4
No-complaint day
Complaining is never productive and a catalyst for negative thought patterns. Challenge yourself to not complain about small stuff today. Either accept the situation and move on, or find a solution.
This was difficult in a different way than I thought it would be. While trying all day to avoid complaining, I found myself a little confused as to what counts as complaining.
For instance, on the drive to work, I said to Danny: "I wish we had left earlier and done the grocery shopping together before you had to work." And he was like, hey, no complaining! And I was like, shit, is that a complaint? Do I complain so much that I consider that more of a statement than a complaint? I guess it was a statement about wishing circumstances were different, which could be considered a negative statement. I wasn't going to go on and on and whine about it, I was just saying. I had already "accepted the situation". I meant it as more of a "next time, we'll do this...". Anyway, it had me thinking.
For instance, on the drive to work, I said to Danny: "I wish we had left earlier and done the grocery shopping together before you had to work." And he was like, hey, no complaining! And I was like, shit, is that a complaint? Do I complain so much that I consider that more of a statement than a complaint? I guess it was a statement about wishing circumstances were different, which could be considered a negative statement. I wasn't going to go on and on and whine about it, I was just saying. I had already "accepted the situation". I meant it as more of a "next time, we'll do this...". Anyway, it had me thinking.
com·plain
verb
- express dissatisfaction or annoyance about a state of affairs or an event.
"local authorities complained that they lacked sufficient resources"
- state that one is suffering from (a pain or other symptom of illness).
"her husband began to complain of headaches"
- state a grievance.
"they complained to the French government"
Well, I guess I was expressing dissatisfaction, so around 4:00, I had officially failed.
In the same car ride, I was talking with Danny about my upcoming shift bid I had to complete, and I made a comment about not liking the options for days off combined with shift times I had to choose from. This time, I tried to phrase it positively. Or rather, to refer to it as a "challenge". I think I literally said "It is going to be a challenge to select shifts which have both shift times and days off that work for us but I know it will all work out."
I worked the rest of the day and I don't think I complained again. Which is kind of impressive because I sometimes get not-so-happy guests on the phone that I have a word or two to say about after the call, if you know what I mean.
I think that what I learned is that it is okay to complain sometimes, it would feel really unnatural NOT to express dissatisfaction EVER, but to try to phrase things in a more positive light. I think that framing things as a challenge to overcome rather than just an unhappy circumstance is beneficial. But I think that throwing a bitch fit sometimes is beneficial, too.
No comments:
Post a Comment