We all know that social media can wreak havoc on, and forever negatively change, a person’s life with a single post or comment, but it can also be, and has been, used to spread good news and stories to become a source of inspiration for positive life changes. For instance, I may never have known about the brilliant commencement speech delivered by Naval Adm. William H. McRaven to the University of Texas graduating class of 2014, if it weren’t for Facebook. Thankfully, my dear friend, Teresa, shared the New York Times article “10 life lessons from the SEAL who led mission for bin Laden” written about the speech and there it was on my wall to read and share. Adm. McRaven, former commander of the Navy’s SEAL Team 3 and current commander of the US Special Operations Command — the man who led the mission to get Osama bin Laden – shares the lessons he learned during his Navy SEAL training. Although we know the process of learning these lessons would be anything but, his advice on how to live a better life is simply put.
Admiral McRaven opens his speech humbly as he offers “suggestions” to his young audience “that may help you on your way to a better world.” With each lesson, he relates an experience during SEAL training, and then states the lesson. If you want a peek inside this world, here’s your chance. The ten lessons to adopt if, as he puts it, you want a better world are:
- Start off by making your bed.
- Find someone to help you paddle.
- Measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
- Get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
- Don’t be afraid of the circuses.
- Sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head-first.
- Don’t back down from the sharks.
- You must be your very best in the darkest moment.
- Start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
- Don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
My favorites right now and those that I know will make a positive change in my world: Don’t be afraid of the circuses; start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud; and, don’t ever, ever ring the bell. What are yours?