Spilled milk? Wipe it up!

My nephew, who is 3 years old, often spills his milk all over the table.  When he was younger, I remember his first reaction was to cry.  He would look down at the table and still see the milk there and cry more frantically. haha. It was the cutest thing ever.  Now, even though he’s not that much older, he has learned that all he has to do is get a towel to wipe up the mess….Amazing.

I learn so many things from watching my little nephew grow.  How wise of him to know that he should just get up and get a towel to wipe the mess…Even some adults have yet to master this.  As a toddler, he managed to realize that there is absolutely no reason to cry over spilled milk.  Once he wipes away his tears (if mommy didn’t already clean it), it’ll still be there, despite all his crying and subconscious complaints of how the milk is all over his favorite crayons.  In life, we encounter so many odd situations, experiences so many mishaps and sometimes deal with unpleasant people..but how many of us can be like my nephew and just deal with the situation, instead of crying about it?  How many of us can go through a whole, entire day without making one single complaint?  let’s be honest, not many of us.

Going along with the attitude of being more positive, I decided that today I was going to go a whole day without complaining…

It troubles me that I think it’s difficult to go through a day without complaining.  There are so many questions running through my mind –  What am I complaining about?  Why am I complaining so much? What is so upsetting? Do I like being this person who complains?

After a lot of reflection, my answers were so easy…

What am I complaining about? work. ridiculous superiors. Why am I complaining so much? looking for some sympathy and/or just frustrated What is so upsetting? I feel like no one appreciates me and they take advantage of me Do I like being this person who complains? no

When I answered myself and admitted it out loud, I realized that what I’m complaining about is really NOTHING.  It’s a small portion of my life and I have so many other things to be grateful for.  I wondered just how much time of my life I had spent just in these past 2 years complaining, rather than enjoying my life & being grateful for everything else.

Why do we all focus on the things that we don’t have rather than ALL of the wonderful things we DO have…?  Once I realized that, believe it or not, it really was so much easier to go without complaining for the whole day…

At work, I was so much more happier and just relaxed.  If something ridiculous happened that made me want to scream and complain about, I reminded myself one by one of all the great things I have in my life..loving family, good friends, supportive boyfriend, health, happiness, roof over my head, etc.  It really just calmed me and enabled me to laugh off everything that would have normally driven me crazy.

We’re always going to be faced with challenges or ridiculous people or situations, but it’s truly about the way you handle it.  Whether you sit and mope about it or stand up tall & learn from it, this is all up to you.  Let’s be real, there’s no use in crying over spilled milk, so why are we complaining? Get up and do something about it!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012 CML Activity –

• No complaining for one whole day – completed 5/17/12
• continuing the no complaining challenge everyday – ongoing