Beets and beds, or, the reason I'm so gosh darn happy

I was invited to participate in a religion conference last week and, of course, I jumped at the chance to tell people about our way of thinking and how fun it is to go boating on Saturday instead of Sunday. You know, people think of the commandments in two ways. Either they think of them as a restriction to their lifestyle, or they think of them as a restriction that will ultimately lead to happiness. And I'm in that group.

The commandments lead to happiness. There's no denying that. Helping, giving, taking your old bed to the Deseret Industries so that someone else can enjoy what you now hate, is really the way to peaceful living.

My mother in Texas lives right next door to the most unhappy man I've ever met. Last time I was visiting my mother I took this fellow some beets from my mother's garden and I asked him if he has ever donated an old bed to a second hand store. He said no. I told him that's probably why he was so unhappy and I gave him the beets. Now I don't know if I made a difference in his life. But that's not the point. The point is, I am so much happier than him. And I'm not better than him. That's not the point, either. But I am better at being happy. And I am better at giving away beets. And beds.

It's like my mother always says. It's better to beet a man, than to beat a man.