Complaining

By Joe Rector

Well, I’m wondering if the rain will ever stop. I know that in a couple of months, my concern will be over too little rain for plants and lawns to survive. So it goes with the human condition; we are never happy unless we have something about which to complain.

I wonder exactly from where complaining came. Surely it wasn’t in the Garden of Eden. We’re told that everything was perfect there until temptation overtook our species.  The joke is that woman is the downfall in our relationship with the Creator, but the truth is that man is a willing accomplice. Together, both of us broke the bond with the Lord and led us to a world in which we now live.

When mankind was banished from the garden and sent into a new and scary world, was one of the sins that he encountered complaining? Nothing ever again would be perfect. Is that when whines first were uttered? Did Adam and Eve carp about how unlike their new existence was to the perfection they had?

I’ve read the stories of distress of such biblical giants as Moses and David and John the Baptist and Jesus. I am not so sure I remember any of them complaining. Oh, they did pray to God that the paths set before them be different ones, but I don’t remember any of those men complaining about their situations.

I’m more inclined to think that complaining is something from the modern era. For generations, people looked at their plights in two ways. Some accepted them with shakes of their heads and put their shoulders to the grindstone. Others refused to take what was and what must be and set about to change things. They worked and thought and theorized until circumstances improved.

Too often these days, humans almost enjoy complaining. As I wrote in the first paragraph, we all complain about the weather, although controlling it is beyond our powers. We whine about our jobs, we gripe about our living conditions, and we throw fits about the way others treat us. Some folks make a big to-do about the food they are served at restaurants. Others pout about the price of the cable they use or the apps that they choose.

“Bellyaching” about one’s conditions in life is not a positive attitude, and believe it or not, few, if any, other humans much care about your sad situation. They are much too consumed with their own reasons to complain. Try telling a friend or acquaintance about your miserable existence, and see how quickly they change the subject, offer a quick “I’m sorry” to get you to hush, or find someone else with whom to talk.

The simple truth is that no one cares to hear you complain. I’ve learned that, although I still do. A better way of approaching a negative situation is to attack it with the intent of changing it. If the topic of a complaint is out of a person’s control, he needs to understand that condition and make the best of what exists.

Life is not meant to be a time filled with only good things. We all have those occasions when we don’t get our way. Complaining won’t change that. I’m not saying that anyone should ever just give up. Instead, I’m saying that all of us would be much better off in this life that we are given if we showed appreciation for what has been given and understand that some bad comes along with an incredible amount of good with which we are blessed.

A happier disposition always makes life easier to take. Complaining only injects one’s disposition with a poisonous substance. No, all complaining won’t end, but try to control it and see how much better you feel and approach each day.