Complaint free for a week

I guess it was right about a week ago when I first saw the story of the church in Kansas City whose members have pledged to stop whining as a means of growing closer to God. I thought it was a really good idea so figured I'd give it a try.

So, here I am, a week into it. And I have to tell you, it's not a bad way to adjust your life. I've made a few notes on the subject:

• It just may be impossible to be totally whine free. And so working at it is a good step. Merely trying is a positive step.
• I have found myself literally stopping in mid-sentence and not saying something critical or whiny that had been on tongue's tip, and it feels darn good.
• When a person first tries to stop complaining, my thought is that for several days, perhaps weeks, he or she will mentally relive brief snippets of conversation just to make certain there were no slip ups. The No. 1 troubling thing I have found in all this whine-free experimenting is that many of us complain so much so that we don't even realize we are doing it.
• Complaining and criticizing are very often synonymous. Criticizing another person for something trivial is, I suspect, a large amount of complaining.
• I am probably not unlike most people in that a lot of my whining is directed at technology in some form or fashion. We have grown so accustomed to instant gratification that when a page takes longer than a couple of seconds to download, our eyes can easily go a' rollin'.

   I am a long way from becoming entirely complaint free, but far enough into this little experiment to know, or suspect, that living a whine-free life has enormous power to bring a person much untapped happiness.

   And so, there is no reason to  give up now.

Comments

[Eric]

Well, OK, I see that you're serious about this, but have you given any thought as to the chilling effect you'll have on Craig Hubbard's material?

[Jimmy]

Why do you think I'm doin' it?

It's just a good thing Craig's such a good friend.

[D Benton]

I am glad that you are forsaking 'whine'.

I am real big on being positive
and I sometimes ask my students if they would like a litle cheese with their "whine". They groan
when I say that.

I do whine to God in my prayers.
Usually He does perform an attitude adjustment in my mental vision of life.
(I think I heard Him once say "oh puh-leeze!"

I probably have whined to my wife
occasionally about her going to sleep when I kiss her, but then I realize that I sound just like Ray Romano on Everyone Loves Raymond. (eerily so)

But, when I become morose about becoming deafer, balder
and creakier, I have a cup of warm English tea, put on a little Mozart, grab a good book, pat my dog and Thank God for my Blessings!

[Wallace]

"Acceptance is the key to my serenity".....and lack of whining.