I desperately want to enjoy life to its fullest. When circumstance, attitude, challenge, perception, routine, failing, and mishap invade for the purpose of conquering my mindset, I have to be careful to guard the very thought process now under attack. To be perfectly honest, much of the battle for the mind is self-induced, but often extremely susceptible to outside negative influences. If I’m not careful, the challenge of the battle can shade life’s landscape with negativity. In this negativity, complaining shows its ugly head. If there was an award for complaining, there’ve been times where I’d probably carry the dishonor of first place – uncontested.
Recently, I read The No Complaining Rule by Jon Gordon. This short story is full of self-identifying moments for the reader. It’s way too easy to slip into the habit of complaining. This unattractive trait is no respecter of person or life-walk. It doesn’t matter your perceived success, an unguarded heart is a playground for complaints. It’s time to clean up the heart, mind, and soul; remove this bad habit and initiate a no complaining rule.
In Gordon’s story, he gives three great advice thoughts. Use the But. When you find yourself sharing or thinking a complaining word, insert the word “but” and change the direction of the mental or verbal conversation. Focus on “Get to” instead of “Have To.” Just change the way you think about the task at hand or the pending job later in the day. Instead of fretting about “having” to do something, think about it as an opportunity – you “get” to do this or that. Turn complaints into solutions. You’ll never eliminate all complaining. In the justified complaint, identify and move towards a solution. It’s important to remember there are both mindless and justified complaints; distinguish between the two. In mindless complaining, you’re focused only on the problem without looking toward a solution. Take a negative and turn it into a positive.
I want to enjoy life to its fullest. I want to be a solver and not a complainer. “Lord, guard my thoughts and tongue that my actions, attitude, and words would reflect your heart, desire, and purpose. I do not want to be numbered as a complainer, but as your servant engaged in creating solutions. Thank you, Lord.”
