"On Running After One's Hat"

In this essay, Chesterton describes various experiences, some of which are humorous in nature, where most people would consider to be negative he recasts as a positive. The first thing he notes is the flooding of part of London followed by a boy waiting at a train station, a man chasing after his hat, someone trying to get a fly out of some milk or a piece of cork out of some wine, and a man who was trying to open a stuck drawer.

I thought that this essay was humorous and also gave one some food for thought regarding the experiences that he recounted. He regarded chasing after one's hat in the wind, for example, as an adventurous experience rather than a mere nuisance. Another example of this sort of thing is when he explained to someone that opening a stuck drawer should be seen as a great challenge as opposed to a source of aggravation. The main point Chesterton was trying to make, I think, is that one should try to view a challenge in a more positive light and in so doing one might see that challenge as more of a good thing.