Page:The Art of Helping People Out of Trouble (1924).pdf/229

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

further accomplishment. Look to the man who is listless or timorous or in despair and one is likely to find that he has nothing from which he can win for himself the feeling of success. And yet the opportunity for achievement is neither remote nor unusually difficult to find. It is often to be derived from the simplest and the homeliest things. To most bookkeepers there is no thrill like that which follows the striking of a balance at the first trial, unless it be that of eliminating the discrepant penny after hours of search. One woman enjoys a great sense of achievement as she looks at the garden she has just cleared of weeds. Another woman finds nothing that quite equals the satisfaction of a triple row of glasses of preserves, the product of a morning over the stove. One person obtains a sense of achievement from a piece of carpentry; another in polishing the household brass; a third in a well-played game of bridge. To reach the office and clear the desk of mail before the rest of the staff arrive is an exhilaration to many a business man who finds his whole day made more effective by this initial accomplishment. The sense of achievement may lie in the writing of a letter, or the making of a speech, or the vicarious success that is had through the