Everything I Know About Complaining

Everything I know about complaining is (1) no one wants to hear it and (2) it doesn't do any good. Also, if you need to pour out your heart (1) do it with God or with someone very close that you can trust completely. Otherwise, you are (1) hurting yourself and (2) might be alienating others. I am sufficiently qualified to talk about this because if there were a "World's Worst Complainer" I would qualify to enter and I would probably have a good chance of winning. I have complained about the weather, about the news, about other people's behavior, about unfair pricing on everything, about decisions of leaders, about my hair, about my weight, about food, about music, about social media, about politics, about getting older, about injustices committed against me, and (have I left anything out?) and maybe that's enough to give you an idea. There is more, guaranteed, there is more, but it's useless to name more. I truly believe that complaining may be very close to the root of all evil, because along with it come anger and violence, depression, loneliness, hopelessness, and even, yes, the temptation to end your life. And, so, it needs to stop. If you can't say something that will lift someone's burden who might be experiencing negative emotions such as those mentioned above, you would be better off and so would everyone else if you would find another way to deal with your situation. There are a couple of things you can do. You can be grateful, number one. Gratitude is the best antidote for all of the above. Start being thankful for all that you have. and if you find that you really have nothing to be grateful for, then be thankful for life. Be thankful for air and sunshine and day and night and seasons and birds that sing and a smile from a friend or a hug from a child. There is so much to be thankful for, and I am thankful that this is the month of Thanksgiving. I'm thankful that we have a day to celebrate Thanksgiving. I am very thankful to be living in America, and if we would just turn back to God we would, I believe, have even more to be thankful for. I deal with a lot of negativity that tries to steal my peace, and I have to do battle with it a lot. I am thankful for friends who are patient. Most of all I am thankful for how God has blessed me and taught me how to live in a sinful world with a soul that once was lost but now is found. It doesn't matter much what the world has to say about it. The worldly wisdom never had any permanent solutions for anything. The world offers a lot of temporary fixes, but nothing that lasts. We go from entertainment to entertainment, from one distraction to another day in and day out and hardly ever stop to give thanks for all we have. I cannot afford to give to everyone who emails me or texts me or sends me "free gifts" in the mail, especially during this holiday season. I will do the best I can. I can't solve the world's poverty problems. Jesus said the poor we would always have with us. I don't know why that is the case, it just is. If I can help someone I can, but I can't be hit on by every manipulator in town either. I must learn to operate in the wisdom of God. I can't do everything for everybody, but I can do some things for some people. I will pray for wisdom from God about how to do that, especially now. The life I live is not on every point the life I ordered, but I was not put here to serve myself but to serve God and others, and so, with that, I conclude for today. I used to write five things every day I was thankful for. Let me see if I can do that right now. I am thankful for: food, clothing, an apartment, a job, and a car. If anyone wants to snipe with me about anything (utter a sly or petty verbal attack), please take it somewhere else. Thank you.