One of the most common effects of this habit is discouragement, gloominess, despondency. These mental states must be overcome. Constantly a firm “I will break from this habit,” “I will have only pure thoughts.” Don’t chide and condemn yourself any more because of the errors of the past. God has mercifully and lovingly forgiven them and graciously offers to give you strength and grace with which to win the battles of the future. Hopefully, cheerfully and bravely face the future. You may occasionally meet with defeat. If so, try again. No lasting defeat can come to one who keeps on trying. Victory will crown the persistent effort. We often help ourselves by helping others. You are only one of the many girls who have had a similar experience. The battles you are fighting in your life will enable you to be a blessing to other weak ones. If I can be of any help to you in the future, write me. If this letter helps you in any small degree to win a victory, pass the blessing on to another. “Very sincerely, “T. W. S.” CHAPTER XVIII MOTHER’S FIFTH TALK--A SMALL GIRL’S ETHICS =The social nature.=--You are now of an age when you will appreciate a heart to heart talk on the social relations of small girls and boys. God gave to us our social natures. It is our social nature that leads us to desire new acquaintances, to be with old friends, to be in large gatherings of people, and to have special friends. A reasonable amount of social activity is essential to our well-being. Most of our real pleasure in life grows out of our relation to society. Genuine innocent pleasure is nature’s greatest tonic. Innocent games, a big romp, a good laugh, all help to develop the body, prolong life and increase one’s usefulness. Plays, games, a good time, should form a large part of childhood. The boy’s masculine nature leads him often to prefer games that require strength, endurance and daring. The girl’s feminine nature leads her often to prefer games that require less of strength, endurance and danger. It is for this reason that boys enjoy games of football and baseball and girls enjoy their dolls, tennis and croquet. =Boys and girls should play together.=--While boys prefer to play with boys much of the time and girls prefer to play with girls much of the time, yet their opposite natures lead them to enjoy being with each other in conversation and games. In most homes and communities, boys and girls are nearly equally divided as to number. This would indicate that God planned for boys and girls to be much with each other.