“Want
to change the world? Start by making your bed every day.” ~Admiral William H.
McRaven
I
have been doing this for as long as I can remember. The part in this particular section of the
speech that stuck out to me is when the Admiral said, “The little things in
life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you can never do the big
things right.” Much like Luke 16:10 – “Whoever
can be trusted with very little can also be trusted with much, and whoever is
dishonest with the very little will also be dishonest with much.”
I
live by this philosophy and try to be faithful in everything I do, because
trust is important to me. I operate with a Spirit of Excellence, and it’s those
things I truly value in others, trust being the first of those things.
I
don’t make my bed every morning because I have to, or because I feel the need.
I make my bed every morning because it’s mine, I respect it, I want to take
care of the things I possess, and it provides me with a sense of
accomplishment, even if it’s a little mundane thing. I want to be prepared for what’s coming
next. I want my bed ‘ready’ for me when
it’s time for me to go to sleep. It
doesn’t magically make itself. And yes,
it will just get messed up again – and again – and again, but that’s no excuse
NOT to make it up. My body will get
dirty again, and again, and again, but it’s my responsibility to wash it, feed
it, clean it, exercise it, and take care of it.
If I don’t, it will not work properly.
The
reason making a bed is a small, yet huge important lesson, is because it’s an
act that often no one but we ourselves can see.
It’s not a grand gesture out there for the world to notice to pat me on
the back and say, ‘atta girl’. It’s
mundane, it’s simple, only something God and I know that I do, but that’s the
point. It’s a small thing – and the
small things matter. It’s the small
things that make up our character, our will, our drive, and our integrity.
So,
make the bed, return the shopping cart to the proper area, pick up the piece of
trash on the ground, open the door for others, let someone out at a busy
intersection, reach up on the high shelf for the vertically challenged, call
your parents, tell the people in your life you love them and appreciate them,
say thank you, and be kind. These things
don’t make you weak or a fool for the cruel world to take advantage, on the
contrary this is what makes someone tall in integrity and honor.
As
I get older, different things become important to me, and having friends and
relationships with people of integrity is at the top of my list. So, as the Admiral stated in his beautiful
speech – make your bed every morning. Start off your day with a sense of
accomplishment of having completed something, and then fill that day with other
small successes. Be a person of integrity.
I
made my bed, and then I got dressed and went to the gym and completed my work
out. Now I’m writing my blog, and then headed off to work. I’m already three success into the morning
and I’m only getting started. I’m
changing my world, what about you?
Till
next time,
~T.L.
Gray
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