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ABOVE
LIFE'S TURMOIL
by James Allen
True Happiness
To maintain an unchangeable
sweetness of disposition, to think only thoughts that are pure
and gentle, and to be happy under all circumstances,- such
blessed conditions and such beauty of character and life
should be the aim of all, and particularly so of those who
wish to lessen the misery of the world. If anyone has failed
to lift himself above ungentleness, impurity, and
unhappiness, he is greatly deluded if he imagines he can make
the world happier by the propagation of any theory or
theology. He who is daily living in harshness, impurity, or
unhappiness is day by day adding to the sum of the world's
misery; whereas he who continually lives in goodwill, and does
not depart from happiness, is day by day increasing the sum of
the world's happiness, and this independently of any religious
beliefs which these may or may not hold.
He who has not learned how to
be gentle, or giving, loving and happy, has learned very
little, great though his book-learning and profound his
acquaintance which the letter of Scripture may be, for it is
in the process of becoming gentle, pure, and happy that
the deep, real and enduring lessons of life are learned.
Unbroken sweetness of conduct in the face of all outward
antagonism is the infallible indication of a self-conquered
soul, the witness of wisdom, and the proof of the possession
of Truth.
A sweet and happy soul is the
ripened fruit of experience and wisdom, and it sheds abroad
the invisible yet powerful aroma of its influence, gladdening
the hearts of others, and purifying the world. And all who
will, and who have not yet commenced, may begin this day,
if they will so resolve, to live sweetly and happily, as
becomes the dignity of a true manhood or womanhood. Do not say
that your surroundings are against you. A man's surroundings
are never against him; they are there to aid him, and
all those outward occurrences over which you lose sweetness
and peace of mind are the very conditions necessary to your
development, and it is only by meeting and overcoming them
that you can learn, and grow, and ripen. The fault is in
yourself.
Pure happiness is the rightful
and healthy condition of the soul, and all may possess it if
they will live purely and unselfish.
"Have goodwill
To all that lives, letting unkindness die,
And greed and wrath, so that your lives be made
Like soft airs passing by."
Is this too difficult for you?
Then unrest and unhappiness will continue to dwell with you.
Your belief and aspiration and resolve are all that are
necessary to make it easy, to render it in the near future a
thing accomplished, a blessed state realised.
Despondency, irritability,
anxiety and complaining, condemning and grumbling- all these
are thought-cankers, mind-diseases; they are the indications
of a wrong mental condition, and those who suffer therefrom
would do well to remedy their thinking and conduct. It is true
there is much sin and misery in the world, so that all our
love and compassion are needed, but our misery is not
needed- there is already too much of that. No, it is our
cheerfulness and happiness that are needed for there is too
little of that. We can give nothing better to the world than
beauty of life and character; without this, all other things
are vain; this is pre-eminently excellent; it is enduring,
real, and not to be overthrown, and it includes all joy and
blessedness.
Cease to dwell
pessimistically upon the wrongs around you; dwell no more in
complaints about, and revolt against, the evil in others, and
commence to live free from all wrong and evil yourself. Peace
of mind, pure religion, and true reform lie this way. If you
would have others true, be true; if you would have the world
emancipated from misery and sin, emancipate yourself; if you
would have your home and your surroundings happy, be happy.
You can transform everything around you if you will transform
yourself.
"Don't bewail and
bemoan.....
Don't waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad,
but chant the beauties of the good."
And this you will naturally and
spontaneously do as you realise the good in yourself.
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