Did you make your bed today?

Admiral William McRaven gave a 19-minute speech to the graduating class at the University of Texas in 2014 about ten lessons he learnt during his 37 years in the US Navy. That now-famous speech has had over 18 million views on youtube, and he has since delved further into each of the life principles he presented, in his book, “Make Your Bed - Small things that can change your life … and maybe the world”. I read this outstanding book at the beginning of the year and plan on reading it again in January to be reminded of some great thoughts to doing life better for the coming year.

As our year 6 students come to an end of primary school each year, I present to them an animated version of the speech, found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTlhfjjEWD0  Together we have a discussion around the desire that most of us have to change the world and make it a better place, each in our unique way with our own gifts and talents. The difficulty is often knowing how to get started without feeling overwhelmed by the giant task. While there are many approaches, the Admiral suggests to start each day by completing a simple task, beginning with making your bed. From there, you will be encouraged to keep going with more tasks, until many tasks have been completed across the day. It’s about understanding that the little things matter, and developing a sense of accomplishment and pride. It leads to the encouragement that tomorrow will be better.

It’s fascinating to see the response after asking the year 6 students who actually made their bed that day! So few have this responsibility at home, and instead leave bed-making for their parents, or not bother with it at all. I wonder whether we can help our young people on their journey in life by empowering them through having some responsibility and contribution to the daily chores, that can be paired with a sense of accomplishment and pride? As their capability grows, not just in the pursuit of academic performance, but in the ability to contribute, take responsibility, and develop life skills will help them to face the challenges that they will have throughout life. Changing the world may just start with making your bed.

Gift Hamper Campaign

Thank you for the wonderful donations towards the Gift Hamper Campaign, with enough goodies collected so far for six hampers. Please continue to make your donations of non-perishable special foods items (not your usual pantry items) and decorative items (decorations, serviettes, bon-bons, etc.). Next week (week 8) is the last chance to make a contribution, as the hampers will be distributed in week 9. 

Blessings, Chappy Jenny

Email – jennifer.bennett@suchaplaincy.org.au

Instagram – Community_Chaplain