Hi Friends!!
I am in Jamaica with Marc enjoying lots of sun and beach (or at least I am pretty sure that’s what we are doing). I wanted to leave you with some thoughts and share what’s been on my heart lately.
Complaining:
Let’s be honest we all complain and I know I have been great at complaining a lot lately. Do you ever find yourself beginning to grumble and complain and then moments later finally realize how silly you sound? I know I have. I have gotten so good at complaining lately, that I don’t even know the last time I was being grateful or thankful for everything I do have in my life. Complaining has become an art I have mastered, and probably the only art I have mastered.
It’s sad that if complaining was a sport, I would do pretty well at it. In reality, I believe us Americans have all become great at the art of complaining. We have it down. From complaining about how hot it is outside, then how cold it is. Complaining about the waitress/waiter being to slow, then they’re being annoying and checking in too much. Complaining about food, whether it’s too expensive, tastes too dull, or the famous “There’s never anything good to eat in our house.” Complaining about how much stuff we have and how there’s no room in the house for it. Complaining about our neighbors, our jobs, gas prices and the list could go on and on. I have done all these things a time or two.
Why have we mastered complaining? Why are we so good at it?
The root of complaining is ungratefulness!! Plain and simple. Complaining shows my un-thankfullness rather than my thankfulness.I don’t like hearing others complain. It gets annoying and irritating, but yet I do it all the time.
Instead of complaining about the weather, I should be thankful I can see and play in the snow, the changing colors, the blue skies. I can breathe in the fresh, cold air. I am blessed to be able to run and play free outside, when so many aren’t awarded this freedom. I have the means to go out to eat and enjoy restaurant dining. The means to afford food and prepare meals. I am blessed to have a fridge full of many different varieties of fruits and veggies, spices and mixes. I am blessed with material things and a house to put them in. I am blessed with a house and the opportunity to have neighbors. I am blessed with a job to pay the bills and then some. Other’s aren’t so fortunate.
I have found myself complaining about different aspects of my new job lately. Seriously?! I have a job when others don’t. I have gotten to this place of ungratefulness and un-thankfulness. My attitude is not an attitude of gratitude. I have been living with an attitude of negativity.
I don’t want to be known as a complainer, a negative person. I have decided to change my attitude and to start being thankful!! To start taking a look around and seeing all that I have. My beautiful family and friends. My wonderful husband. A job, a nice apartment with enough furniture to fill it. The means to run and enjoy God’s beautiful creation. Clothes to wear, shoes to wear, car to get me from A to B and everywhere in between. Find Beauty in the World that Surrounds You!! Because there’s so much of it!!
I am blessed beyond measure!! God has given me so much, but yet I have taken so much for granted. I am challenging myself to be more grateful and thankful. To begin to say something new everyday I am thankful for. In this beautiful world we live in, there’s lots to be thankful for!! I want to master the art of thankfulness. I want to be the person known for being thankful and happy ALL the time. Finding the good in all situations. Just being able to breath, stand, hear and see is enough to be thankful for. Just being fortunate to “be” is an amazing blessing. I challenge you to say something positive in every bad situation. You’ll be surprised by how easy it is to do so. I want an attitude of gratitude!!
Have you been tempted to complain?
Oh Bry, Love this post! It is so easy to get in the habit of complaining isn’t it? I catch myself too. I think sometimes we want to shoo our complaints away and sometimes we need to be still for a moment and just acknowledge our dissatisfaction. When we pause, and feel it, really feel it, it’s ends up not the waiter that bugging us, maybe it’s that we are feeling disrespected in another area of our lives, maybe a demanding professor, parent or friend.. or maybe we’ve been too demanding on ourselves. I find this method to work wonders and help me sort out the root of my angst, so that I may release it and begin to feel grateful, joyful and satisfied. Thank you so very much for sharing something so personal and important! Love and miss you, hope your honeymoon was fabulous! xoxo