Jocko's Letter to His Daughter. Appreciate Your Mother - Jocko Willink

I wrote something for one of my daughters and at this point one of my daughter's was quite frankly not treating my wife with the kind of respect that my wife deserves you know it was typical teenager stuff I roll the eyes a flippin comment basically young adolescent girl with young adolescent attitude what you talked about earlier no no one can tell me anything I know everything and in her mind you know my wife was just some lady that did the laundry got the groceries and cooked dinner and that's how she treated her and so I wrote this for my daughter but I wanted to read it for everyone you know and I want to dedicate it not just to my wife but to all the military wives out there holding the line on the home front so this is what I wrote to my daughter your mom I wanted you to know a little bit about your mom your mom was a champion horse rider she rode cross-country races showjumping and she did fox hunting she cared for her horses every day clean them train them and took care of them she won many victories your mom worked since she was little starting in restaurants first peeling potatoes than busing tables than cleaning than waitressing to make money your mom went to an extremely good college her parents didn't pay for it she worked through college as a waitress to pay your own way when your mom got done with college she took the money she saved and backpacked around the world she went to Thailand Malaysia Hawaii Australia New Zealand and a bunch of other places while doing that she worked as a waitress another odd job so she could make money and pay her own way when your mom got done traveling the economy was bad and she couldn't find a job so she went overseas and worked at an airline as a flight attendant which is a hard thankless job serving ungrateful passengers on planes she didn't like it but she did it when I met your mom for the first time she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and when I talked to her she was the nicest person I have ever met and she was funny and sassy and sweet and I knew immediately that I wanted to marry her so your mom picked up everything and left and came to be with me in America she moved into a tiny one-bedroom apartment with me she was wonderful she was adventurous she surfed with me and she trained jiu-jitsu with me every day and worked out with me every day she got her blue belt in jujitsu she worked as an executive assistant in a real estate office and got a real estate license we went skiing and hiked mountains and camped under the stars in the mountain and we went dancing at night she was amazing I got orders to move to Virginia she instantly packed up everything we had and quit her job and moved across country when we got to Virginia she got a tough job working for an insurance company of course I was in a seal platoon so I traveled all the time and was gone all the time and she never complained one day she told me she was pregnant that was you she was so happy and then the day after you were born I left on deployment for seven months she did everything by herself I was gone she never complained and she sent me a picture every day of you when I got home from deployment she was already back in shape and looked amazing the Navy gave me orders back to California without a word your mom packed away all of our stuff quit her job and we moved back to California I worked and went to school I never got up in the night to help take care of you it was always your mom every time she changed every diaper made every meal tried every tear read every goodnight book I worked went to school and trained jiu-jitsu she never complained one single time soon she told me she was pregnant again that was your first sister when your first sister came now everything that your mom did for you she had to do for your sister too every diaper every meal every tear every little book read I was working and going to school and training she walked you both and read to you and took you to parks and play groups and dancing lessons and swimming lessons and craft fairs she did everything for you she didn't get to surf anymore or do jujitsu anymore or workout or hike with me anymore she devoted all that time to you her kids who she cherished she never complained or whined or asked for anything then she got pregnant again this time it was your brother she kept doing everything for you when she got her morning sickness throwing up dizzy and carrying around a baby in her belly she didn't complain ever when she was in the bath SiC and throwing up she would apologize to you and you said you and your sister that you girls had to see her like that then the war started I went back to the SEAL Teams I went to Iraq for six months I was working so much that I barely got time to write your mom always wrote me she never complained about anything she did everything by herself everything I was taking care of my seal platoon and she took care of you three little kids she cleaned everything made every meal changed every diaper dried every tear took you to lessons and parks and doctors appointments and read to you every night and major lunches and got groceries she did this all by herself no in-laws to help out no grandparents around just her alone when I came home things didn't get any better I just started getting ready to go back to Iraq again she didn't complain some guys had to worry about their families their wives would complain and cry and filed for divorce and fight over the kids I never worried about that at all your mom took care of everything and never made me have to worry about you kids or her or anything else my last deployment to Iraq I was gone almost seven months I left your mom alone again with you three kids some of my men were wounded and killed your mom went to the hospital to visit the wounded men and went to the funerals of my friends your mom knew at any time it could be me that was wounded or killed but she never complained she cried with the moms of my friends she gave support where she could but she never asked me to stop or come home or leave early or even be safe never she never asked me to give anything to her she knew I had men to take care of she told me not to worry about her or all you kids she only told me to do my best at my job and take care of my friends on the battlefield most seals get divorced almost 90% there is too much pressure and separation and distance and too many challenges and many women can't take it so they leave your mom never wavered she never had an issue or a complaint no matter what happened or when I came home or when I left or what I did she supported me always and she took care of you kids every day every night every moment every need you had was her responsibility she never asked for thanks or appreciation and when it was her birthday or our anniversary she would tell me not to get her anything so we could save money when I got home from my last deployment to Iraq your mom got pregnant again that was your youngest sister and she did it all again morning sickness diapers sleepless nights puke in the bed pee on the floor chickenpox lice tears scrapes bumps bruises teacher conferences school lunches everything she never complained about it I was still working preparing men for war and traveling all the time and she continued to take care of you kids so I could do my job your mom is stuck with me through hell it has been hard your mom has been married to this hard-headed frogman for 17 years she's been through multiple wartime deployments she has helped me when I was sick or injured and she has done the same for you she has done it because she is strong and determined and she loves our family more than anything in the world your mom is an incredible person an amazing woman and I worship her she is everything I ever wanted so when you get the chance you should tell your mom that you love her that you know how much she has done for you and for our family and that you appreciate everything that she has done for us and for you I hope you grow up and have some of the same qualities that she possesses strength honor intelligence dignity selflessness respect determination and kindness that's your mom and I hope you realize how blessed you are ever and that's the note that I wrote to my daughter and you know there's some people that say a woman can do anything that a man can do then I don't know if that's true or not but I can tell you this I don't know of too many men that can do what my wife has done and what thousands of other military wives have done

Channel: Jocko Podcast

Views: 187,832

Keywords: discipline, freedom, military, extreme ownership, leadership, advice, jocko willink, echelon front, navy seal, jocko podcast, excerpt, echo charles, leader, lead, win, defcor, discipline equals freedom

Id: urjOihLW8k4

Length: 13min 28sec (808 seconds)

Published: Tue Aug 20 2019