MAKE YOUR BED EVERY DAY!
Years ago, I accidentally met an Arabic-looking man at Moi International Airport in Mombasa. I was walking up and down the departure lounge - catching up on my daily obsession of steps target.
As I continued, he surveyed the expansive lounge - looking for a seat. And found one - for the lounge was largely empty.
But on the seat, he found an empty plastic soda bottle strewn upon it and a plastic wrapper for Lays Crisps - someone had left the trash on the seat. He picked these up and walked to the distant waste bin. And at the same moment, I reached near the same waste bin and greeted him.
"Assalamu Aleikum" - assuming he was Muslim (I profiled him as an Arab and thus Muslim - judging a book by its cover!).
"Aleikum Salaam," he replied confidently and with purpose. I decidedly took the conversation a notch higher, "I noticed you picked up the trash that didn't belong to you? That was a noble act!" - I quipped.
"That's what my religion teaches me" he replied.
"Yes, indeed - Islam requires us to be mindful of our environment!" I added - happy that one of 'us' was setting a good example.
"I am not Muslim. I am an Orthodox Christian!" - he quickly corrected my line of thought and conversation. Shock unto me! Here I was, profiling and judging people by their looks!😒
Served me right! Muslims are not the only good humans on Earth - all humans are generally good - its circumstances that sometimes drive them into some negative.
But yes - and I reiterate - by nature and by default; every woman and man on earth is a good person!
Back to our Orthodox Christian ---
"My name is Georgiis. I am from Syria." - he carried on.
"I am Abdullatif (I deliberately used my full first name knowing well he will pick it easily) - I am from Mombasa but now live in Nairobi, - it is my great pleasure to meet you!"
Now it was his turn to rub it in; "My religion is very particular too and I am a practicing Orthodox Christian." My initial shock quickly dissipated due to his humble disposition - he noticed I was a little flustered and quickly disarmed my obvious disappointment by saying this happens to him every time whilst he is in Kenya.
"This confusion is very common. Many people do not know that a significant minority of Arabs are Christians - mostly Orthodox - the largest sect being the Copts in Egypt. And a large proportion of Lebanese are Christian. There are also Christians in Iraq and Syria. But they are not mostly protestant or evangelical - they are largely Orthodox and small minority are Catholic."
We conversed at length after he had quickly brushed aside my profiling him as an Arab Muslim.
Georgiis gave me quite a lecture on his religion - which I happily soaked in. He pointed out many salient points which practicing Orthodox Christians (especially Monks and Nuns) must partake and practice in including mandatory requirement of doing their personal chores, making your own beds every day, washing your dishes and laundry and even going to the extreme where every individual is encouraged to grow his/her own foods as much as possible.
What I derived most in our conversation was the importance given to action on personal chores by generally religious person (irrespective of their religion - think of Buddhists or Hindus or Jews or Daoists or any other religion ..). The need to do our own chores - as a service to ourselves and those around us, as part of our worship of God, as part of our daily lives.
As we chatted, I lost count (and hope) of reaching my steps target - without regret though! Because conversing with Georgiis opened my eyes not only about Syria and her multitude problems but more about Orthodoxy. And more so of what unites us rather than divides mankind.
More important than Syria and her issues; were what he taught me about Orthodox Christian teachings and indeed the universal teachings of all major religions about the importance of seemingly insignificant daily habits that have profound effect upon our daily lives which will eventually make this world a better place to live in. And all these we shall do expecting no rewards!
I added and Georgiss confirmed, that many people do not know that Prophet Mohamed (s.a.w.) actually did housework and washed his own garments, he did his own chores throughout his life - not because there was no one else to do these - but as a habit, a teaching and as a conviction!! As part of worship of God (Ibadah).
Do we need any more examples? Let us work with Prophet Mohamed and Georgiis - for the moment.
As we chatted on; Georgiis mentioned that he could have ignored the trash on the seat but he added, "A good number of sins are committed by omission rather than by commission!"
I dare say - "Take this to the bank!"
We commit many sins by omission rather than by commission!
Time to board the aircraft and we parted ways - as I sat in seat no. 1A and he was somewhere behind.
So where does making the bed come in?
Exactly where Georgiis came in - near the trash bin where we met in the first instance!
We all must do NOT ONLY our duties but whatever else needs to be done. Of course, we cannot go picking trash in the streets of Nairobi or Mombasa - that is a lifetime job that can never be complete even if all Africans decided to join hands in this - and even if Kingdom come!
But let us make our bed, let us pick up the trash that we can. Let us hold the hands of the blind lady and cross her the street. Let us help change the pamper - yes, yes us men - let us do it. Let us help the Mum carrying the kiondo and let us allow the elderly jump the queue in the supermarket!
"How you make your bed will determine how well you’ll sleep." — Polish Proverb
The benefit of this?
Multiple benefits. To begin with, God's blessings and grace in everything else we do. God's protection to us at all times. Self-improvement. Increase of love within our families. Increase in respect from our housemates, our dear ones and even our house-helps whom we constantly look down upon. Increase in our movement and our general well - being. Increase in the feel-good factor. I could go on and on ....!
The subtler benefits and gains are far reaching and lifelong - there will be an instant general increase in the flow of feel-good hormones such as Dopamine, Oxytocin, Endorphins and Serotonin which are not just instantly beneficial but have far-reaching long term benefits of keeping at bay metabolic diseases such as high BP, Heart Disease, Diabetes, many forms of Cancer, Arthritis, Mental Illnesses such as Dementia, Alzheimer's and Parkinsons' diseases etc.
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| Image Created by AI upon instruction by Your Truly ... 😊 |
Below are a few take-home benefits I gathered from different sources on this habit ---
Making a bed the right way every day is one of the easiest tasks you can add to your to-do list and has been proven to boost productivity and mental well-being.
So, here is a list of proven benefits of making your bed (and with these all-other chores that are within our sphere):
1. It can help improve your health.
2. It can reduce stress
3. It improves your surroundings, your sphere, your world, your environment.
4. It sets a tidy tone for the rest of your day.
5. It can boost your mood and your productivity.
6. It can help you focus on your work or tasks or assignments throughout the day.
7. It will help you achieve a sense of accomplishment - however small the task of making the bed or throwing the trash into the bin or helping a person cross the road is.
Back to my thoughts and feelings ---
You don't make your bed because the bed needs it. You make it because you are beginning your day with intention. (Remember my blog on being intentional in everything we do? - read it -it's still online!)
It is a tiny action—but sometimes (actually most of the times) a good day begins with tiny actions done well.
For me the greatest take home - was the same as what Georgis told me it did for him - "Brings me closer to God!"
Do we need any other excuse?
Isn't this, after all; the purpose of life - to be close to HIM who created us in the first place!
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