There are 86,400 seconds in a day. And luckily, you get to choose how to spend them.
I am an 18-year-old girl in perfect health. I have a loving family and amazing friends. I live in a free country and get to go to sleep on a very comfortable mattress every night. I attend a private Christian college, paid for by my fortunate family. Yet, with an average of 20,000 words spoken a day I find time to complain about practically anything and everything.
My thought process:
Food? I have to eat the same boring college cafeteria food every day. I am always starving. Gas? Ugh, I have to fill up on gas again...it has been like three days and prices are so high. Weather? One second in Indiana it is snowing, the next it is hailing, and then a blizzard all while I am being carried away with the wind. My face may fall off and I am going to get hypothermia. School? A job? The professors assign too much work. I mean, don't they realize we have a life? My head may explode from stress. I am dropping out or quitting. Body image? Ew, I look like an obese potato. Clothes? All my clothes make me look like a hobo. Waking up? *Hits the snooze alarm 10 times* and rolls out of bed, mad that I am up this early.
What are you supposed to do when you don't like something? Change it. If you can't change it, change the way you think about it.
You woke up and you are alive. You are loved deeply. You were beautifully and wonderfully made by the hands of an all-powerful God. You get the opportunity to learn something new today. Let the cold remind you of how amazing it feels when the warmth of a sun ray hits your skin. You can travel the world looking for new adventures with that gas guzzler car of yours, because there is so much to see. Today, when you're thirsty instead of walking miles to get a drink of water for your family, you just grab a water bottle.
Instead of going along with the norm, I dare you to step outside of it. There is always going to be something to complain about. But I promise you, for every one thing that bothers you there are 10 blessing in disguise you just forgot to count. Don't complain when you hear others complain. Make your mind compliment anything from yourself to someone else, to the green grass, to the person who just served you the food on your plate. One uplifting compliment a day out of your 20,000 words could change a life, even yours. It is called neuroplasticity, a real scientific thing, training your mind to be happy by positive thinking.
Here is my challenge to you: for every time you feel a complaint boiling up inside or about to roll off your tongue replace it by thinking of the little blessings and give out your daily dose of happiness (compliments). Go 24-hours without complaining. (Not even once.)
