Change The World

I am not embarrassed to say that I am a hard worker. I always have been, and it has served me  well in my life. I think that’s why I admire “working class” people so much. In fact, I try to carry around $5 bills and In-And-Out Gift Cards with me everywhere I go so that when I catch someone working hard and/or doing the right thing, I can give them a small but usually meaningful reward. I also have to be a hard worker because my wife is a hard worker… and I can’t let her show me up!

At our house we share the chores. My wife does the laundry and being such a hard worker, she does the laundry almost every single day. My job is to help her and often times I will make the bed after she washes our sheets. And when I do, I make it right and pull it tight, in order for it to look perfect. I’m not really sure why I do that, but recently I read something written by a Navy Seal and it explains why making your bed is so important. Who knew!

"Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors (all Viet Nam veterans) would show up in our barracks room and the first thing they did was inspect your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard, and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack - that’s Navy talk for bed.

It was a simple mundane task. But every morning we were required to make our bed-to-perfection.  It seemed ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real battle-hardened warriors, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times over.

If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day.  It will give you a small sense of pride and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. Let’s face it, if you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right. And, if by chance you have a miserable day, you will come home to a bed that is made, that you made… that gives you the encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

Bottom line, if you want to change the world, start off by making your bed!”

So… this morning I made the bed! Then I stopped and looked at my wife and a thought came to my mind. If you truly find the right person to share your life with, and you make it your goal to treat them with perfection, you just might change their world!

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

~ Aristotle