Whistle While You Work

©Darrell Wyatt

I don't consider myself a super hard worker.  I'm very content sitting at the computer or watching TV.  I don't think I'm lazy, per se, but just not a go-getter.  There are some people who aren't happy unless they're moving and busy every second of the day.  I'm not one of them.

I did volunteer at the produce co-op this morning, and it felt really good!  I was lifting and moving heavy boxes, sorting produce and directing buyers.  I chatted with people that I'd never met.  I learned the co-op system a little better.  I got blisters and a broken toenail.  And I loved every second of it.  It was actually nice to get out in the air and work a little bit.

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did cause my people to be industrious, and to labor with their hands.

I like that word - industrious.  I knew that industrious meant hard-working, but I wondered if there were any other meanings, so I looked it up.  It also means "working energetically and devotedly; diligent".  Instantly, the word industrious changed for me.  Whereas before, I had pictured in my mind coal mining and oil rigging and crabbing boats and other hot, extremely hard, very labor intensive jobs, now I had conjured up images of the seven dwarfs and Snow White, singing "Whistle While You Work".  I didn't think that, as a stay-at-home mom, I could ever be considered industrious.  Turns out that I absolutely can!  Gardening, housework, and even baking can all be done energetically and devotedly.  I can be diligent while performing even the most menial of my tasks.

When Nephi was talking about the Lamanites, he said that "they did become an idle people, full of mischief".  Any parent can attest to the fact that idle children become mischievous children.  I'm sure the same can be said of adults.  There's an old Proverb that says "The Devil finds work for idle hands to do", and I believe it.

On the other hand, hard work and industriousness ensures that we don't have time for mischief.

And the Lord was with us; and we did prosper exceedingly; for we did sow seed, and we did reap again in abundance.  And we began to raise flocks, and herds, and animals of every kind.

And I did teach my people to build buildings, and to work in all manner of wood, and of iron, and of copper, and of brass, and of steel, and of gold, and of silver, and of precious ores, which were in great abundance.

I feel empowered this morning!  I am industrious!  I want to take this new title and get to work.  I can be energetic and devoted and diligent, and maybe even hard-working.  I want to say, as Nephi did, "And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness."  

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