I'm not complaining--really, I'm not

[urbpan]

I don't usually do New Years Resolutions, but this year I want to resolve to stop complaining. Winter will not be the easiest time to do this, since I hate winter weather so much. It'll be a challenge right out of the gate.

As I shoveled snow until I felt bad this morning (only took a half hour) I was thinking about complaints: what constitutes a complaint? If you state a fact ("it took us almost eleven hours to drive to Long Island in a snowstorm") is that a complaint? Or is the intention of the statement what makes it a complaint?

I used to be very aggravated by my coworkers complaining at my last job. My belief was that the complaint didn't accomplish anything. If there is something that can be done about it, then do it. If not, then shut up and stop making everyone around you feel negative. Maybe it's the negative energy that makes a complaint what it is. Perhaps instead of resolving to stop complaining, I should resolve to have a more positive outlook.

Any thoughts?

Comments

[elainetyger.livejournal.com]

I find complaints bothersome if there is blame attached to them or if the person making them fails to recognize that they are complaining. When someone includes the tag "rant" on a post, for example, anything goes. Any sentence beginning with "You should" that didn't follow my request for help is a bothersome complaint. It implies that you are dissatisfied with something about me and have an expectation that I will fix it to comply with your view of how life goes. (I don't mean *you* when I say "you," I mean the generic you.)

If you are simply complaining without any expectation that I will do anything but say "hm. Uh huh. I hear ya" then go ahead.

As long as you put up with my complaints, too.