8-14-21
Right now I’m listening to a few different audio books (I like to switch, jump around):
All three of these books are extremely well written/spoken. I especially enjoyed Make Your Bed, as it was short, the audiobook was read by the author, and thanks to a 2-for-1 deal on Audible, it was free!
Make Your Bed is a book by Admiral William H. McRaven (U.S. Navy retired). It’s a meditation on the ten lessons for living gained from his training and time serving as a Navy Seal. He first explained these rules in a speech given to U.T. Austin’s graduating class of 2014. The success of the speech was so profound that he decided to write a book about these ten lessons. For each lesson, he gives a short story from his own life justifying or demonstrating the lesson’s importance in his own life, as well as the lives of those around him. He also expounds on each lesson a little. Finally, the book ends with the text of his original speech, in full.
The book’s motto is “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.” This lays the foundation of the ten lessons in the book, and now that I’ve listened to the full audiobook (which was a short read, maybe 1.5 hours), I appreciate the multiple layers of meaning in this quote much more, down to the very first word, “if”.
Every day we are presented with thousands - if not millions - of choices, from the minute to (sometimes) the life-changing. Decisions range from “Cheerios or toast?”, “Gray or white socks?”, all the way to “Do I honk because someone cut me off?”, “Do I ask him/her for their number?”. In my opinion, the really important questions are the ones that are ultimately tests of willingness - Am I really willing to study for the GRE today? Am I really willing to go the gym even though I’m tired? Am I really willing to try and keep a good attitude, even though I’m hungry and I hurt?
If the answer is yes, then there’s work to be done. If the answer is no, well…I’ve answered no many times, and it almost always manifested in lost opportunities, procrastination, and regret.
The rest of the first half of the sentence, “If you want to change the world”, reminds me of an anonymous poem/quote:
When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family. Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have have had an impact on my family. My family and I could have made and impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world.
I think that quote speaks for itself and I’m running out of time, so I’ll wrap things up
Should you buy it? Maybe. For the price (free), it was fantastic. But as far as a ‘self-help’ book goes, I want a little more meat. The majority of the book’s content was reflections on his time as Navy Seal. I think I heard the definition of a “sugar cookie” (when they make you dunk yourself in the surf and roll in the grainy sand" at least four times throughout the book.
That being said, while I don’t think the book’s contents will stick with me, I now have a better understanding of the hardships of Navy Seal training, and a better appreciation of the sacrifice not only of lives, but time, effort, dreams, and power of will made by the men and women whom serve our country.
And I must admit - the next morning, the very first thing I did was make my bed.
Colin