I was inspired by a book I just finished to embark again on a no-complaint quest. Here's the idea. You don't want to be a doormat . You don't want to be used. However, as Anthony D'Angelo says:

"If you have time to whine and complain about something<BR>
then you have the time to do something about it."

Not only that, but the stress in your body caused by complaining actively harms you. Those stress hormones eat away at cells, reduce sleep, cause blood pressure issues, and much more. It's so much better to be free of all of that!

So here's how it works. You make a goal simply to be *aware* of when you start to complain. Then redirect that energy. You don't want to bottle it up. You also don't want to indulge in it. Find a way to handle it. If there's someone else involved, find a way to constructively work with them to fix the problem. You can absolutely "up-manage" bosses and "re-train" family members. I've seen it done. I'll post all sorts of tips in these forums to help with those issues.

If it's something completely out of your control, like "this sucks, it's raining" - then being stressed or complaining about it is useless! . It's out of your control. It's a fact of nature. Accept it and find a way to work with it. Find something else to do. Maybe this is an opportunity in disguise! I'll also post tips on those.

Post in here with your challenges and achievements!

Starting fresh today. So far it's going well. Things are fairly quiet here, Bob is off playing golf, so it's me, the cat, and the parakeet. Laundry is running, dishwasher is running, Scooba is cleaning the kitchen floor, so lots getting done.

Well, I was doing well until Bob came home and was cranky, and I was cranky back . Still, a generally good day, and I'm making progress! So I started fresh after that.

Starting a fresh day of no-complaining! Let's see if I can make it through just this one day . So far so good!

OK restarting my no-complaint day. Bob complained about my handwriting on a recipe and I complained back . Still, I made it a while!

My no-complaint day had a minor hiccup midday but is going smoothly since then At a lovely lunch with my family, I drank all my water. I asked the waitress for another one. And waited. And waited. I got fairly thirsty. So I asked my Dad if I could have his, since he wasn't drinking his. Someone at the table commented, 'hadn't you asked for a fresh glass of water?' And I said, "Yes, I asked a while ago, and she never brought it." I realized that that sounded sort of grumpy so I added "not that I'm complaining" - but really, there was a hint of a whine in there . So I will own up to that.

Today has gone incredibly smoothly! I may make the whole day!

My no-complain-project yesterday *almost* made it through a day! I was fine until the very end. I was fine through Game of Thrones. Then there was only watching Castle, and bed. It was all the food commercials during Castle which did me in, I finally complained about them Yes we were on a DVR but I still had to see them while fast-forwarding. They were causing unnecessary, bizarre cravings

Today is a fresh start!

I have achieved Day 2 of my no-complaining project! Yesterday was a victory! Bob fast-forwarded through commercials for me, to hep out It turns out the "triggers" for the past three days had all been food / thirst related, so I am being more attentive about those things. So we'll see how Day 2 goes! So far so good

The USPS delayed the delivery of my priority-mail origami doves and now they won't get there for the peace conference. The USPS said too bad. I was already practicing patience using their automated phone system, which is atrocious, and then the customer service rep wasn't much better. But I did not "complain" - I stated clearly my issue and why their system and response did not match my expectations. They need to know that, maybe someone actually tallies those up. I can always dream. So my day 3 is still complaint free.