How to be happy though human / by W. Béran Wolfe.
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view things in terms of their usefulness or uselessness to us in attaining our goal. Three men pass a huge oak in a forest. One says, “ I could build a fine mast for my boat out of that trunk ! ” The second says, “ I could tan hundreds of shoes with the bark of that tree ! ” The third says, “ The acorns of that tree would feed all my pigs ! ” Each has had the same experience but each has valued it in terms of his own goal and his own personality pattern. 10. There are three great groups of problems which every individual must solve in the course of his life. These problems are the problems of society, of work, and of sex. They may be likened to the three great rings of a huge circus, in which evervone of us must “ do his act ”. Because of the close J interconnection of all human life it is no private matter whether we solve these problems. Every time we fail to solve a problem our fellow-men must assume a heavier burden ; every time we make a mistaken solution, our neighbours or our children suffer. If we refuse to cooperate, and evade the obligations of humanity, we are denied the fruits of being human by the workings of an inexorable natural law. Those who are afraid to do their “ act ” in the main three rings of life are usually to be found in the side-shows of life, rationalizing their conduct to themselves and attempting to deceive the world by shifting their responsibility to some scapegoat. Such self-deception and evasion of responsibilities is usually the product of fear and ignorance of the meaning of life. 11. The sum total of the tools and techniques an individual uses in the pursuit of his unconscious goal in life constitutes his character and personality. Character traits are always relative, and must be interpreted in relation to the individual pattern of conduct, never as absolute entities. Apparent contradictions in character or changes in personality may signify either a change of goal, or the pursuit of the same goal in a different environment. The well-adjusted man or woman is honourable, sincere, optimistic, sympathetic, friendly, self-confident,