How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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years. Happiness is impossible for the adult-in-body-
child-in-mind man because his whole character is an
anachronism. Just as precocious children miss the fruits
of childhood, so the mentally immature forego the
usufructs of adult life. The planlessness of their lives is
evidence of their lack of self-confidence and self-respect,
and an indication of their disbelief in their own ability
to meet the obstacles of life and conquer them.
The quest of happiness is not conceivable without a
definite plan both for the present and the future. Every¬
one should develop activities in his youth and early
maturity which will carry over into the period of old age.
The tragedies of men and women who have outlived their
usefulness, and are tolerated by their children or other
workers about them who grudgingly support them, can
never be understood by any except the old. Many of
these old men and women who have grown to ripe years
but have retained their childish concepts of the world
because they have not grown and developed with the
world about them, assiduously devote themselves to the
mischief of pampering their grandchildren or injecting
discord into the lives of their children. You need not fear
old age if you have invested sufficiently in the social
graces and avocations. When these investments mature
they continue to bring dividends of happiness and
satisfaction even when your physical powers have begun
to wane.
The best insurance against melancholia, depression,
and a sense of futility in old age is the development of
wide horizons and the cultivation of mental elasticity and
interest in the world. Unlike the flesh, the spirit does
not decay with the years. Many of the happiest people
in the world are men and women in their sixties, seventies,
or eighties, who have contributed richly to the world s
work during their maturity, and at the same time have
cultivated sufficient awareness and interest in undying
cultural activities to make their leisure a delight. By
contrast, those tragi-comic figures of men and women
who are trying to keep young at all costs, seem pitiful.