Democratic Sentinel, Volume 9, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 21 August 1885 — Busy People. [ARTICLE]

Busy People.

The world is lined four layers deep with people who are always saying they are too busy to attend to this or that, whichever they may be happened to be called upon to do, outside of their regular duties. They always bring to my mind the hen with one chicken. All of you know how that hen is busier than one which has a dozen, and in addition has a whole barn-yard full of other duties to perform. I sometimes think these “too busy” people are lazy, except in the one direction, and unless some powerful incentive is presented they never do but the one thing. I know women with three or four children, one servant and a house of ten rooms, who never have a moment's time to devote to anything but their households. Then I know others with twice as many children, four times as many servants and twice as big a house, not only attending well to their homes, but finding time to read and to do much work outside. Nor have they any more strength physically or mentally than their “too busy” sisters. Now why is it ? Isn’t it because the first mentioned woman is so busy that she is lazy ? Among men it is the same. You see it comes out strongest where anything is to be done of a public character. One man; with just as much work to be done as his neighbor, can meet the other demand and render valuable assistance, while his “too busy” neighbor says he can’t leave his office, and does nothing. If this isn’t laziness it is selfishness, and the latter is even less commendable than the former. No man knows what he can do until he tries, and the most never find out because they never try.— Mrs. Brown, in Merchant Traveler.