I’ve mentioned before that I’m trying to focus on gratitude. Life doesn’t always go the way I want, and so I was working on shifting focus to what is good and right in my life. I was making an effort to notice how often I complain, including all the murmuring to myself in my head, and change that. Do you know what? That takes a lot of self-control.
Well, I’m done. All those people that go around talking about gratitude–they’re full of it. They must have perfect lives. I’m tired of being stuck inside in this winter vortex junk. Tired of life’s challenges. I’m going back to complaining.
I’ve come up with five, yes, five awesome reasons to complain. Who’ll join me?
1. Complaining helps me be happy.
Don’t you know that the more I complain, the happier I get? For example, say I stumble over my kids’ toys. I get grumpy and start complaining to myself. With each minute of complaining, I get happier and happier until I’m singing the praises of my children.
2. Complaining gets me what I want.
Haven’t you experienced it? People get nicer and more helpful the more you complain. The people who work in customer service want to go all out to help you when you’re being obnoxious.
3. Complaining benefits my health.
My husband leaves work clothes on the floor. The more I stew about them, my body relaxes. My muscles loosen. Headaches recede.
4. Complaining makes me fun to be around.
So, I keep thinking about how insensitive it is of my tired husband to leave his clothes on the floor, and I become crabby and short-tempered with my sons. My kids just love a crabby mother!
5. Complaining solves everything.
That’s right. I sure can affect a lot of change with my complaining! As I continue to gripe, my problems become smaller. They disappear. Ah!
Frankly, it takes too much self-control to be thankful all the time. You want me to stop myself in mid-thought and change my attitude? No thanks. I’ll just stick to complaining. After all, I have five great reasons to keep it up!
Many Hats Mommy 
February 24, 2014 at 8:46 AM
It’s definitely the grumbling in my head that gets me. I try pretty hard to keep it to myself ,but that grumbling can really get me down! And then all of a sudden I blow up and no one knows why! Thanks for a fun reminder.
February 24, 2014 at 9:01 AM
Michele, yup. I’m the same way!
February 24, 2014 at 12:22 PM
LOL! You have no idea how this post made me laugh 🙂 There is one thing I would like to note about complaining, however. Complaining emphasizes my right to have negative feelings about something. Keeping negative feelings bottled up and putting on a happy face day after day is exhausting, and it leads to depression and the belief that my “real” feelings are something to hide and be ashamed of. I think it’s not necessarily the complaining, but the venue in which it’s done and the mindset we retain after complaining about the thing we’re grumbling about that needs to change.
February 24, 2014 at 1:29 PM
You’re right, Renee, that holding all of that in causes problems, too. I think there’s a difference between acknowledging that something is wrong and continually dwelling on it and getting progressively sour about it.
February 24, 2014 at 9:58 PM
Absolutely agreed. And, funnily enough, something I’m reminding myself of tonight, as my soon to be teenager has me pulling my hair out! There are days I have to remind myself it’s really not worth starting a battle of wills over whether or not he’s going to do the dishes with his brother instead of by himself, or griping at him about not wearing a winter coat. (Apparently it’s a middle school thing-given what I see his classmates wear, I’m just grateful he wears his granddad’s warm navy coat!) because if this is the worst steps he takes toward asserting his independence, we’re going to be ok. I need to remember to breathe 🙂
February 24, 2014 at 10:11 PM
Ah, yes!
February 25, 2014 at 12:29 AM
Here’s a verse for you! “Evening and morning and at noon, I will complain and murmur, And He will hear my voice.” (Psalm 55:17) Not that we can use King David as an example in all things, but this verse actually seems to encourage complaining. Of course, the context is that he is running for his life. Hmmm, I see a parallel here with motherhood…don’t you? 😉
February 25, 2014 at 7:20 AM
Yes, Janice. Sometimes we are indeed running for our lives. 🙂
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October 26, 2015 at 10:00 AM
Sarcasm. Now THAT makes me feel much better! 🙂