December 26th is National Whiner’s Day. If you missed it, don’t worry there is still time to get your whine on as it is often celebrated on the 27th. This is a day dedicated to whining. Whining is easy, often a knee-jerk reaction, and can be a fun get together game of who has it worse. A great way to celebrate-a whine and geez party.
But seriously, what if all this groaning could lead to growing? It might be possible that whining can lead to something wonderful. If you want to talk about what grieves and depletes you, Martha Beck suggests in her article, ” You Can See Clearly Now,” that you complain about “precisely the things that bother you. The more specific you are about what upsets you, and why, the clearer you can make your desires. People who get what they want tend to be the ones who make the effort to know what they want.” So listen to what you are really saying. Your whining is telling what is broken and can empower you to fix it. Let the moaning set you into motion. The complaints can be a compass, pointing you into a new direction, telling you its time to change course.
Beck goes on to say “these problems may look uncannily like burdens but they are actually invitations to change. That will happen if you use the force of complaint to reach precise solutions.” We cannot wallow too long in our whining and allow ourselves to indulge in the why me mentality trap. A better future comes from moving forward. Imagine the solution, ways to fix the problem, and the steps you can take to make it happen.
National Whiner’s Day is also meant to encourage and remind us to appreciate what all we do have in our lives. Nothing breeds abundance more than gratitude and a positive attitude. Charles Swindoll believes in the impact of attitude. He states that “it is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for the day. We are in charge of our attitudes.” Build your future upon what you do have, what does work for you, and what matters most to you. Let these be your guide, as you go on and grow, doing good and being kind, keeping you from going adrift but don’t let them become an excuse for stagnation. Sarah Monguso further explains that, “you can’t learn from remembering. You can’t learn from guessing. You can learn only from moving forward at the rate you are moved, as brightness, into brightness.”
Whining can lead to something wonderful if you really listen and use it as a tool to fix what is broken. Let it deliver you to your true desires, your dreams. Ride the waves of change gracefully, don’t let yourself get anchored in and sloshed about reliving the past. Chelle Thompson explains that “when things happen to us, it is the reaction we choose that can create the difference between the sorrows of our past and the joy in our future.” When something upsets you, think about what would make it better. Set your intentions like a sail. When something perceivably good happens or when something perceivably bad happens, you have the power to choose your reaction. You can adjust your sails.
Posted by Laura Lynn Housel
