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“Of course I don’t have to do this,” one middle aged man said, carefully cleaning the table with a damp cloth. He put the cloth in a little pouch, sat down besi
by sho 5y ago
“Of course I don’t have to do this,” one middle aged man said, carefully cleaning the table with a damp cloth. He put the cloth in a little pouch, sat down beside him. “But look, this table’s clean.” He agreed that the table was clean.
“Usually,” the man said, “I work on alien religions… I catalogue, evaluate, compare. I come up with theories and argue with colleagues here and elsewhere. But the job’s never finished. Always new examples and even the old ones get reevaluated and new people come along and come up with new ideas about what you thought was settled. But,” he slapped the table, “when you clean a table, you clean a table. You feel you’ve done something. It’s an achievement.”
> from Use Of Weapons, by Iain M. Banks
- 29athrowaway 5y agoIf 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. 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 — and a made bed gives you encouragement that tomorrow will be better. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed. - Admiral William H. McRaven
- Tempest1981 5y agoHe also mentioned courage: “Without courage, men will be ruled by tyrants and despots. Without courage, no great society can flourish. Without courage, the bullies of the world rise up. With it, you can accomplish any goal. With it, you can defy and defeat evil.”
- 29athrowaway 5y agoThere are many gems in that speech, but I took the excerpt that was more relevant as a reply. I am not militaristic but I do believe that discipline makes your life better.
- soperj 5y agoIs it wrong that I've never achieved any satisfaction or sense of accomplishment from making my bed?
- lucumo 5y agoNo. It usually even fills me with the opposite feeling. I don't like sleeping in "made beds". They're very constricting. A made bed may look tidy, but I don't look at my bed other than when I go to sleep.
- everybodyknows 5y agoNot wrong. Try this alternative: Relocate your bed within the room, even if only by a few inches. If better, keep the modest improvement to your local environment. If worse, move the bed back and keep the knowledge.
- soperj 5y agoHonestly I feel like there are people out there that are massively affected by the environment around them. They can't work without a tidy desk, eat without the cupboards closed etc. A tidy desk or closed doors don't effect my mental well being, neither a bed in disarray, or bed not centered in the room? I go about my day blissfully unaware of any of it.
- mlboss 5y agoI also don't achieve any satisfaction in making up bed. Yes it looks nice but its not an achievement just a necessary task.
- sundarurfriend 5y agoThis is as good a place as any to ask: what does it mean to "make your bed"? I've been hearing this expression for years, and always have a vague impression of arranging your blankets, pillows, etc., neat and tidy - but that's just my assumption based on context. Growing up in India in the 90s, we generally made our beds (in a more literal sense) in the night: unrolling a dried grass mat [1] on the floor, a few blankets on top of that (a woollen one in the middle if it's winter), and a pillow or two. In the morning, the blankets were folded, mat rolled up, pillows and everything stashed away in a shelf until it's night again. The first time I came across this expression, I thought this is what they meant - to make this contraption in the morning itself! [1] https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dried+grass+mat&iax=images&ia=images&iar=images&iai=https%3A%2F%2F5.imimg.com%2Fdata5%2FHD%2FNV%2FHS%2FANDROID-29415815%2Fproduct-jpeg-500x500.jpg&pn=1 https://duckduckgo.com/?q=dried+grass+mat&iax=images&ia=imag...
- radu_floricica 5y agoJust straighten out pillows, sheets and blankets so it's visually appealing instead of a mess.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- bnjms 5y agoIn your context making your bed would be the reverse. It would be storing away the contraption. The saying refers to people’s habit of leaving their beds a mess of twisted blankets and a bumble of pillows.