Country Life Interests

Waikato Times, Volume 128, Issue 21336, 5 February 1941, Page 5

Country Life Interests

X A page devoted to the interests of the Country Women of the (j Waikato, and in particular to advancing and recording the activities of )L those Vvvo great national organisations, the Women’s Institutes and the 5 Women’s Division of the Farmers' Union.

THE SECRET OF ACHIEVEMENT Are You a Dreamer or a Doer ? (By Harold Dearden) J SUPPOSE there is no more universally popular form of selfindulgence than that of day dreaming. Most of us treat ourselves to a spell of it from time to time, and in moderation it is a harmless and undeniably pleasurable pastime. It is made so easy for us, too. Those ingenious folk who earn their living by exploiting our weaknesses cater for us liberally in this respect. The appeal of those books, plays and films which contain a generous mixture of adventure and love-making is due solely to the fact that they provide us with a magnificent framework for our day dreams. In small doses, day dreams such as these have a real value. They serve as a sort of gambol on the grass for a mind which has been in harness all day, plodding steadily along a well-worn track through wearisomely familiar and colourless country. But there is another type of day dream in whose favour there is much less to be said. This is the day dream we elaborate for ourselves with no assistance whatever, as a labour-saving method of wish-fulfilment. And what constitutes its most insidious charm is the fact that one can enjoy an absolute debauch of it, not only without a trace of conscious selfindulgence, but with the most flattering conviction, all the time, that one is actively engaged in valuable and constructive work. Let us suppose that one morning, while you are enjoying your early cup of tea in bed, you are conscious of an unaccustomed sense of dissatisfaction with yourself. There is nothing in your everyday behaviour with which you have cause to reproach yourself. The source of your discomfort is more subtle than that. You have a vague notion that you have been getting, of late, just a little slack. You feel that you know yourself pretty well; and when you look facts in the face, as you are doing at that moment, it is clear to you that you are not exploiting to the full the immense potentialities you undoubtedly possess. It is a disconcerting thought. You are filled with remorse for having for so long thoughtlessly wasted your talents. You then and there resolve to do better in the future. You Make Many Resolutions While you sip your tea and your resolution hardens, your mind is aflame with the noblest aspirations. From now on there must be no more of this slackness. Your life shall be one of spartan simplicity splendid endeavour. And this new regime shall begin at once. When you have finished your tea, you settle yourself comfortably back on your pillows to plan it out in detail. ~ first place> Y° u will Set up much earlier in the mornings than has been your habit in the past. It is well-known that the early morning is the best part of the day. In future you will dispense with y°S r j Car a „ cup * ea and s P r i n S from your bed the moment you are called. A few brisk exercises, a little deep breathing, a quick sponge down in cold water (there are to be no half measures with you now) and you will then be ready for a full, rich day. And what a day each will be ! No more slap-dash hurrying for you; and no more slogging and wearisome routine. You will have a place for everything and everything in its place; and with your duties perform them* 3nd eff * cient * y will be a positive pleasure to You will smoke and drink less. It is notorious that both these hP^?tv re v bad «° r + tbe h f alth and implacable enemies of feminine Y° ur first impu ] se 1S to Sive them up altogether. On second you decide that on the whole it would be a misa™, do -,7°}} er y oy a cigarette and a cocktail very much now fhic en ! admitteciiy; but you know yourself too well to suspect that that to th mfl " e . ncing J° u , in the least. The whole point is m v tn inSK smoking and drinking altogether would be obvicontrol* acknowledge a lack of confidence in your powers of selfYou have by this time ineontestibly achieved a standard of almost pathological nobility in the conduct of your life. And if, as is likely to be the case, you have to hurry through your dressing and are late for breakfast as a result of it, that is surely a small price to pay for such an exquisite day dream as you have now enjoyed. But unfortunateiy time is not the only thing you have wasted during your beautiful day dream. Having thus remodelled your life in your imagination you have gone far to exhaust the praiseworthy impulse which in the first place prompted you to remodel it at all. You are unlikely now to do anything about it. You have dissipated, in fact, the first fine frenzy which, put at once into practice, might have produced some definite result; and the same is true of every impulse to activity which you may at any time express indirectly in a day dream. Undertake One Task at a Time The secret of achievement is to do, not to dream. No matter how grandiose may be the result you are aiming at, there will assuredly be between you and its achievement a number of minor tasks which, undertaken one by one, will present no difficulty whatever. If you undertake only one of these tasks, you will at least have done something to fulfil your aspiration. You will have made a start; you will be on your way. Merely to dwell in a happy trance on the shining goal in the far distance is not only to be futile and stationary, but seriously to diminish the likelihood of your making a start at all. The grim truth is, that of all the sterilising mechanisms to which our minds are exposed, this habit of day dreaming is the worst. It encourages that welter of sloppy aspiradons in which it is possible, with no diminution one’s self-complacency,'to talk continuously on the highest plane and in actual practice to do nothing whatever. This fascinating method of evading our duties is undesirable at any time. But in such a national crisis as we are facing at the moment it is a source of grave danger. In drawing-rooms and clubs at the present time there is an immense amount of high-sounding talk going on, the bulk of which is neither more nor less than patriotic dav dreaming. I have heard people maunder for hours on the subject of what we should do with Germany when the war is won, though they could not mention, to save their lives, a single thing that they are doing themselves to bring victory any nearer. Now it would be unfair to assume that people who talk in the way I have just described are unpatriotic. One might assume with certainty that every one of them is passionately anxious for this country to win this war. They merely happen to be dreamers and not doers. In spite of all their tedious vapourings they undoubtedly mean well. But in serving your country, as in dancing, it is not enough to mean well. She meant well ”is the epitaph of a failure If you happen to be a bit of a dreamer yourself, it is worth your while to remember that.

vesters’ Lunch,” received an excel- ! lent response. An interesting letter from Miss A. : Kane, Dominion president, was read by Mrs Drummond. Mrs D. Dillon gave a talk on gardens in India. Progressive competitions arranged by Mrs J. Reid and Mrs L. Duncan were won by Mrs R. Glasgow and Mrs J. Cooper respectively. An article read by Mrs J. Cooper from an English copy of Home and Country proved of much interest. | In the competitions the awards were as follows:—Vase of flowers, Mrs Drummond 1, Miss Fay Nickle 2; bowl of flowers, Mrs Cornwall 1, Miss Gwen Nickle 2; piece of Christmas cake, Mrs Schwass 1. The hostesses were Airs S. Nickle and Miss Thelma Sutton. ! !

WOMEN’S INSTITUTE ROTO-O-RANGI Mrs W. Wakefield, who presided at the January meeting of the Roto-o-rangi Women’s Institute, extended a cordial welcome to all. Mrs W. Nickle gave the following motto, “Charity begins at home; don’t let it end there.” The roll-call, “Har-

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