Member-only story
Are You Addicted to Complaining?
4 Steps to change for good
Can you believe this weather? That game sucked! Life gives us no shortage of things to feel bad about. Weather, sports, politicians, money, health, love. There is always something not going right.
It might seem harmless enough to voice your upset. Venting is a national pastime it seems. We can kvetch and feel like we share a common bond. The problem with complaining is how it makes you feel.
The more you focus on what you don't like or the lack of what you do, the harder it is to feel happy.
Trying to stop complaining is like coming off heroin. Okay, I’ve never had to come off heroin but I quit smoking and that was hard as bleep. The habit of complaining is so deeply ingrained in us that when we try to stop, it is at first nearly impossible.
I have been rehabilitating from complaining for almost a year now. I started out with high hopes, thinking it would be an easy fix. I fell off the wagon, I got back on. I totally forgot and then when I realized I was feeling lousy again I remembered, oh yeah the complaining thing.
I can truly say that while I do still complain, I catch myself now. Often, I will redirect my complaining and that is the key. If you can catch yourself and redirect you will start to feel a shift.
