Putting My Heart Into It

Elder Terrence M. Vinson of the Presidency of the Seventy has taught me something about why I love D&D, even though he was actually talking about rugby. He said that his enjoyment of the game was greatest when he gave it his all and played his hardest. D&D isn't a physical sport, but I still play it pretty hard. I own multiple D&D books and several sets of dice, I write pages of information about the games I'm in, I think about D&D frequently, and when I play, I employ some voice acting and body language to embody my character, and I make game-affecting decisions based on what would make the most sense for my character and what would make for the best story. As with Elder Vinson and his rugby, I put my heart into D&D, and I love it all the more when I do.

I wonder if it's possible to "put my heart into" other things as well. To use a relatively safe example, can I "put my heart into" doing my household chores, if it isn't already there? Of course, I can go through the motions. I can do the work. But will doing the work help me become emotionally invested in the work? Will doing the work help me become motivated to do it? That doesn't seem logical, but conventional wisdom says "fake it 'til you make it."

On the other hand, perhaps "fake it 'til you make it" is primarily about establishing habits. I can certainly make a habit out of doing something without really putting my heart into it. For example, I'm pretty regular about running the dishwasher and taking out the trash, but that doesn't mean that I'm passionate about either of those things.

Then again, I do get some enjoyment out of it. Loading the dishwasher is a puzzle game, like a play-at-your-own-pace version of Tetris, and I like the rumbling, thunder-like sound the garbage bins make when I roll them out to the curb. Perhaps I should follow Mary Poppins' advice and find the element of fun in the work I need to do. If I find the fun and latch on to it, perhaps I'll have found the way to "put my heart into" my work, get more satisfaction out of it, and find more motivation to keep doing it. I'm not sure I fully agree with Mary Poppins' initial premise that "in every task that must be done, there is an element of fun," but I have yet to disprove her. Perhaps she's right. And if she's right, that means that I can find a way to put my heart into any work that I need to do.

So I'm going to look for the fun in my housework, my schoolwork, my vocational work, and my gospel work. I'm going to look for excuses to become passionate about some of the things I have to do, should do, or should do more often and more consistently. I'm going to look for ways to "put my heart into" my work. Because if I find it, I can turn some of that work into play, and that might help me find the satisfaction I need to motivate me to keep at it.