Excerpts from the book ‘A Complaint Free World’ by Will Bowen
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
_LILY TOMLIN
One of the question I’m often asked is “Can I never complain. . . .Ever!?”
To which I answer, “Of course you can complain.” I say this for 2 reasons:
- I’m not out to tell you or anyone else what to do. If I were, I’d be trying to change you,
and that means I’m focusing on something about you I don’t like. I’d be expressing
discontent about you and, by interference, complaining. So you can do whatever you
want. It’s your choice.
- Sometimes it makes sense to complain.
Now, before you feel you’ve found your loophole in number 2 above, consider that word
“sometimes” and remember that I and many, many people have gone three consecutive
weeks _ that’s 21 days, or 504 hours in a row _ without complaining at all. No
complains, zero zip! When it comes to complaining, “sometimes” means “not very often
at all.” Complaining should happen infrequently; criticism and gossip, never. If we are
honest with ourselves, life events that lead us to legitimately complain (express grief,
pain, or discontent) are exceedingly rare. Most of the complaining we do is just a lot of
“ear pollution” detrimental to our happiness and well-being.
Check yourself. When you complain (express grief, pain or discontent), is the cause
severe? Are you complaining frequently? Has it been a month or more since you
complained? If you’re complaining more than once in a month, you might just be giving
in to habitual griping, which doesn’t serve you. You’re an “ouch” looking for a hurt.
Change what you’re saying. Stop complaining. Change your words, change your
thoughts, and you will change your life. When Jesus said, “seek and ye shall find,” it
was a statement of universal principle. What you seek, you will find. When you
complain, you are using the incredible power of your mind to seek things that you say
you don’t want but nonetheless draw them to you. Then you complain about these new
things and attract more of what you don’t want. You get caught in the “complaint loop”
_a self-fulfilling prophecy of complaint: manifestation, complaint: manifestation,
complaint: manifestation, and on and on it goes.
The Universe, or God, or spirit, or whatever you choose to call it, is benign (good), but it
is also indifferent (it doesn’t care). The Universe doesn’t care if you use the power of
your thoughts as indicated by your words to call to yourself love, health, happiness,
abundance, and peace, or if you attract yourself pain, suffering, misery, loneliness, and
poverty. Our thoughts create our world, our words indicate our thoughts. When we
control our words by eradicating complaining, we create our lives with intension and
attract what we desire.
