“Life’s Secret Comes from Within”

This little writing hung on the wall in a simple brown frame. The husband and wife had read it at different times and gained strength and courage. The last time they had read it together, his loving arm across her shoulder, he commented, “You know, honey, of all the things your mother has given us, I appreciate this the most.”

There is a secret of living that, if I can teach it to my daughter, I feel it will be the most important thing I can teach her. It is that happiness and contentment come not from what she has but from her attitude toward life.

I want her to appreciate all the simple things, most of which cost no money, yet make life richer—family love, good health, the beauties of nature, lovely attributes of character, friendship, God’s love as shown in His provision for us. I want her to learn contentment with what she has while she strives toward a better standard of living and a more perfect character. I want her to get all the joy possible out of now and not look back at some future time and say regretfully, “I wish I had realized how blessed I was then, how much I had to be thankful for, how lovely my life was then.”

If she can learn to look for positive value, the assets of each situation or period of life, she will have happiness through life. It will never be what she has that will make her happy, but her attitude and the way she meets life’s situations, be they triumphant or discouraging.

Thank you, Mother!