Photoplay (Jul-Dec 1954)

Today — I'm Living It Up! ( Continued from page 44) been one of them) who constantly fight against their daily right to happiness. Most of them aren’t even aware of the fact. Take the fellow who says, “Good grief, what a day! If it were only over!” He’s decided that tomorrow is bound to be better than today. But then some hours later, when tomorrow finally becomes his today, he doesn’t give it a chance. Right away he begins living for the day after that. This boy just can’t win. He’ll never find contentment, because he hasn’t learned to live in the present. He spends his entire life waiting, but he does nothing today to insure that his tomorrow actually will be better. I might go so far as to say that he hasn’t learned to live, period! He simply dreams. I’m not contending that it’s wrong to dream of a pot of gold at the end of some rainbow — or the greener pastures and easier times on the other side of some fence. But why not take the time to enjoy the beauty of the rainbow outside your own door right now, while it’s with you? Your rainbows, your minutes, your hours, your days slip by and they’re gone forever. They’ll never be back. Don’t belittle them, or ignore them. Love ’em while you have ’em! I began to learn this lesson early in life and when I find myself slipping back into this old way of thinking, I snap out of it by remembering an experience I had as a youngster in military school. I was pretty much of a rebel in those days and, naturally, many things I wanted were forbidden me. “When I get older . . . when I get out of school ...” I said to my instructor on one particular occasion. “Am I ever living for graduation! Things’ll be different then.” He shook his head rather sadly. “I hope you don’t really mean that,” he said. “Don’t you believe me?” I asked him. “I’d like to give you a piece of advice,” he said. “I’m not certain whether I can make you understand it, but I’d like to try.” I settled down to listen, still bitter and dreaming of the day when I would be able to do as I pleased, without adult disapproval and interference. “I’ve heard a great many boys say, ‘When I grow up, I’ll do this or that,’ ” said my instructor. “And I’ve watched them get older. But in one sense they never really grow up at all. They refuse to accept today’s problems and disappointments — the ones that come with every age. They’re always looking ahead to the next period in their lives when they expect their worries to disappear miraculously. They live in the future and they have no time to appreciate or make the most of the present. And by the time they’re old and gray, they look back — and upon what? They see the years they’ve wasted — looking for tomorrows that never came — and now it’s too late to make up for them. “We have to learn to live in the present, young man,” he said. “And when you realize this, you’ll be happier for it.” That started me thinking, and I’ve thought about it quite often since then. I can’t tell you how much it has helped me get along with myself and make the most of life. And there’s still another type of “tomorrowite.” He’s the guy (or maybe she’s the girl) who spends today dreading the future. He thinks of all the terrible things that will probably happen tomorrow — the problems that will confront him, the disasters that threaten him — and he’s so wrapped up in worrying about these things that his today is a complete failure. I’ve been guilty. In the early days of my career, I won an award. It was the Photoplay “Choose Your Stars” award. Happy? I was on top of the world. But suddenly I started to worry. “What’s going to happen next?” I wondered. “I can’t go on forever being the most promising newcomer year after year. I have to keep pushing ahead. Will I get good pictures? Can I live up to them?” I was thinking out loud like this one noon when Dale Robertson spoke up and brought me back to my senses! “Simmer down, bdy,” he drawled. “Take one thing at a time. You just play your scenes for all they’re worth today, and you won’t have to be in such a stew about the future.” It’s this way with any chore in every walk of life. As Thomas Carlyle put it ( and I have the quotation framed), “Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.” I’m very conscious of the fact that I have to give a good performance and that each performance has to be better than the last. The public expects more and more of an actor with every picture. He has to progress toward tomorow — right now! Don’t think for a second I’m ignoring the idea of thinking about the future and planning for it. That’s entirely logical — and necessary. But I do say that the best way to prepare for your tomorrow is to concentrate on doing today’s work well. So think and plan. But don’t clutter up your todays with unnecessary worries. Worry is a complete waste of energy. It prevents your accomplishing anything. You have to remember that uncertainties are a part of life. And wouldn’t life be dull without them? Think about them, prepare for them if you can, but don’t let them make ulcer bait of you. If you like action, why not write down all your worries? Then put away the piece of paper and forget it for a few days. When you take out the list and look at it again, chances are you’ll be amazed at all the problems that have solved themselves or vanished completely! So you can see that if you postpone living today, enjoying today, it’s likely you never will get around to it. And I believe this theory can be applied to almost any occasion— careerwise or otherwise. Not so long ago, for instance, I went to a party. One of my friends had called and asked me to escort a young lady who was visiting his girl friend. My pal put it this way, “R. J., I’ll be honest with you. I just haven’t been able to line up a date for this girl. The guys seem to think she’s kind of a nil character. And I guess she does have the sort of face that sinks ships instead of launching them,” he moaned. “But look, will you do me a favor this once?” I was offered a good many sympathetic looks that evening. However, it wasn’t long before I was ready to tell the folks not to waste all that sympathy on me. My date was no raving beauty, but her face had sort of a gamin quality and her smile, when it came, was bright and alive and interesting. She was shy, terribly shy, but as we talked I found her shyness was giving way to delightful charm. Her sense of humor turned out to be the greatest. We really had a ball. Should I have spent the evening eyeing the so-called popular girls? Thinking of the fun I could have been having with someone else? Living for the time I could date the gorgeous blond across the room? I don’t believe so. I might never have discovered how much fun my own date could be. I even began to be flattered that my date wanted to be with me, instead of ten Frantic over Blackheads ? 9 Growing panicky over skin that sprouts a new crop of blackheads every few days? Then use this special corrective treatment for blackheads. This treatment is recommended by leading skin specialists. It’s quick. It’s effective. Every night, smooth a deep, snowy coat of Pond’s Vanishing Cream over face, except around the eyes. The “keratolytic” action of this greaseless cream dissolves off oily dead skin flakes that choke up pores and encourage blackheads. Leave on one minute, wipe off, rinse with cold water. 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