p. 28 | The Pleasure of Overcoming Difficulties

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Tacoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jun 4, 1908

The Pleasure of Overcoming Difficulties

To the ambitious boy or girl probably no stronger incentive to study could be presented than the desire to come off victor in his contest with a mathematical problem or a complicated sentence in grammar. Children will run races, play at ball, jump, wrestle, etc., for the mere pleasure it gives them to vanquish some competitor or surmount some difficulty. The “puzzle” column in the weekly newspaper or the monthly magazine is frequently the most enticing department for young people. Nature implants this desire to test one’s strength, in a mental as well as a physical sense, in the heart of every child.

The teacher, then, should make use of this characteristic in training the mind. Problems of such a character should be given as are not beyond the children’s capacity, and yet sufficiently difficult to contend with to be worthy their strength. They should be encouraged to overcome these difficulties for themselves, and help should be given only when the ability of the child is found unequal to the task to be performed. Placing before pupils the biographies of such great men as have risen to eminence through their own contest with difficulties will greatly encourage the children, and prompt them to do better work.—Selected.