Cheerful or complaining?
I have heard it said that one of the national pastimes of England is complaining! They like to complain about the weather, the trains, the Prime Minister, the price of food, and on and on. The same could be said of us here in the U.S. We complain about the weather – it’s too hot, or too cold, too wet, or too dry. We complain about our leaders, whether they are of our political party, or from a different party. We complain about our jobs and our employers. When I was an adjunct professor complaining was all you heard in the adjunct office – “we don’t get paid enough” “we don’t get good schedules” “we don’t get benefits.” I’ve been a tenured professor for 8 years now and the full-timers complain too, just about different things.
Unfortunately, the church also has its share of complainers. We complain about each other – “why doesn’t she stay to help clean up?” “She didn’t thank me for ______.” “Why didn’t the pastor mention me?” If we’re not careful, we can fall right into this bad habit and start complaining along with those around us. My husband and I have a secret sign when we find the other complaining too much. We don’t say anything; we just raise our hand in the shape of a C – the ASL sign for C. That sign signals that the complaining is getting to be too much. It works. We become aware of our grumbling and put a lid on it.
I became more aware of how often I complain during my recent mission trip to India. One thing I noticed while at Mukti Mission in India– a campus with several homes for girls and women, schools, a church, a hospital and a farm–was the lack of complaining. The girls don’t have much, but I didn’t hear a single complaint. The women didn’t have family members to care for them, but no complaints there, either. The volunteers as well were almost complaint-free, too! It was so refreshing being around non-complaining people. They were cheerful!
That’s my new goal. I want to be cheerful and not complaining. I want to be thankful and not grumbling. I have become more aware of how often I do complain, and now I’m trying to stop the complaining, and adopt a more cheerful attitude. Won’t you join me?!
Do everything readily and cheerfully–no bickering, no second-guessing allowed!” Philippians 2:14 MSG
I love what you and your husband signal when the complaining gets out of hand. You are right; we do complain a lot. I will do my best to start complaining less. Thank you for the reminder to be more cheerful.