Until it’s time for you to shut up and do something about it.
I’ve been thinking about this lately. How come so many people find it easier to complain than actually do something about what they’re complaining about?
Because it’s easier to sit and rant, to complain about how the world should have treated you better, how people have failed you, how you’re miserable because of what’s been said/done to you.
I’m not trying to imply that complaining is bad. Sometimes, it serves as a coping mechanism. The need or urge to complain and “let it out” is often times necessary. But this doesn’t mean one should make complaining a habit. Especially complaining about things you can change. If you have the ability or power to change something that’s causing you to distress then do it! If things are beyond your control, let it go.
The first step of trying to achieve anything is difficult. Trying not to complain is also difficult especially if it’s become habitual. Many times, we may not even know when we are complaining and being told not to complain is literally smack in the face. We want people to listen to our complaints and while sometimes we merely ask to be heard, often times we want validation of our complaining. We want the other person to say “ yes, you have the right to complain” but I’m not too sure if this is the response most receive.
There’s only so much you should complain about, not because you don’t have the right to feel whatever it is that is the cause of your complaining but because not many people actually care. If you’re complaining about something that obviously holds sentimental value to you, then you’d expect the other person to also hold the same value or perhaps be empathetic? This sort of expectation can also be harmful because what if the expectations aren’t met? Now you have another thing to complain about.
I guess what I’m trying to get at is that nothing substantial comes from complaining. Yes, it may be a human tendency to feel the need to let it all out — in the form of complaining and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But it’s not admirable to complain about everything or even most things. Be better than that. Change things if they bother you and if the change is impossible then walk away from whatever it is that causes the complaints.
I always find it more therapeutic to complain to myself than to complain to others about what it is I’m feeling. I have countless times had conversations with myself, complaining about what is bothering me, complaining about others, situations, things, the past, what’s been done and said. And I do this because I know that no other person can truly feel what and because I know that whatever I am complaining about will most probably hold little significance in the larger spectrum of things.
So, just remember that complaining never makes anything better. Some wise person once said that if you have the time to complain about something, then you must have the time to do something about it as well and with that, let’s end this post.
