I am Not an Equal Opportunity Complainer

Do you complain in all negative situations?

I realized today while doing a Bible study that I am not an equal opportunity complainer. I don’t complain in front of all people and in all negative or frustrating situations.

I complain when my expectations are not met in several areas: traffic, poor service and when technology is s….l…o…w… or not working.

Traffic – I realize that too many times I am in a hurry even if there is plenty of time to get to where I am going. I just want to be there NOW. So I complain about the driving about me. I do not give them the benefit of the doubt when they cut me off. This is plain ugly.

Antidote to Traffic

Live in the now. Enjoy this moment. To enjoy the moment-to-moment driving experience I can do the following: …  pray … sing along with upbeat music … listen to an audio-book … look for ways to bless other drivers … Decide to NOT take any bad driving around me in a personal way … Give drivers the benefit of the doubt.

Poor Service – I feel justified in my complaints since I’ve paid for this. However just complaining to complain gets me or the situation nowhere. However I can complain in a way that brings me peace.

Antidote to Poor Service

Solution Oriented Complaints. Assess the situation. Determine what a good resolution is. Ask for it in a calm, polite manner. Keep asking in a calm, polite manner until resolution is achieved.

However, if there is truly no way to rectify the situation, then accept it.

S….L…O…W… or non-functioning Technology. These situations exasperate me because I feel helpless and stupid, but mainly stupid. I will SIGH and mutter complaints. This always makes me feel worse.

Antidote t S….L…O…W… or non-functioning Technology.

Tell the Truth. Why I think and feel like I should know how to handle tech issues is beyond me.  I need to tell myself the truth. I am not stupid. I can get people to help with these issues. And the reason they can help is because they’ve studied and been trained.

Your Turn . . .

1. Do you complain equally in all situations? If not, where do you tend to complain?
2. If you tend to complain in the same sorts of situations, what can you do to counter your complaints. What is your personal antidote?
3. Is there anything you would add to make my antidotes more effective?

No Complaining Update: I am now on Day 14/21 of no complaining.

Today is Day 16 of the #Write31Days online October writing challenge. My topic is 31 Days of Fruitful Words INSTEAD OF COMPLAINING. I know I will be challenged in more ways than writing every day. If you’d like to have more fruitful words coming from your mouth, please join me from October 1-31, 2016.

Go here for the landing page which has all the posts from this series.

Go here to see what #Write31Days is all about, the categories and the bloggers who are participating.