Please, Make the Bed!: Shining Light on Self
When I was a kid, I didn‘t keep my room clean. In fact, it was so trashed, I pushed a path from the door to my bed, so I could get to it without stepping on dirty clothes, trash, etc. As an adult, I have no idea how my mom put up with it. One day though, instead of scolding me for not cleaning my room, she used a different approach.
“I‘m not going to ask you to clean your room, but I want you to at least make your bed.”
That didn’t seem too hard. I figured she finally gave up on the issue and was happy to make my bed. The next morning, I got to work straightened my sheets and laid out my comforter. My bed looked wonderful, but now, I realized how much of a mess the rest of my room was. Little by little, I started cleaning stuff up until the room was clean. By having me make my bed, my mom got me to realize that it made the mess stick out more. Since the bed is the main focal point of the room, cleaning it shined light on all the imperfections laying all over my floor.
It was a clever trick, until I didn’t want to make my bed, so I wouldn’t feel I had to clean my room.
Flash forward to 2021, a thought occurred to me as I was making my bed. Weeks earlier, I had a good friend help me to organize my home. She taught me the basics of keeping the house so it wouldn't turn into my childhood bedroom. The first tip for my bedroom: Make your bed every morning. That pattern helps set the tone for the rest of the day and gives extra attention to everything that isn't where it's supposed to be. Setting in motion the small good habits directs your path toward better cleaning mindsets.
When we live in all our filth and dark emotions, we grow accustomed to the dirtiness around us. It isn’t until we clean up the focal point of our lives that we see how damaging our bad habits and destructive patterns are. The Scripture "For now we see through a glass, darkly;" (1 Corinthians 13:12 KJV). When we start setting the focus of our lives toward people, mindsets, and environments that bring life, we start to clean the dark spots off of the glasses of our lives. When one spot is cleaned, you see how nicely the glass sparkles when it's cleaned.
The remaining dark spots can become overwhelming and may make you want to revert back to the dirtiness, living back where you had been for so long. I urge you not to give up on the path to lighting up your life. This "chore" is a constant habit that needs to be built over time and done with discipline. It takes a lot of work, internally and externally, but it's worth the well-made bed and life you shed into yourself and others.
That's all from me! I pray you all have a wonderful week and take care!