Posted on 05/25/2014 8:19:48 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
The University of Texas slogan is "What starts here changes the world." I have to admit—I kinda like it. "What starts here changes the world."
Tonight there are almost 8,000 students graduating from UT. That great paragon of analytical rigor, Ask.Com, says that the average American will meet 10,000 people in their lifetime. That's a lot of folks. But if every one of you changed the lives of just 10 people, and each one of those folks changed the lives of another 10 people—just 10—then in five generations, 125 years, the class of 2014 will have changed the lives of 800 million people.
If you think it's hard to change the lives of 10 people, change their lives forever, you're wrong. I saw it happen every day in Iraq and Afghanistan. A young Army officer makes a decision to go left instead of right down a road in Baghdad and the 10 soldiers with him are saved from close-in ambush. But, if you think about it, not only were these soldiers saved by the decisions of one person, but their children yet unborn were also saved. And their children's children were saved. Generations were saved by one decision, by one person. But changing the world can happen anywhere and anyone can do it.
And while these lessons were learned during my time in the military, I can assure you that it matters not whether you ever served a day in uniform. It matters not your gender, your ethnic or religious background, your orientation, or your social status. Our struggles in this world are similar and the lessons to overcome those struggles and to move forward—changing ourselves and the world around us—will apply equally to all.
I no longer subscribe to the WSJ and was able to access this on the public page of the WSJ. I hope you can, too. This is well worth reading beginning to end. The rest of the address is the specific lessons learned from Navy SEAL training. Each lesson gets boiled down to a specific gem. Highly recommended!
Try this.
I guess maybe I AM still a subscriber.
I have an Army story about making my bed well, and it helped me become platoon leader in AIT.
Synopsis.
Former Navy SEAL commander shares life lessons in rousing commencement speech
May 23, 2014 by Cheryl Carpenter Klimek 46 Comments
Admiral William McRaven, a 36-year veteran Navy SEAL and commander of the forces that killed Osama bin Laden, delivered a rousing commencement speech Thursday to graduates at his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin.
In urging students to find the courage to change the world, McRaven shared these 10 life lessons, as seen in the video below:
1. If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed.
2. If you want to change the world, find someone to help you paddle.
3. If you want to change the world, measure a person by the size of their heart, not the size of their flippers.
4. If you want to change the world get over being a sugar cookie and keep moving forward.
5. If you want to change the world, don’t be afraid of the circuses.
6. If you want to change the world sometimes you have to slide down the obstacle head first.
7. If you want to change the world, don’t back down from the sharks.
8. If you want to change the world, you must be your very best in the darkest moment.
9. If you want to change the world, start singing when you’re up to your neck in mud.
10. If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
For each lesson, McRaven offered a narrative of how it applied to him. The most poignant explanation came just before No. 10, when he said:
Finally, in SEAL training there is a bell, a brass bell that hangs in the center of the compound for all the students to see.
All you have to do to quit is ring the bell. Ring the bell and you no longer have to wake up at 5 o’clock. Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the freezing cold swims.
Ring the bell and you no longer have to do the runs, the obstacle course, the PT — and you no longer have to endure the hardships of training.
Just ring the bell.
If you want to change the world don’t ever, ever ring the bell.
Full speech.
http://www.utexas.edu/news/2014/05/16/admiral-mcraven-commencement-speech/
I read this article else where, and it is awesome. I am glad to see it’s going viral :)
To reach the ADMIRAL level, there is ONE more skill set that almost no SEALs have —you have to be comfortable with lying and politics.
This guy is head of JSOC, a military inside of the US military.
His boss is Obama —this guy goes out and kills anyone Obama tells him to.
If he’d have been in charge at Bunkerville, how many people think he would have questioned his orders? I sure don’t.
This guy was working during Bengazi. I have heard nothing about his actions that night.
Nice speech, sure, but, uh....this guy is no saint, I’m sure.
Said he with a crooked cover. I loved the speech; cold not stand his cover being off while speaking of precision an excellence. Guess it is the Marine in me.
The same man who covers for the administration and lies to the parents of Extortion 17. Make your bed indeed, wonderful guy. /s
This guy was in charge of Extortion 17???!!!!
Commander special operation.
Why yes,yes he was.He also went to the Vaughn home in Fort Pierce FL.My understanding is the Vaughn’s were not satisfied with the explanation of events provided by Commander McRaven. Who could blame them for their suspicion.
Lucky shot./s
An excellent talk as a whole,scrub ahead to 53 minutes 40 seconds to hear Billy Vaughn’s description of his meeting with Admiral McKraven.
Extortion 17 - A Discussion about the betrayal of…: http://youtu.be/kJ5zrwBbRvY
yeah, great speech and all that.....then I Googled him.
Shhhh, Freepers, don’t tell anyone, but just google a WSJ article title—and you’ll gain access to the story.
Was McRaven OK in your book when he killed anyone Bush told him to?
Grow up. The military takes its orders from the civilian leadership. You want more predictable leaders? Elect better civilians.
If you really want the military in charge, maybe you should look into countries that have done just that. You may not like the results, though.
Did you watch the video in post #11? I did, and I am ordering the book “Extortion 17.” I am increasingly of the belief Smedley Butler was right.
McRaven gives a good speech. SoCom under his command well let’s just say it needs an overhaul.
SoCom=JSOC.
I haven’t watched YouTube conspiracy videos since I had to sit through the stupid “chemtrails” nonsense, but you go right ahead.
Wow, what an inane disconnected response. How do you remotely compare the video of a well reasoned sincere father whose son was a Navy Seal trying to get answers about how he died, to “chemtrails?”
Seriously, did you take the time to watch the video?
I listened to his speech last week.
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