"Go 24 hours without complaining (not even once), and watch how your life starts changing."
This statement appeared on my Facebook feed last week and I paused as I read it. Hmmm. Yes, I should do that.
Then I went about living my life.
I sort of forgot about the statement. I most definitely didn't "live" it. But the positive ions in my brain started outweighing the negative ones regardless. Not because I consciously made it happen. It was simply a result of digging myself out from under some big projects, goals and deadlines I set for myself.
I was feeling very, very positive. Yay, me!
But I wasn't doing it on purpose. It was a cycle that was bound to happen. I just happened to enjoy it a little more because of "where I had been.”
I was happily going about my weekend, tending to "big stuff" and feeling lighter with each step along the way. Then the message came at me again. This time, via a horoscope. "Of course complaining is useless. If you can fix it, you will. If you can't, there's nothing to talk about. The simplicity of this will make your life and relationships much better."
I stumbled across this line of thinking many years ago. It is the one reason I have dubbed myself "the best boss I have ever worked for.” Because when you work for yourself, you have the ability to make changes when changes need to be made. And if you choose not to make them, you have no one to blame but yourself. Easy.
That epiphany changed the way I looked at my life. I made changes, where changes could be made. I empowered myself. I said what I had to say, did what I had to do and let the chips fall where they may. If I chose not to do anything, I knew it was my choice. I had no right to complain if I didn't do anything to make things better.
When I look at the things that make me squirm in my current situation, I know it is when I feel the choice has been taken out of my hands. When we are without choice, we are without power. Without the illusion of a sense of control, comes the desire to complain.
As my mind drifts to the "little stuff" in the back of my mind as I write this, I know it is time to put that line of thinking to work for me again.
Sometimes we know what we have to do, to turn things around. But we forget.
Facebook has a way of telling me what I need to know some days. This fact gives me the reason to continue to check out my Facebook page, just when I was thinking maybe I should walk away from that and various other electronic addictions.
I will not complain about Facebook. Facebook has brought nothing but good things into my world, possibly because that is all I am looking for there.
Keep looking up. Stop complaining. Do what you can. And "be the best boss you ever worked for". Even if you are not self employed, you are still "working for yourself". Shift your focus towards what is within your control. Try to stop complaining.
"Be the change in the world you wish to see in the world." — Mahatma Gandhi
“We may not be able to change the world, but by changing our own world and the way we see it, we are making a bigger difference than we will ever know.” — Colleen
