Can’t Complain

I consider myself a positive person. So when I heard that people were challenging themselves to a 24-hour period of not complaining, I thought, “that can’t be hard” and joined in. I made a promise to myself not to complain for one day.

Of course, the exercise was more challenging than I thought it would be. Not just because I couldn’t complain, but because I had to find another way of expressing what I needed.

Instead of saying things like “Ugh, this internet is crawling again. I can never get anything done!” I needed to find a better, more direct way to put thoughts into words. What do I actually want to say, and how can I say it without complaining? Reframing it became “Okay, the internet is slow. Maybe I can tackle an offline task for a bit while it catches up. Or, I could send an email letting my collaborators know there might be a delay.”

I began to see my circumstances for what they truly were, gaining clarity in the process. Pausing the complaints made me more mindful of my communication, both outwardly and internally.

ACTION: Don’t complain for 24 hours. Not to yourself or to another person.

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