Gratitude Vs. Complaining

There will always be something to complain about. There will always be something to be grateful for. You get to choose what you focus on. And once you choose, it will have an effect on how you feel and how you see the world.

If you’ve never worked on training your brain before, it’s so much easier to complain! You may even temporarily feel good by complaining, tricking yourself to keep on doing it – like you’ve gotten something off of your chest, or feel like you “put someone in their place.” But that good feeling, if you can even call it that, doesn’t last. That does nothing to contribute to long-term well-being or life satisfaction.

Instead, gratitude does that. Gratitude leads to joy. Gratitude not only leads to feeling good, gratitude feels good immediately.

It may be hard to think about what you’re grateful for when you’re feeling down.

It may be hard to do when it feels like everything is going wrong.

It may be hard to do when you’re dealing with loss and disappointment.

But it is possible. And it will make you feel better.

It starts with intention, and before you know it, you’re effortlessly noticing more to be grateful for, and paying less attention, or not even noticing, things to complain about.

Try this next time you’re feeling annoyed – instead of complaining, pause. Just pause. Then use that pause to shift your thoughts and think about one simple thing that you’re grateful for. Maybe it’s the shoes on your feet. Maybe it’s a special relationship. Maybe it’s the warm shower you took this morning. Maybe it’s a cup of hazelnut coffee.

Then repeat next time you feel like complaining. When you stop complaining, you’ll notice that you feel better over time. When you focus on gratitude, you’ll notice that you feel good immediately. You will begin to see the world in a different light. A world where there’s less to complain about, and more to be grateful for.