If It's Not Fun

I ran into an old friend recently named Lyle.  We hadn’t seen each other for a long time.  Thirty years ago we lived in the same ward and were raising our children together.  We both worked in the young men’s program and spent a lot of time in the mountains and deserts herding boys.  Often, while traveling or sitting around a campfire, we analyzed the world’s problems and shared our philosophies on life.

I remember that Lyle was always trying to figure out a way to save time so he could get more done.  He came up with a concept called “power sleeping.”  The basic idea was to sleep more efficiently so you could get by with just a few hours each night. 

Lyle told me that he had always remembered, and had adopted and taught his boys, one of the “philosophies” that I had expounded years ago.  It is:  “If it’s not fun, don’t do it.  If you need to do it, make it fun.”

It was interesting to me that, of all the things we discussed and shared together, that was what he seemed to remember the most.  And he had apparently spent some serious time and effort applying it.  While I have always thought that it was a pretty good idea, my conversation with Lyle made me take another look at the concept.

At first it may appear to be overly simple and, perhaps, impractical.  But upon further examination, it may help us understand a great deal about life – especially if the term “fun” is given an eternal prospective.

My experience with you, the members of this ward, is that you are some of the brightest and most thoughtful individuals I know.  I hope that you will take some time to see if this principle can be applied in your own life to make it better. 

  

Lindon Parks