will enlarge the individual’s vision. The opportunities for learning the most valuable lessons are to be foiuid in the lowest paid jobs. When a worker is paid a relatively high rate of pay it becomes necessary to so equip him as tq produce an output which justifies the high wage. This inevitably involves the worker being put on to one job and keeping him there. Part of the pyice which is paid for a high wage-rate is a lack of versatility. Versatility is of value for those who would travel far. The unwillingness of youth to make up its mind as to what its ultimate goal shall be is no bad sign. To keep the mind open between commerce and engineering, between the law court and the laboratory, is no sign of weakness, but a sensible way of looking at things.. When a boy goes to a farm for his summer holidays his immediate reaction is that a farming life is the one for him: he as yet knows nothing of the everlasting mud of eight months of the year.

In life luck plays an important part in the achieving of material success. It is well for youth to appreciate that material success is not very important. It i» important, and it is desirable to strive for it, but man docs not live by bread alone and shouldn’t desire to. Those who try to do so generally reinforce the diet with alcohol. In every walk of life there are limitations and handicaps and there are advantages and prizes. But the great prize of all is knowing how to live well from day to day. It is unwise to throw oneself into a virtual prison in order to reap a possible distant reward. It is a more acceptable plan to use a portion of each day to pursue that part of one’s life which is called one’s career, but also to ensure that a part of each day shall be lived free from care with the object solely of enjoying those hours. “All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy ” is an old saw that should be heeded not only by those who would advance youth but also by youth itself particularly by those who would follow the lamp of high ambition. Success so highly prized can be bought at too high a cost and he who does so is the greatest failure among men. It is as well to keep in one’s mind and heart the spirit of adventure. Each day can bring forth its surprises and they will not all be happy ones. It doesn’t matter much what happens to us in life: it is how wc take it that is important. After all it is richer to die a gentleman than to die merely a millionaire. The former has freedom of spirit, the latter is a slave to care. Striving to solve the problem of supply while not forgetting that life is to be lived in its fullness, taking the good with the bad, without being overconcerned about other people’s estimates, will in the end give the richer harvest than setting out on a voyage determining to win to a given niche in society no matter what shall be the cost.