RESOLUTIONS-GOOD AND BAD* A GOOD resolution may be treated as a sort of labor-saving device. Its usefulness lies in the fact that it deals with certain practical issues in advance of their actual presentation. Thus, the course of action being already determined, the situation does not need to be canvassed later at a time when unprejudiced decision will probably be more difficult than now. Looking calmly at his past life from some point of vantage (a fortnight's vacation, say, in the woods) a man may be impressed with the fact that he does not get enough exercise in the city; he may admit to himself that this is largely through his own fault, that he could get a decent amount if only he would make up his mind that way. For example, he could be walking in the open air for at least half or three quarters of an hour every day during the week, and on Saturday or Sunday he could put in several hours of wholesome physical recreation; help his digestion, his temper, his brain, and *From "Mind and Work," by Luther H. Gulick. Doubleday, Page & Co. Copyright, 1908. his business by so doing. A sober resolution to test out the practical value of such a schedule-to give it a definite trial of a certain number of weeks-is a running start at achieving a very useful habit. When responsibilities press upon him, when the day seems crowded to capacity with engagements, and all the obstacles set by natural inertia, bad ventilation, laziness, and so forth, block his way out of doors, then his resolution may be his salvation. His only alternatives are to get there somehow, or else to make a sacrifice of his self-respect. The issue does not need to be overhauled and discussed afresh every day; the moral courage required is of a simple kind; merely a matter of living up to your word. The most important test of a good resolution is whether or not it is attainable. Good resolutions broken are the kind of thing that paves hell. Resolutions that can be lived up to consistently in the corrupted currents of this world, here in the midst of all the actual impediments, inhibitions, and distractions of our earthly environment-those are good resolutions in the true sense. Every resolution that cannot be kept weakens moral grip. In other words, good resolutions are resolutions that are not too good. Not but that a man's reach should exceed his grasp; that is another matter. What I am |