MY NAME IS MARY; I AM A BED-MAKER

When I was growing up, my parents were compulsive about household chores.  Among many of the household work they forced upon their four kids, we cleaned bathrooms, scrubbed floors, pulled weeds in the yard, and even learned how to compound and polish up a car.   We hated it.  However, in looking back over 50 years, I have to give them credit for teaching us the art and importance of keeping house.  Some of that training I carried with me into adulthood, and over time I have learned that it feeds into my psychological stability.

One rule we kids had to comply with daily, was to make our beds every morning before breakfast.  Okay, so it became a habit that stuck with me, and in my adult life I am a compulsive bed-maker.  What that means is, if for some reason I don’t get to the bed first thing in the morning, I make the bed just before getting into it that night.  It is a compulsion, required to lower a slight anxiety itch that plagues me when I see an unmade bed.  For me, the rest of the room can be a disaster of books, clothes and clutter, but if the largest thing in the room is tidy, I can deal.

Recently I had a conversation with a person who has a military background, and we discussed one of the first disciplines new members must do, and do right:  make their bunk immediately, every day.  And then came the most profound (for me) bit of wisdom.  More than the discipline of tidiness, the purpose is psychological:  if in the course of a day, nothing else gets done, no challenge is met, no problem solved, one can look at that bunk and feel a sense of having accomplished something.  Something.  I love this idea!  What's more, there is actually a recently published book out there "Make Your Bed" written by a US Navy Admiral (www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgzLzbd-zT4)

I am writing about this now, because all you slouches who leave the bed a mess every morning and get into that mess each night, especially if you suffer from any kind of depression or self-loathing, consider making your bed each morning.  Tuck in those sheets! Shake out and fluff those pillows!  Flatten every wrinkle on the blanket, and smooth that bedspread or quilt!  Smile.  Pat yourself on the back, and go take on the day!