Make Your Bed!

 

MAKE YOUR BED!

By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, April 4, 2026

 “If you want to change the world, start off by making your bed!”

Admiral William H. McRaven, U. N. Navy 

Admiral McRaven gave the commencement speech to the University of Texas graduating class in 2014, over ten years ago. His classic message is just as valuable in 2026 as it was in 2014; even more so. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBAqF00gBGk It is ONLY SIX MINUTES LONG!
 
Have YOU noticed or is it mathematically even possible for ME to be the ONLY one that has noticed? If you need a mental picture, you need to only take out a chair and sit in my front yard for fifteen minutes to an hour, it would be impossible NOT to see. I live on the corner of a 3-way stop. It is an intersection on a street with no commercial properties, only homes. It is a residential neighborhood. Visibility at the stop signs are NOT restricted by bushes or overhanging branches, they stand tall, extremely easy to see, and are exceedingly difficult to miss.
 
On April 3, 2026, over the course of less than TEN MINUTES, I observed TWO cars traveling at a speed faster than the 25-mph limit for the area. They COMPLETELY IGNORED the stop signs; they did not even attempt to slow down. Was it intentional? It had to be! Then, as we traveled one block to the next intersection, we STOPPED at a 4-way stop. The road in both directions was clear except for one young man on a bicycle that was approaching the same 4-way stop. I started to enter the intersection when I realized that the bicycle was on an E-Bike (electric bicycle) and he was traveling at least 30 mph. It became obvious that he had no intention of stopping. As he blew through the stop sign, I honked my horn and he was unfazed; did not even look up. Approximately one-half mile further down the road, we approached a railroad crossing and on the other side there was a traffic light. We were in the left-hand turn lane, and a car came over the railroad tracks without even slowing down but it did stop at the red light. By law, it was permissible to “turn right on red” and when I looked over, the driver was on her cell phone which is illegal in the State of Louisiana.
 
What is the point of writing about the Admiral’s commencement speech and FOUR different people on our local roadways totally ignoring the traffic laws of 2026? I am so glad you asked. At some point in the lives of these four people, they were taught or they observed people ignoring laws and/or authority figures. It is impossible NOT to have seen the protesters all over America physically and verbally abusing law enforcement officers. I am the parent of four children and as a parent, I could not help but ask, “what parent would teach their children to ignore laws and persons of authority or through their own actions and/or words set the example for their children that such behavior is permissible?” Would YOU teach YOUR children to ignore a stop sign? Would you teach them to drive while on their cell phones? Would you teach them to throw trash out of their car windows? The list of infractions is endless. Laws are not suggestions! They were written to achieve a purpose. The obvious purpose is the safety of the individual and all the individuals they may come upon, ESPECIALLY CHILDREN!
 
I conducted a very unscientific survey of the 3-way stop on the corner where we live. Over the course of ONLY ONE HOUR, I counted the cars that approached the signs from three different directions. If a driver slowed down and appeared to have recognized the stop sign but did NOT come to a complete stop, I credited those drives as having stopped. Even given that leeway, 40% of the drivers transiting our 3-way stop intersection DID NOT STOP, DID NOT SLOW DOWN AND TOTALLY IGNORED THE SIGNS!
 
Then came the kick in the gut when I learned that in the State of California, it was discovered that there had been an ongoing massive fraud scheme involving HOSPICE organizations. The fraud was estimated to be 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS! STOP! LET THAT SINK IN! Now do as I did. I asked ChatGPT how much the annual operating budget for the State of Louisiana was. ChatGPT informed me that it was 38 MILLION DOLLARS! STOP! LET THAT SINK IN! There is MORE fraud in just ONE organization in just ONE State than it costs the entire State of Louisiana to function for one year!
 
If YOU want to connect the dots, it all starts with the simple task of making your bed, EVERY MORNING! There have been mornings when I think that since no one is going to see my bed, why not just leave it as is? Then either my wife or I make the bed EVERY DAY! No one likes rules but rules are what makes our country function. Can you imagine the chaos if people, on their own volition, decided to drive on the LEFT side of the road instead of the RIGHT? It is bad enough that we have experienced people behind the wheel of a car that have been impaired by alcohol, drugs, cell phones, small children in the car acting up, or simply not paying attention. Except for a mechanical failure or a sudden medical emergency, most accidents on the roads are avoidable if only people paid close attention to what they were doing (driving) and obeying the laws.
 
Where do people learn that it is permissible to break the law or ignore authority? Where? It starts in the home when they are born and before they begin their formal school education. As they begin school, they are taught mostly by their peers. As I grew up in the 1950s, the peer pressure put forth by others to entice me to smoke cigarettes was at times unbearable. You did not want to appear to be on the outside looking in. Thankfully, I never picked up the habit of smoking. The same applies to the use of illegal drugs, underage drinking, sex, you name it. Peer pressure can be the best and the worst training in anyone’s life. That is why the following is so critical to understand:
 

“You become what you do. How and what you become depends on environmental influence, so you become who you hang around. Raise the standard your peers must meet, and you’ll raise your expectations of yourself. If your environment is not making you better, change it!’

 

Mark Twight

 
There is a famous quotation by C. L. Lewis that should be everyone’s guide stone! Some people refer to a guide stone as their life’s compass pointing them in the “right direction!” 
 

“Integrity, is doing the right thing, especially when no one is watching!”

 

C. L. Lewis

 
As Admiral McRaven suggests, if you begin by simply making your bed (doing the right thing), it sets the standard for everything you do. You made your bed even though no one was watching. You stopped at the stop sign, even though no one was watching, or so you thought! You use your cell phone while driving even though no one is watching or so you thought!
 
If you are so willing to break even the most seemingly insignificant of laws and rules, at what point do you stop obeying the rest of the laws? When does not making your bed and/or disrespecting your parents and teachers become embezzling the government for billions of dollars.
 

RESPECT in America is circling the drain, and no one is watching, 

or SO YOU THOUGHT!

SCREEN TIME!

 

SCREEN TIME!
By Jim “Gymbeaux” Brown, February 8, 2026 

You must have seen the various segments on television news regarding how “screen time” adversely affects a child’s development. The reports are endless. For the record, I asked ChatGPT about the subject of screen time and this is what it provided as an answer:

1. Brain Development & Cognitive Effects

Accelerated but inefficient brain maturation: New longitudinal research suggests that extremely high screen exposure before age 2 is linked with altered brain networks, faster but less efficient development of visual and control systems, slower later decision-making, and higher anxiety by adolescence.

Academic achievement impacts: A study of young children found that greater early screen time was associated with lower scores on later academic achievement tests.

Early cognitive and social learning displacement: Excessive screen use often displaces active play, face-to-face interaction, and reading — key experiences for language, executive function, and social cognition (supported by multiple developmental studies).

2. Mental Health & Emotional Well-Being

Anxiety, depression, and behavior problems: Large recent research finds children with 4 hours of daily screen use were significantly more likely to have anxiety, depression, conduct problems, and signs of ADHD, with reduced physical activity and poor sleep explaining these links.

Socioemotional difficulties and vicious cycles: Psychological studies show that children with higher screen engagement are more likely to develop emotional and social problems — which can further increase screen use in a feedback loop.

Aggression, anxiety, low self-esteem: International data link heavier screen use to increased aggression, anxiety, and low self-esteem in children and teens.

3. Sleep & Physical Health

Sleep disruption: Excessive screen time correlates with later bedtimes, shorter sleep duration, and reduced sleep quality — partly due to light exposure and overstimulation before bed.

Future heart and metabolic risks: Kids and teens with high screen exposure who get less sleep show early signs of higher heart and metabolic risk (e.g., blood pressure, cholesterol, body fat measures) in follow-up studies.

Lower physical activity: Higher screen time is strongly associated with more sedentary behavior and less exercise — which itself contributes to health risks.

4. Behavioral & Social Skills

Reduced social engagement: Excessive use can replace in-person interaction, which is foundational for social skills, empathy, and emotional regulation in early childhood.

Screen design factors: Research on digital media highlights that engagement-maximizing app designs (ads, autoplay, notifications) can make it harder for kids to self-regulate and disengage.

5. Age-Specific Notes — Early Childhood

Early exposure matters most: Studies increasingly show that screen use under age 2 — particularly unsupervised passive viewing — is more strongly associated with negative developmental outcomes, compared with older children.

Language & executive function concerns: Data from preschool-aged children indicate screen time may is linked to less robust executive functioning and social regulation skills.

6. What Experts Say Now

Rather than just setting arbitrary time limits, pediatric and developmental specialists now emphasize:

Quality and context matter

• Content type (educational vs passive),
• Active engagement with caregivers,
• and balanced lifestyle factors (play, sleep, physical activity) are crucial mediators.

Screen time alone is not the whole story.

Organizations like UNICEF note that screen time itself is not always directly harmful, but risks increase with harmful content, online abuse, sleep disruption, and displacement of play/interaction — and that protecting kids requires broader strategies than time caps alone.

_______________________________________________________

SUCH REPORTS ON TELEVISION HAVE ALWAYS BEEN DIRECTED AT “THE CHILDREN!”   The reports have completely ignored the problem also exists with ADULTS!

This morning, my wife and I went out for a Sunday Breakfast. It was impossible NOT to notice a family of three sitting at the table immediately adjacent to our table. Two adults who were in their late twenties or early thirties and a small daughter who was three to four years old (hard to tell).

The male at the table came into the restaurant on his cell phone and was on his phone the entire time we are waiting for our breakfast, ate our breakfast, and eventually left and he was still on his phone. He was not talking on his phone, he was either scrolling, checking messages or sending messages. At one point, I noticed that the little girl tried to get his attention to no avail. She got up from the table, walked around the table, and punched him in his arm. He did not even look up from his phone! EVER!

Then at another table sat six adults. The man at the end of the table went way beyond using his cell phone, he pulled out a tablet and began working/playing on the table while everyone enjoyed their breakfast. Across from these folks sat a group of three more elderly adults. The man at the table was on his phone and of course he had to show everyone else at the table whatever it was that he was looking at or playing with. Then as we were ready to leave the restaurant, he received a call. Even worse, he took the call while sitting at the table in a full restaurant. Then like most people, certainly not you, he talked on the phone but not in normal voice, people do not talk on their cell phones in a normal voice. They are ALL talking to the guy who made cell phones famous when he said, “can you hear me now?” as if everyone was hard of hearing.

These were not the only people in the restaurant who were on their phone. A quick glance around the restaurant revealed that at least fifty percent of patrons were on their cell phones. What could be so important that they could not take thirty minutes out of their day to sit in a restaurant with friends and/or family and NOT be distracted by their pocket moron creators?

This is not an isolated case. As we were attempting to leave the parking area, there was a man waiting outside to be called inside when a vacant table was available and he too was on his cell phone and he stood directly behind my car.  We got into our car; I started the engine and he did not try to move out of our way; he was standing in the middle of a parking lot on his phone. I began to back up, stopped, started again and then he finally got out of the way.

Keep in mind, this all happened on one Sunday morning over the course of just one hour!

Truly little disturbs me more than seeing the driver of an erratically driven car driving while speaking or playing with their cell phones. Do your own quick study. The next time you notice someone driving erratically or driving slower than most traffic on an interstate highway, take a quick look and the odds are in your favor if you bet that the driver is on a cell phone!

Most people, certainly not you, by their own nature are just stupid when they are not paying full attention to what they are doing! Do your own quick analysis and start paying attention to the stupid things you see people doing and then observe if they are on their cell phones or not. As a perfect example, a lady who was pushing a shopping cart in a Sam's Club ran her cart up against my ankles almost knocking me down in the process. When I looked around to see what just happened, the only thing she could muster was “Oh, I’m sorry!”  I could not help but wonder how often she must utter those words given how stupid she behaved on this day in her life?

Before you buy into the various study results that demonstrate the mental restrictions that appear in our children are because of excessive screen time, you might want to do a study of your own to see how often you spend on YOUR cell phone or tablet. More importantly, take note of the stupid things you find yourself doing while you ARE on your cell phone! That ought to be a word to the wise assuming you are a wise person.

We humans have lived on this planet for thousands of years WITHOUT cell phones. We could all do better if we set aside the right time and place to use them now. Otherwise, when archaeologists dig up our bones hundreds of years from now, they will all wonder how so many of us have exceptionally large thumbs with no explanation of how that could have happened and when it could have become the norm.

THINK TWICE BEFORE USING YOUR CELL PHONE IN PUBLIC SPACES AND/OR WHILE YOU ARE DRIVING YOUR CAR!