Hard Work and True Play How of ten the most stu pen dous work of Dame Na ture

seems as if it were al most done in the spirit of play; so eas ily, so with out fric tion
do her mighty laws work! The sayi ng that Na ture is neer at rest, yet al ways is in
rep ose! strikes many a thought ful mind" #he may $e %lled with ac tions, $ut al
ways calmly and surely she acts" &n her most seem ingly ang ry and ter ri $le mo
ments, one is con scious of the eer si lent march of her do ing" None can thwart,
she si ' lently works, yet een then it seems to $e $ut play" We neer feel the fric
tions of fear in her not $e ing a$le to ac com plish, or the e( tra e( pen di ture of un
needed force" This ery ease and pos i tie way of att ain ing all her mar el lous de
el op ments makes us feel it $ut a smooth ef fect from a nat u ral cause and like a
$ig play aft er all" What a great les son to each of us if we $ut trans late this thought
to our own en i ron ments and lies" No mat ter what the work, no mat ter how dis
tastef ul or dif % cult, if a man or woman only go a$out it with the spirit of free dom
and power, of alert ness and ease, he will %nd suc cess where he e(p ected de feat"
The )ual ity of work lies in the man, not in the kind of work he per forms" &n dif fer
ence is death" The outer ac tion al ways $es peaks the in ner thoughts, and if one
%nds *one self+ slo enly, or halt ing or a non'de sire *sic+ to do the deed to $e done,
alas, for that soul! &t is the heart that keeps us young in spirit" We must loe our
work, not the work it self $ut the ery do ing, the ac com plish ing of an act well"
This when truly learned is a great step for ward to wards un der stand ing the real
play of life" The man or woman who nat u rally longs to e(p ress him self or her self
through art, mu sic or paint' ing and %nds some strong eent caus ing them to turn
e ery curr ent of their in ter ests and en thu si asms to an other di rec tion, may eit
her make or $reak their fu ture karma $y the hard work or true play they make of it"
, soul who re al i-es that it is the cre ation of char ac ter which each of us is strug
gling to gain, and a line of nec es sary duty or imp osed work of any de scrip tion
may $e turned into a cheer ful play, has al ready clim$ed a step on the lad der of
life!s eo lu tion which he will neer re gret" We are happy, con tent, cheery when
we play, so if we learn to cause our minds to go )ui etly, $ut with i tal ity and ene
rgy, and a true in ward de sire to calmly succ eed, we will soon $e laugh ing to our '
seles to feel the in tense .oy and gladn ess we hae at tained, een while work ing
at tasks which oth er ' wise would $e irk some and wear ing" / ery $reath we
$reathe has a spir i tual sig nif i cance" / ery time you lift your hands to work, or
your oice to com mand, $e con scious that it is not you, $ut 0ou, who is to make ac
counts" The law is spir i tual de el op ment, and the ear lier we each learn to feel
within the sanc tu ary of our hearts that all ac tion is $ut as a spir i tual chem ist,
turn ing the do ing, ei ther into hard work or true play, we will learn to com pre hend
more and more our hard work, and turn it into12od!s Play" 1/mily Palmer 3ape
Di ine per sons are char ac ter $orn, or, to $or row a phrase from Na po leon, they
are ic tory or ga ' ni-ed" 1/merson