Have I kept my resolution?
No, at least not completely.
That is not astonishing. Providence has not sent only sweetness; my neighbor has not always been agreeable; and I have found in myself more than one reason for annoyance.
But did I, by any chance, promise to smile only when all smiled on me? The very thing I was striving for was to force myself to smile when something or someone did not smile upon me. Otherwise, was it worth the trouble to make a resolution? A fine resolution indeed and how meritorious, to determine to accommodate myself to life as long as it rolls along according to my fancy.
No! No! I want to pledge myself'to go ahead even when things seem to go awry; to keep joyful even when sadness tries to creep in.
I have not been faithful.
I renew my resolution.
If I am young, it is an obligation for me; one cannot be morose at the very beginning of life. If I am mature, then I have learned from life that things grow better in the sunshine than at night; I must set a good example to those around me, maintain enthusiasm and keep a spirit of valor flourishing. If the years have slackened my pace with their coming, I will recall the advice of an old man who responded to the congratulations he received on his eighty-sixth birthday: "the secret of a long life is to smile four times more than before."
"If you lack gaiety," a Greek poet once remarked, "I will not buy the rest of your goods, for the shadow of the smoke." In other words, when smiles are wanting only poverty and insignificance of life can be found. I will try to develop in myself the divine art of smiling. God loves a cheerful giver. (II Cor. ix, 7.)_________________
Adapted from Meditations for Religious
by Father Raoul Plus, S.J. (© 1939, Frederick Pustet Co.)
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