For those of you who follow, last Sunday I extended myself a challenge to not complain AT ALL this Thanksgiving Holiday. (Here’s the original post: Thanksgiving Gripes). Suddenly I found myself with a quiet moment and decided to sit down, drink some DDP and report in, because I know the suspense is dampening your holiday feasting. Here is how it is going so far:
I stink at this.
No, really. Stink. Not complaining about anything is WAY harder than I ever imagined it to be. Bad job me. Part of the problem is that it is a very busy time, and a lot is needing to be done. It is a simple matter of ratios: The more stuff that happens, the more stuff goes South.
Even so, I know I have made some improvement because I have caught myself repeatedly and bit my tongue. Corralling my thoughts is much trickier business. Even if I don’t verbally complain, I am busy doing it silently. I have had some success in changing my mind by focusing on something else.
It is tougher than I thought, but I expect making a change like this would be the equivalent of withdrawing from a drug addiction. It takes repeated attempts, and some pain. I will keep trying to do my best.
One of the key points is to remember that forgiveness intercepts grumbling faster than anything. If I feel the need to grouse about someone, if I can head it off at the pass with a forgiving heart, I win.
Another thing to do is to change my focus from the irritant to gratitude. If I stop and think about something I am grateful for, it seems to melt my icy heart long enough to shift gears. Sometimes.
I would like to take a second and express my gratitude to you, my loyal and attractive followers. It is good for me to have you in my life, and to associate with – even digitally. Thank you for your support, and uplifting comments, and weird sense of humor.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Brad. ~MMM~
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Yes, it IS harder than it would seem. It’s almost like we are pre-programmed to be whiners. Maybe it started when we were infants and mama didn’t feed us as quick as we wanted. (Babies DO cry a lot so maybe that’s when it starts.) OR, it’s part and parcel of living in an imperfect world. I’m a very optimistic and cheerful person but even I catch myself griping. Aargh! I totally agree that complaining is the opposite of gratitude so I am also working on this one.
I’m with ya, soul-brother. Keep fighting the good fight 🙂
You said it is difficult to not think complaining thoughts. May I more than suggest it is impossible. Satan has the power to tempt us. In other words he has the power to put those thoughts into our minds. Even Jesus was tempted. Our job is not to control what comes into our mind, but rather, what we allow into our heart. If we do what Jesus did when He was tempted, we will triumph over Satan even as He did.
Reading your Thanksgiving post gave my mind pause many times as I remembered your admonition to try not to complain or grumble this whole weekend. A challenge indeed! But, I have to say, I was able to keep from saying the negative words when they popped into my head. Ok, not every time, but I was more aware of those thoughts because of reading your post. Thanks for helping us all to be and do better!
Well said!
Attractive followers? We have you fooled, don’t we?