One of the first life lessons I learned while growing up was to make my bed every morning. It did not matter how well you made the bed __ it just had to be made! The bedsheets did not require sharp military corners. I usually just flipped the quilt over the heap of sheets underneath looking like I was covering up evidence 0f a crime.
Some mornings I would be running late, and I would skip the chore. My bedroom was on the second floor and did not get “inspected” until late morning. When I had gotten home from school I was reminded firmly to not leave the house without making your bed. Now as an adult I can still hear the words “make your bed before you leave for the day.”
The Internet and YouTube have enumerable videos and articles from military personnel touting the reasons for making one’s bed. Let me give you the one that works for me. It feels great to start the day accomplishing something. It feels like I’m prepped to have a full and positive day of possible accomplishments.
Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command was the commencement speaker at The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014. In his speech, he offered several life lessons to graduates on how to change the world. I’m only focusing on his first suggestion to be an agent of change. Check out the YouTube video of Admiral McRaven for his complete speech.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. “If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”
We all have our morning routines. Researcher are saying we are not eating breakfast at home like we did decades ago. No time to make coffee. Grab a muffin. Eat on the run.
For starters, just grab your bed spread or quilt and flip it over your crumpled sheets. Who knows, by the end of the week you might even be doing military folds at the corners of the bed.
And next week? God only knows! The world is waiting!
Robert Parlante
Some mornings I would be running late, and I would skip the chore. My bedroom was on the second floor and did not get “inspected” until late morning. When I had gotten home from school I was reminded firmly to not leave the house without making your bed. Now as an adult I can still hear the words “make your bed before you leave for the day.”
The Internet and YouTube have enumerable videos and articles from military personnel touting the reasons for making one’s bed. Let me give you the one that works for me. It feels great to start the day accomplishing something. It feels like I’m prepped to have a full and positive day of possible accomplishments.
Naval Admiral William H. McRaven, ninth commander of U.S. Special Operations Command was the commencement speaker at The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014. In his speech, he offered several life lessons to graduates on how to change the world. I’m only focusing on his first suggestion to be an agent of change. Check out the YouTube video of Admiral McRaven for his complete speech.
If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. “If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”
We all have our morning routines. Researcher are saying we are not eating breakfast at home like we did decades ago. No time to make coffee. Grab a muffin. Eat on the run.
For starters, just grab your bed spread or quilt and flip it over your crumpled sheets. Who knows, by the end of the week you might even be doing military folds at the corners of the bed.
And next week? God only knows! The world is waiting!
Robert Parlante
April 2017
No comments:
Post a Comment