If she suspected this , she would have shut up tight , and been more prickly than ever , fortunately she was n't thinking about herself , so when the time came , down she dropped . Now , if she had been the heroine of a moral storybook , she ought at this period of her life to have become quite saintly , renounced the world , and gone about doing good in a mortified bonnet , with tracts in her pocket . But , you see , Jo was n't a heroine , she was only a struggling human girl like hundreds of others , and she just acted out her nature , being sad , cross , listless , or energetic , as the mood suggested . It 's highly virtuous to say we 'll be good , but we ca n't do it all at once , and it takes a long pull , a strong pull , and a pull all together before some of us even get our feet set in the right way . Jo had got so far , she was learning to do her duty , and to feel unhappy if she did not , but to do it cheerfully , ah , that was another thing ! She had often said she wanted to do something splendid , no matter how hard , and now she had her wish , for what could be more beautiful than to devote her life to Father and Mother , trying to make home as happy to them as they had to her ? And if difficulties were necessary to increase the splendor of the effort , what could be harder for a restless , ambitious girl than to give up her own hopes , plans , and desires , and cheerfully live for others ? Providence had taken her at her word . Here was the task , not what she had expected , but better because self had no part in it . Now , could she do it ? She decided that she would try , and in her first attempt she found the helps I have suggested . Still another was given her , and she took it , not as a reward , but as a comfort , as Christian took the refreshment afforded by the little arbor where he rested , as he climbed the hill called Difficulty . `` Why do n't you write ? That always used to make you happy , '' said her mother once , when the desponding fit over-shadowed Jo . `` I 've no heart to write , and if I had , nobody cares for my things . '' `` We do . Write something for us , and never mind the rest of the world . Try it , dear . I 'm sure it would do you good , and please us very much . '' `` Do n't believe I can . ''
But XXXXX got out her desk and began to overhaul her half-finished manuscripts .
Christian Father Jo Mother Providence bonnet first rest right storybook