The Majesty of Calmness

The Majesty of Calmness

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Title: The Majesty of Calmness
Author: William George Jordan
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The Majesty of Calmness
Individual Problems and Possibilities...
by
William George Jordan
Author of "The Kingship of Self-Control"

CONTENTS
I. THE MAJESTY OF CALMNESS II. HURRY, THE SCOURGE OF
AMERICA III. THE POWER OF PERSONAL INFLUENCE IV. THE
DIGNITY OF SELF-RELIANCE V. FAILURE AS A SUCCESS VI.
DOING OUR BEST AT ALL TIMES VII. THE ROYAL ROAD TO
HAPPINESS

I
The Majesty of Calmness

Calmness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great
nature, in harmony with itself and its ideals. It is the moral atmosphere
of a life self-centred, self-reliant, and self-controlled. Calmness is
singleness of purpose, absolute confidence, and conscious
power,--ready to be focused in an instant to meet any crisis.
The Sphinx is not a true type of calmness,--petrifaction is not calmness;
it is death, the silencing of all the energies; while no one lives his life
more fully, more intensely and more consciously than the man who is
calm.
The Fatalist is not calm. He is the coward slave of his environment,
hopelessly surrendering to his present condition, recklessly indifferent

to his future. He accepts his life as a rudderless ship, drifting on the
ocean of time. He has no compass, no chart, no known port to which he
is sailing. His self-confessed inferiority to all nature is shown in his
existence of constant surrender. It is not,-- calmness.
The man who is calm has his course in life clearly marked on his chart.
His hand is ever on the helm. Storm, fog, night, tempest, danger,
hidden reefs,--he is ever prepared and ready for them. He is made calm
and serene by the realization that in these crises of his voyage he needs
a clear mind and a cool head; that he has naught to do but to do each
day the best he can by the light he has; that he will never flinch nor
falter for a moment; that, though he may have to tack and leave his
course for a time, he will never drift, he will get back into the true
channel, he will keep ever headed toward his harbor. When he will
reach it, how he will reach it, matters not to him. He rests in calmness,
knowing he has done his best. If his best seem to be overthrown or
overruled, then he must still bow his head,--in calmness. To no man is
permitted to know the future of his life, the finality. God commits to
man ever only new beginnings, new wisdom, and new days to use the
best of his knowledge.
Calmness comes ever from within. It is the peace and restfulness of the
depths of our nature. The fury of storm and of wind agitate only the
surface of the sea; they can penetrate only two or three hundred feet,--
below that is the calm, unruffled deep. To be ready for the great crises
of life we must learn serenity in our daily living. Calmness is the crown
of self-control.
When the worries and cares of the day fret you, and begin to wear upon
you, and you chafe under the friction,--be calm. Stop, rest for a moment,
and let calmness and peace assert themselves. If you let these irritating
outside influences get the better of you, you are confessing your
inferiority to them, by permitting them to dominate you. Study the
disturbing elements, each by itself, bring all the will power of your