The Cure For Complaining

September 14, 2018

Oh, sure. Twenty other people were speeding but I get picked up for going 85 in a 65.

Unbelievable. Other people call the boss names all the time, but I get suspended for calling him a thief.

Just my luck. All corporations cheat on their reports, but I’m the one who ends getting caught for tax evasion.

Complaining is addictive.

It feels good to complain. It feels good to call out injustice. It feels good to point the finger at the people who need pointing.

And it gets me the attention I crave so desperately.

But it’s a slippery slope.

One complaint gets lonely. It needs a friend.

So we find it some company. And soon complaints are thriving everywhere.

Not only that, complaints are competitive. They want to win.

It’s not enough to simply complain. Each complaint wants to be number one.

Why did I get fired? Everyone else has been late, too! They’re singling me out! It’s a conspiracy!

The problem is that complaints aren’t reasonable. They don’t see the whole picture. They lie.

I was speeding. That’s a fact. To say that other people speed more is unconfirmed.

I called my boss a name. That’s a fire-able offense. It doesn’t matter what anyone else might have done.

I cheated on my taxes. Nothing else is relevant.

And I’ve been late to work many times. I deserve what I got.

Complaining is quicksand that’s difficult to escape and never productive.

If we feel a juicy complaint coming on, we can ask ourselves one question: How could I have solved this situation?

If I didn’t speed, didn’t disparage superiors, didn’t cheat on taxes, and showed up on time every day, there would be no problem.

It’s amazing how complaining just fades away when we’re solution-based instead of injustice-based.

A famous football coach once said, “The person who complains about the way the ball bounces is likely the one who dropped it.”

There is no complaining if we don’t drop the ball.

My book is called The Inevitability of Becoming Rich, and you can find that here.