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Not kidding, this will revamp your life.

I tried a little experiment the other day- a day without complaining. I thought it’d be fun to see how much do I complain and I’ll be honest, I thought, “I don’t complain that much, I’ll be fine.” But boy oh boy, was I wrong. I realized that day, we complain a great deal about anything and everything. Whether it be about food, waking up late or early, about your friends, or just about the fact that your Snapchat streaks were broken. Trust me, it’s not worth it. 

So, try this challenge- 24 hours, no complaining. Be self-aware and observe your mood shifts. After I did this experiment, I realized how drastically it affected my day. Complaining about the same problem over and over again, it was exhausting. Case in point, things like someone blowing the horn unnecessarily (I know it’s annoying) can be a trigger. When it happened to me, I started to complain before I stopped and realized what a sudden shift it had caused. I went on from singing my favorite song to wanting to rip the guy’s head off. Ah, the infamous pleasures of traffic.  

Just one day- observe, be aware, and keep a count of every time you complain. 

Combating this problem is pretty simple really. Just ask why. Why am I complaining? Is it worth it to spend my breath on? Can I solve it? And is there a better way to deal with it? 

Let’s see why first, and then answer the follow-up question of the reason.

Why do we complain-

Little things that trigger us

Is it worth it? No.

Solve it? No, it’s just a trigger

Better way? Yes-  take a breath, hydrate, and smile. It will be easy after you understand it’s just a trigger anyway. And also, smiling is important. Every time you get triggered to complain, smile instead, your day will brighten up!

Venting out

Is it worth it? Yes. Venting out is worth it. Venting out via complaining might not be. There are better ways, keep reading. 

Solve it? Maybe. Depends upon your problem. Analyze and see if you can do anything about it. A lot of times we spend our energy on complaining instead of taking action.

If you can’t solve the problem, ( like if you have an annoying boss) venting out is how you get it out of your system. Yes, talk to your friends. Let them know how you feel. It feels better. But- 

Is there a better way? Think about it. No one wants to hear about the same thing over and over again, it’s just tiresome. After a week of listening to you talk about your boss, your friends would wanna cut their ears off. Sorry, no hate. You’d wanna do the same.

Find different outlets. Some people walk, paint, dance, or workout. Hell, it doesn’t have to be productive. Just get into a room and scream your heart out, use a pillow to vent (throw it, punch it, scold it- it’s fun), or relax and meditate. Whatever suits you. It’s better than talking about the same unsolvable problem day in and day out. 

Just a culture/ lifestyle

Is it worth it? Nope. 

Can you solve it? Yes, absolutely. The problem here is the complaining itself. It has become a habit, a second nature. You don’t realize it. Complaining for you isn’t complaining but merely commenting on the obvious. 

The better way here is pretty much like before. Be self-aware, and find different outlets. Try to break this habit step by step. 

If you have a person in your life with this culture, be careful. Try to assert yourself and most importantly, break the circle, i.e, don’t complain about complaining. Redirect somewhere else. Do listen and attend- be determined to not let it affect you.

To be honest, I developed this habit of complaining myself for a couple of months at the beginning of this year. I now realized how horrible it must have been. So, let’s not do this anymore. 

Let’s stop this circle of judging, acting, and complaining about every little thing that goes wrong. I hope this post motivates you to bring this little but significant change in your life! Do let me know in the comments below if you take this step, it will certainly put you in a better and positive vibe.

Happy Vibing!

Pranjali Jain