Groan. Bitch. Moan. Whine. Sound familiar to you? That’s what I hear at work all day–some of it from my own mouth. Spit. Pfui. Bleechhh. Let me get a drink of water to wash out my mouth! I am so tired of hearing all that crap. And even more tired of spewing it. No more. Period.
Today I read Joe Vitale’s review of a book written by Will Bowen, a best book of 2007: A Complaint Free World, from a link on James Brausch’s blog.
Random House’s publisher site has this exerpt from the book:
In this book, you can learn what constitutes a complaint, why we complain, what benefits we think we receive from complaining, how complaining is destructive to our lives, and how we can get others around us to stop complaining. You will learn the steps to eradicating this poisonous form of expression from your life. If you stay with it, you will find that not only will you not complain, but others around you will cease to do so as well. In a short period of time, you can have the life you’ve always dreamed of having.
To get the life I have been dreaming of having, all I have to do is stop complaining about the life I have now. Will Bowen says that 6 million people have taken the 20 day challenge to stop complaining, gossiping and otherwise spreading verbal refuse around themselves. Thank you, Will for explaining that concept to me.
What a concept! A Complaint Free World!
One of my coworkers shared his 2008 project with me today (we gave up resolutions years ago). He plans to make NEW MISTAKES this year, instead of repeating old ones. After all, once you make a new mistake, it is never a mistake again, but a CHOICE. There is no point in complaining about a choice that we have made–a tenet of the 12-step programs. After all, another name for “making mistakes” is “learning.” If my friend works at his project for making new mistakes, he will learn much.
But I also remember reading this week that we need to cultivate gratitude, even gratitude for our mistakes. After all, we did learn from them, even if we only learned that it was a mistake to do that. And if we didn’t learn not to do that, it still isn’t a mistake when we do it again. So, I look back at my two failed marriages, my poor taste in men generally, my less than overflowing abundance, and I think, yes, I am grateful, if nothing else, that things are no worse than they are. I have learned a lot about a lot of things, one being that you attract what you are. I decided my magnet needed to be realigned!
Better yet, my life is are good. I have never been hungry (except when dieting!) or cold or without clothing or shelter or anything I needed. I haven’t done without much of what I wanted, for that matter. My car runs–it runs so well that I have over 200k miles on it, all but 50k of which I put on it–I have the money to pay the taxes on it and get a new tag for it, a personalized tag. I have insurance on it.
I don’t have health insurance, which means that my medical expenses for the last ten years have been less than premiums for one year. I don’t have cable, which is good because I don’t watch TV. I have DSL internet, which allows me to work at home when I get home from work. I’m not rolling in dough, but then, I haven’t put much effort into setting up those multiple streams of income that my gurus keep telling me about.
But I still can. Life is good, folks. LIFE IS GOOD. Thanks, Joe. Thanks, Will. Thaks, James. Thanks, Bruce. Thank you for reading.
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