I am loving reading Louisa May Alcott's Little Women; even though penned in circa 1868, Lousia's words live on and are so true & applicable today.
Currently the girls have thought it best to have a week of leisure...on the last day of the week, Mrs. March leaves them to their own ways. At the end of the day - which included a disastrous lunch and a very messy home, Mrs. March addresses the girls while they are all sitting on the porch enjoying the evening.
"Mother, did you go away and let everything be just to see how we'd get on?" cried Meg, who had had suspicions all day.
"Yes, I wanted you to see how the comfort of all depends on each doing her share faithfully. While Hannah and I did your work, you got on pretty well, though I don't think you were very happy and amiable, so I thought, as a little lesson, I would show you what happens when everyone thinks only of herself. Don't you feel that it is pleasanter to help one another, to have daily duties which make leisure sweet when it comes, and to bear and forbear, that home may be comfortable and lovely to us all?"
"We do, Mother, we do!" cried the girls.
"Then let me advise you to take up your little burdens again, for though they seem heavy sometimes, they are good for us and lighten as we learn to carry them. Work is wholesome, and there is plenty for everyone. It keeps us from ennui and mischief, is good for health and spirits, and gives us a sense of power and independence better than money or fashion."
She then concludes with...
"Then I am quite satisfied with the experiment, and fancy that we shall not have to repeat it. Only don't go to the other extreme and delve like slaves. Have regular hours for work and play, make each day both useful and pleasant, and prove that you understand the worth of time by employing it well. Then youth will be delightful, old age will bring few regrets, and life becomes a beautiful success, in spite of poverty."
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