Complaining is a habit with me. Even if I don’t actually say
the complaint out loud, I often have a head full of them. And I complain the
most about other complainers. When is she
ever gonna stop complaining about her job?
I wish he would stop complaining about his friend.
I recently went to an
AA meeting where the topic was about gratitude. At first, I found myself complaining
about another meeting on gratitude. As the discussion continued, I realized I
was starting to see how much I needed to hear about gratitude. Gratitude changes
me. Gratitude gives me hope and peace no matter what is going on in my life.
People who had little to be grateful for were sharing their stories about how
gratitude brought good things into their lives. Jobs have been offered to
people who have a grateful heart because people like to be around them. Restaurant clients paid for a meal because
they saw the attitude of appreciation in someone’s parenting.
I went home from that meeting and I made a gratitude list. I
noticed as I was making the list of things I am grateful for, my attitude switched
entirely. I was no longer blaming others for my problems. The problems shrunk.
I saw the good things my spouse was doing instead of pointing out how many
things he still needed to complete. Appreciation
for family members started to take the place of my criticisms. I noticed that thanking
God for his goodness to me is like starting the day all over again.
Why did I wait so long to recognize that I need gratitude? Can I continue
to remember this simple thing? I will hang a sign on my bathroom mirror tonight
that says Gratitude; it’s a day changer. I thank God for his goodness to me because
it is always there, even when I’m looking the other way.
