virgin islands scene

When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.
-- Ernest Hemingway
 

 

Thursday, January 12, 2012

Before you complain

Whenever you complain about something negative in your world, you reinforce your connection with that negativity. Your complaint can actually focus your energy toward perpetuating and empowering whatever you’re complaining about.

A much better strategy is to come up with a positive alternative, and then to act on it. Instead of merely reinforcing what is wrong, you have an opportunity to change the situation for the better.

Complaints, because of their negative nature, are usually met with some degree of defensiveness. Positive alternatives, on the other hand, will naturally be met with cooperation and appreciation.

The next time you have the urge to complain, stop and ask yourself what it is you really want. Do you simply want to complain or do you want to do something that will improve the situation?

Somewhere within each complaint is a genuine desire to improve the situation, but the complaint itself is never enough to do that. So skip beyond the complaint and use your efforts and resources to truly make a positive difference.

Make the choice not to aggravate a bad situation with your complaints. Choose instead to transform it with your positive thoughts, ideas and actions.

— Ralph Marston

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Copyright ©2012 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All Rights Reserved. The Daily Motivator is provided for your personal, non-commercial use only. Other than personal sharing, please do not re-distribute without permission.