Sunday, August 21, 2011

Complaining...

When people complain about their lives, do they realize what others hear?

“Dang, I’m pissed at my husband- I can’t believe he did ______”
(I have a husband who comes home every night.. and I’m still not happy.)

“Can you believe what my daughter did today???? *huff”
(I have a child, an awesome daughter, but I’m teaching her stupid things.. and I don’t care.)

“It’s so awful- management put us on half-hour lunches!”
(I have a job that provides for my family, but because I don’t get a full hour for lunch, because I get an extra half hour each day on the clock, a half hour I’ll be paid for, I’m going to whine about it.)

Was dinner good? “Meh.. I don’t like _____, so no…” *moving food around the plate.
(My wife makes dinner, does a fantastic job, but I’m so dang picky I don’t like anything she makes.)

“I can’t believe my Home Teacher wants to come on Sunday..”
(I have Home Teachers who come consistently… but I’m gonna whine because they want to come when it’s inconvenient for me.)

“My house is a disaster- there’s laundry piled all over, a sink full of dishes, the kids’ toys all over the living room- and I don’t wanna take care of it…”
(I have a warm/cool (depending on the seasonal need) home, clothes to cover my body, food for my belly, kids who are healthy and growing… and I’ve chosen to be lazy rather than exercise wise stewardship over the blessings I have.)

“I can’t believe ‘my’ team lost the game last night…”
(I have nothing better to whine about than a freaking game.)

A wise man once said, "No misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse.” So true. When we focus on the negative, that’s all we see. Another wise man said, “Seek and ye shall find…” We find what we’re looking for, what we expect to find.

What are you looking for?