Why Bother Complaining?

There are two kinds of people in this world; those who complain, and those who take action.  Where do you fit into the mix?  Considering our current global economic situation with stock markets plunging again and talk being revived of a double-dip recession, there is much that we could complain about.  There is also the fact that job growth is sluggish and people don't seem to be making as much money as they used to, but seriously, why bother complaining about it?   Complaining serves absolutely no purpose except to bring down the person listening to your complaining to your own level of misery.  Why would you want to have that effect on someone else?  Some people unfortunately know no other way.  They were raised by parents who complained about everything, from their lot in life, to the daily weather, to the Red Sox losing the game, and as such they now complain about their own lives.  If you believe in determinism then complain away, because you are have no choice about where you are going in life or what happens to you.  However, if you buy into the whole theory of free will as I do, then it would do you good and all those around you to try and find the brighter side of life.  There is always something positive to find to focus our attention on instead of the negative and by finding the positive, it reduces the possibility that we will continue complaining. 

One of the biggest complaints that people have is about their lot in life, where they are, and how they can't seem to get anywhere, change anything, or move up or down the ladder of life.  Well, I have news for you (except you determinism folk out there), we are all in charge of our own lives and unlike India in the early 20th century, there is no caste system to hold us in a particular place or prevent us from utilizing our brain to improve our life and reduce some of the pain and anguish that we might be experiencing.  Our lot in life is purely temporal.  There is no permanence to it and if we start to believe that there is, then we will start to lose hope that we can make a change.  If you invested heavily in the stock market, you should have been well aware going in that there could be some drastic changes with huge swings in the indexes causing huge fluctuations in the money that you have invested.  Similarly, anyone who has a job (any job) should have known what that job entailed going into it and if you don't like aspects of it now, there is no one to blame but yourself.  That is of course unless new duties were piled up on your docket without prior knowledge and now that leaves with you two options; a)quit or b)suck it up and do the work.  Complaining about what you have to do at work will not make one lick of difference.  Do you actually think that your boss wants to hear about how you don't want to do something?  Probably not, and the same goes with the people around you in your personal life.  They probably do not want to hear you ramble on and on about your miserable job and how you hate your boss.  If that is the case, quit. 

The more we complain, the more we dig our heels into our current situation and begin to cement that situation into permanence.  Complaining becomes a habit to the point where if we don't have something to complain about, we begin to think that something might be wrong and then we start looking for things to complain about.  It is a vicious endless cycle that can only be broken by forcing ourselves to look at the changes that we can make within our own lives and acting upon that knowledge to make those changes.   I have a friend (a dear one at that) whom I have known for decades that complains about something every time I see him.  He doesn't realize how good he actually has it compared to millions of others.  He just bought a house (but its not in the right town, its too small, and there are too many bugs in the yard), he has a job (but he has to commute, and has too much work), and has a fiancee (but she nags him, and won't budge on certain issues).  Do you get the point yet?  We all have so much positive in our lives that once we start looking for the negative, it starts taking over and we find ourselves unable to look for the positive, celebrate it, and use that to keep us motivated in life to make a difference and not get stuck in that proverbial rut.  I have no sympathy for anyone who complains.  I do it myself sometimes, but I try not to.  It is much easier to sink into a rhythm of complaining that it is to sink into a rhythm of action.  Instead of reacting to events in your life and complaining about them, act and create the effects you are looking for.  Don't wait for life to be handed to you on a silver platter, go out and forge the platter, place your life on it, and reward yourself. 

We all have the possibility of doing anything we want, at anytime, for whatever reason (as long as it falls within the confines of the law of course).  The sooner we can realize that we are in control of our own destiny, the sooner we can improve our lot in life if we so choose.   Don't get me wrong, there are people who are happy with where they are and see no reason to do anything about it.  Good for them, and for a lot of them, they are happy and don't complain.  My push is for those who complain about their personal situations and don't think they can change their own life.  Don't let yourself fall prey to complaining and misery, pick yourself up and do something about it.  We all have the power within ourselves to change, all we have to do is find that power.  For some it is harder than others because they have been conditioned to inactivity and preservation of their current situation.  Regardless of where you are currently in your life, see if you are beginning to fall prey to it and its hardships.  Are you letting life force you into a mentality of complaining or are you using those forces in life to move yourself to a different playing field?  The choice is entirely up to us how we proceed.  But why complain, do something about it.