Quit complaining

I typically avoid calling people out for complaining because...well, because they might return the favor.  (THAT would just be annoying.)  Plus, I have a pretty high threshold for being bothered. And a person has definitely traveled a long way before they have actually make me mad.  (It's a terrible destination when you get there, though.  Ha!)  I credit this to being an "oldest child," spending years in an elementary classroom, and having a saint for a mom.

Let's be honest, however - at one point (or a hundred), we all find ourselves thinking, "If I have to hear one more person complain..."  Usually, this is when we are super-stressed, have an arm's length list of complaints of our own, and just don't have time to feel sorry for anyone else.  Shame on us, but...we're human.

Let me explain "complaining" though...
I'm not talking about a one-time declaration of your discomfort.  We all deserve that.  I'm talking about the detailed accounts of your miseries, that are so ridiculously NOT terrible, that I actually want to tell you to please stop talking.  I'm not talking about venting to your best friend either.  Everybody does that.  I'm talking about how you don't know my last name, but when I asked you how you were doing, you spent 40 minutes telling me about your sick cat, your Aunt's cousin who got arrested, and the paper cut you got this morning.  My breathing slowed, my eyes glazed over, my right eye started to twitch, and still...you...kept...talking.

Not sure if you have been (or routinely ARE) one of these people?  Please, take the following survey.  Please.

1.  When you have a cold, do you spend more time lamenting over your symptoms than someone going through chemo...and/or...Do you describe your mucus to people? 

2.  If someone asks you how work is going, do you immediately start citing all of the reasons that your job is so much worse/harder/more stressful than their job?

3.  If you ask about someones children, and learn that they are sick, do you then cut that person off to begin describing the last time YOUR kids were sick and how much YOU suffered as a result of their illnesses?

4.  When someone says "How are you?" do you respond "I'm well, and you?" OR do you begin listing each body part that has a pain, infection, scratch, and/or in-grown hair until they finally slink away quietly while you're glancing at an incoming text?

5.  Have you ever complained about how broke you are....in the same breath that you mentioned your kids' expensive private school, your husband's new luxury SUV, and/or the ski vacation you're planning for your "winter holiday?"

If you answered yes to any of the above questions, don't be surprised if you start noticing that people only wave and nod while greeting you from a distance...or that they are really into their cell phone, and can't make eye contact when passing by you. 

Become a reformed complainer today!  Your friends and family will thank you, and you're welcome!

♥M