A strenuous life is good for us

Matt Pearl

In some of my recent readings, I came across several items pertaining to President Theodore Roosevelt, who held the office of U.S. Chief Executive in the early years of the 20th century.

I cannot say that in terms of policy, I completely align myself with TR, but what thinking person always agrees with any other thinking person?

Still from TR, I have studied and begun to admire a positive quality the late Mr. Roosevelt held, and that was a respect for what he called the strenuous life.

By this, TR meant that each of us ought to pursue a way of life that demands we do difficult things — that our endeavors should be professionally, mentally, and physically strenuous.

A life of ease was a wasted life as far as the former president was concerned.

Excellence, TR argued, came from great effort and service to worthy causes.

Frequently, I consider my own life and the lack of strenuous effort I exert on certain days, particularly in terms of physical work and exercise.

I have a desk job, and my work suits me very well. But, at times, I must chase opportunities to walk through town, to get up and move, or to lift things that are heavy.

It’s a far easier life I live than my great-grandfather, Guy Pearl, who could remember walking alongside a wagon bringing his clan back from Nebraska to north Missouri, hundreds of miles on foot.

My grandfather, LaVerne Pearl, would often note that his “feet had walked across Europe,” and I suppose they had done so. That’s no life I ever had to live.

Things being what they are, it leaves the question in my mind of what types of hard work I ought to pursue.

I’m a small-town newspaper publisher: the two papers take considerable time and effort to produce on a weekly basis, but I possess the necessary time to live a more strenuous life, the type endorsed by President Roosevelt all those years ago.

In reading about TR’s childhood, I found that he — like many men of renown, JFK included — was a weak child, prone to sickness and setbacks. His toughness and grit, which characterized his presidency and his adult life in general, were products of his own hard work.

He was a rich man, the son of a rich man, and thus had no financial need to work hard. But he did. He did, so that day in and day out, he would feel he had accomplished his goal to be strong, independent, a free-standing pillar of society.

I am not the son of a rich man — not in terms of money, anyway.

He would argue he is one of the wealthiest men on the planet, but no bank statement could prove his claim. That being said, though the Pearls do no possess (or desire) great monetary riches, the doctorine of bettering one’s self is not limited to the rich or affluent.

My uncle, Terry, is fond of noting that “every man, rich or poor, has 24 hours in his day.” And he’s right.

From sunrise to sunset — and perhaps earlier, and later, respectively — we ought to pursue our strenuous goals in life.

The habit many of us hold of “ending” a day that is not yet completed, that wasted hour to two where we watch TV shows that don’t truly interest us or enrich our lives, should end.

We don’t need to replace our TV time with hanging drywall or moving stones, but I’m sure our families at least would benefit from our focusing our time upon them, rather than giving it over to the major networks.

I know from my reading that TR, whose life preceded television, would not have wasted his time watching it during a typical productive day.

For 16 waking hours daily, I hope to better live the strenuous life from now on.