I thought you might like something positive. This man has positive things to say. It’s worth the listen!
From IJ Review
McRaven drew from his training to tell the students the 10 ways they could change the world.
Here are just a few of them:
He started off by telling them to make their bed because:
“If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right.”
He described the importance of finding someone else to help you paddle:
“You can’t change the world alone—you will need some help— and to truly get from your starting point to your destination takes friends, colleagues, the good will of strangers and a strong coxswain to guide them.”
He let them know that SEALS do not check their privilege, saying:
“SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.”
Admiral McRaven covered seven other areas, as well. One thing’s clear from his outstanding speech: It may have been one of hundreds of commencement addresses, but it also doubles as some incredible life advice for anyone.
So glad you posted this! I heard this on the radio yesterday and was so inspired.
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This link has the text of the entire speech:
Navy SEAL Commander Tells Students To Make Their Beds Every Morning In Incredible Commencement Speech
http://www.businessinsider.com/bill-mcraven-commencement-speech-at-ut-2014-5#ixzz32JfSCmAI
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Thanks, Josh!
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Everything he said was so mature and meaningful.
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Nothing but respect for the Admiral. But I think his focus on making a difference in the world is misplaced. Better to make a difference in your family, your community, the culture you identify with.
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dsb steve,
Good point… it is o.k. to think globally and act locally, as the bumper sticker goes.
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You just can’t make this stuff up: McRaven organized Operation Neptune Spear that killed bin Laden. Meanwhile, Zero rehearsed jokes for a dinner with reporters.
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We’ve had some medical emergencies in the family. Sitting outside the ICU always makes one think of great lessons taught and learned through life. The Admiral’s address certainly gave the graduates some ideal pointers for the years to come, but I understand dbs steve makes a good point in that true learning starts at home and waves outward.
When I was four years old our grandfather went on a “fishing” vacation to northern Wisconsin with the family. He made it a habit to arise before the sun rose and sit lakeside observing the flora and fauna. When I figured out his schedule, I’d join him for in-depth conversation about world affairs, the economy, literature, music, the cost of Tinker Toys and other such insights a four-year-old can share with an elder. A mother duck would walk her eight ducklings past our bench on the way to their morning swim, and over two weeks we named them and discussed their personalities. He taught me about the huge value of first contact between parents and child (imprinting), pecking orders (managing siblings) and signals that warn the babies about a bald eagle or a muskie that might endanger the family. How right he was.
The second lesson that occurs to me regards the PBS special on Selfridge’s, the London department store. At fifteen, I went to work for Marshall Field’s where Harry Selfridge trained and where I worked summers and part-time through college. Field’s was a marker: the customer is ALWAYS right. Honor your people — customers, vendors, fellow employees, anyone that cuts through the store on the way to some other destination — with respect. I saw managers take back clothing that obviously been worn, no questions asked (it was cleaned and passed on to shelters trying to give people a wardrobe to start a job). The stories are endless, but Field’s was a culture that taught excellence.
Life is an attitude. If a teenager starts off their adult life with the right attitude, they can overcome any difficulties that come their way. The Admiral knows the culture he needs to teach and enforce to make superior people. Make your bed.
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You worked for Field’s? My favorite department store. Rest In Peace.
Did you ever read, “Give The Lady What She Wants”? I inherited a copy that was published by the store from a couple of spinsters who lived in Roselle, IL. I think that was in the late 1960’s. I’d go look for it, but I think my daughter may have “borrowed” it. Great history of Marshall Field.
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http://www.amazon.com/Give-Lady-What-She-Wants/dp/0897080203
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Yes, ma’am. Herman Kogan lived around the corner from us. What a great writer! Stella, I grew up with MF, first at their Oak Park and Chicago stores where I fell asleep under one of the displays at age two when my mother shopped ’til she dropped (or I did) and had the store detectives going wild looking for me. Then I went to work at Oak Brook mall store for six years, and also used to hound the Evanston store for “cheap” goods when I was fostering families in peril while I was in college. The managers stayed forever, so after a while, you knew who was the right person to ask for help. Later on, a friend in graphics was designing the tissue boxes for a worldwide company “known” for their facial tissues. I took him across the street to the fabric department of the Loop store for ideas. We settled on lace and spent some $600 – $700 for two yards of handmade, imported goods that became the mock up for their new line (paid for by a major ad agency, not him). Field’s had EVERYTHING! I have not yet recovered from their closing. Tears on my pillow.
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I would welcome their customer service acumen. We are soooo lacking great customer service :-(
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I don’t know if you have seen any of the PBS serial, “Mr. Selfridge”. It is about a man who started in the stock room at Field’s, worked his way up for more than 20 years, then went to London to open their first real “Department Store” in the Field model. The PBS version is not all truth, of course, but it is beautiful television, and based on a real person.
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You might be interested to know that Breitbart’s widow ( Susannah) has a tenuous link to the Selfridge family name. Susanna’s father is Orson Bean who was married three times. Bean’s first wife was Selridge’s grandaughter, Jacqueline de Sibour, daughter of Violette B. Selfridge. However, his second wife was fashion designer Carolyn Maxwell, who is Susie Breitbart’s mother. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orson_Bean
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Interesting! Jeremy Piven, who plays Selfridge in the PBS series, is related to this person:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Fox_Piven
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I remember. :-D http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2014/04/06/whats-in-a-name-2/
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I remember, because you were the one who told me originally!
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Bean has a lot of interesting connections:
Bean was born Dallas Frederick Burrows in Burlington, Vermont, the son of Marian Ainsworth (née Pollard) and George Frederick Burrows. His father was a founding member of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a fund-raiser for the Scottsboro Boys’ defense, and a 20-year member of the campus police of Harvard College. Orson graduated from the Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. He is a first cousin twice removed of Calvin Coolidge, who was President of the United States at the time of Bean’s birth. Orson Bean is a founding member of The Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel and Hardy Society.
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Wow….such interconnectivity… proving the theory “Six Degrees of Separation”?
I thought the following taken from his book, “Too Much Is not Enough”, by Orson Bean, 1988… was most interesting too.
http://rexwordpuzzle.blogspot.com/2010/09/bean-on-screen-tue-9-14-10-its-driven.html
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WOW!
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What’s that hand signal the Admiral is using? Isn’t that one that could get you killed if you “flashed” it in Italy?
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I’m thinking UT stands for University of Texas. Hook ’em horns sign. Yeah, you wouldn’t want to flash it in Italy. This was a great speech, and further proof that a prerequisite for political office should include military service. Better yet let’s just let the seals run our country. :-)
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UT – University of Texas, hook ’em horns.
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Okay, I googled it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hook_'em_Horns
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Yepper. Sure does pi$$ off Aggies…..
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ZurichMike got his MA and JD degrees at the University of Texas. What a great place for a young person. This guy could be the picture definition of “a man’s man”. Wow. Major props to the armed forces that keep churning out such amazing men.
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If you read the book “Betrayed” by Billy Vaughn and learn more about Extortion 17 you would lose all respect for this SOB.
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Can you summarize?
It’s not likely that every one reading this thread today will have the opportunity to read the book and draw the conclusion you have. Can you unpack your comment, please?
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Yes, please.
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I wished you hadn’t asked that question and covered Extortion 17 on this page as much as you cover Benghazi.
Karen Vaughn said military officials withheld information about the imam’s prayer ceremony and lied to her repeatedly about the investigation. She also said Admiral William McRaven, commander at U.S. Special Operations Command, blew up at her when she questioned him about withholding information.
“[McRaven] made the statement to [my husband and I] … that the military will never withhold any truth from the parents of a fallen soldiers,” said Karen Vaughn. “And I quickly said, not meaning any disrespect, ‘What about [fallen soldier, Corporal] Pat Tillman?’ And he nearly came across the table at me, flashed with anger, vessels popped out of his neck, and he said ‘What about Pat Tillman? That was simply a case of friendly fire.’”
“We knew at that point, our discussion was over,” she added. “And it was embarrassing that this was one of the highest ranking admirals in our Navy.”
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I realize that everything you read and say is tinged by extortion 17. I am not trying to minimize that, but is it possible for you to filter anything independently? Apparently not. I’m sure we haven’t covered extortion 17 to an extent that pleases you. You are taking care of that on your own blog. You run your blog, and we will run ours. Fair enough?
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Is anything he said in his speech untruthful?
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The Obama ass kisser can bite me.
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That is enough of that, please. I understand that you have a problem with McRaven.
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Although I thought his UT Commencement speech above was great, I now have a different impression of Admiral McRaven:
http://beforeitsnews.com/opinion-conservative/2013/05/seal-team-6-families-looking-for-answers-2640652.html
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Thank you for posting Stella, great life lessons from Admiral McRaven.
Never ring the bell.
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