Aura’s Blog

posted by Kristen

 (My friend whom I lived with for 4 months in 1998 in Dublin, Ireland recently posted this on her Facebook. It really struck a chord, particularly in light of the fact that I have to pass back some D’s and F’s to my students tomorrow (midterm exams) and they will surely complain. We’ve been off for a week, and I actually dread their reaction. But, a number of students also did well, so the only verdict is those who did not, did not study. In an earlier lesson, I explained to the class that only 1% of the world’s population had a college education. I suspect that if more people had the opportunity to go, they’d surely study. In any case, I am guilty of complaining as well.)

Everyone complains. We complain when the weather is too hot and when it’s too cold. We complain when things are too easy and when things are too hard. We complain when we’re bored and when we’re too busy. We complain when someone is too nice and when they’re mean. It seems like people are intent on being dissatisfied. Or is it that we think we are entitled to a perfect life? I have been thinking about this a lot lately and I want to say that I am sick of it.

 I am sick of looking around and seeing all of these people who really have nothing to complain about finding anything and everything to complain about. How can we sit there, in the face of all the misery that exists in the world, and complain about anything in our lives? We have homes, jobs, food, friends, family, technology, vacations, education, freedom, our health, and on and on. We have everything and more than we could ever need, and still we find reasons to complain.

So I want to propose a change to all the complainers out there. Wake up tomorrow morning and tell yourself, “I’m only going to focus on the positive things today. I will not dwell on anything negative and I will not feel pity for myself or ask for pity from others.” You will be amazed to see what happens.

All of a sudden, the smallest thing that you take for granted every day – the water from the shower, the fresh air when you walk outside, the first person you see that smiles at you, everything becomes a gift. It should not take more than the first hour to realize how absurd it is that you complain about anything at all. And if that simple mantra doesn’t work, try something more powerful. Imagine one person in this world who is less fortunate than you. About 90% of the world probably is in some way less fortunate, so choose anyone – a blind person, someone with a fatal illness, someone in a war torn country, someone who doesn’t have freedom, someone fighting an addiction, even someone looking for a job. Just think about how that person would feel if they heard you complaining about some of the things you complain about. It’s shameful, isn’t it? And imagine if you woke up tomorrow and you were one of those people. You would wish to God that instead of complaining the day before, you had been taking advantage of every moment you had.

We are lucky beyond imagination. This is a fact. So wake up, look beyond yourself, be kind to others, and make your life meaningful to this world. And most of all, stop complaining.