Are you complaining?

Early, I mean REALLY early, the other morning I woke to the crying of our puppy. She is, after all, still a baby, and (it is quite shocking) I am her adopted mama. The previous two nights I shot up from my slumber to rush to the washroom in order to avoid a "mess," but this time I was very tired and not to happy to attend to a dog who needed to relieve herself. I muttered complaints as I shuffled to collect our little addition, and I continued to complain as I sat on the cold, cement freezing as I waited for Zoey to do her business. I did stop to pet her little head and remind her that, even though I had to rise from my blissful sleep to help her, she was a good girl for letting me know that she needed to go OUT. However, once she was placed back in her small kennel, the complaining commenced in my head as I shuffled back to my room. Then I found that I too could use a little relief ~ if you know what I mean. YES, there is a point to my telling you that I was using the powder room at 3 in the a.m.! I noticed a brand new SELF magazine sitting atop the pile we keep in the loo. (There are only so many places a mom can find quiet and permission to be ALONE!!) I just opened the magazine and there it was starring me in the face...

a whole article on complaining. "Do you complain too much? Do you know that complaining makes you a negative person?" Or, something along these lines, I'm too lazy to go retrieve the mag right now ~ so it's a loose paraphrase really. However, the point is, I realized then and there (and what a place to be!) that I DO complain too often. I vacated that particular room and curled up next to the tub and continued to read how to change one's habit of complaining. Did you know that women are much bigger complainers than men? That it is proven that we actually commiserate in an effort to bond and share? Well, I'm making a goal to complain less and to share something more worthwhile. I know I won't stop cold turkey, progress...not perfection, but I will be making a bigger effort to count my blessings and zip my lips.

This reminds me, have you read Nie? You really should. There is a link under my blog roll ~ visit her. Stephanie's attitude and life before and after the plane crash that changed her life is truly inspirational. I'm not going to lie to you, if you start reading, you'll spend a lot of time reading all of her posts from before the accident, then a lot of time reading her sister's posts after and during her recovery, you will discuss this with people you know to get them to read Nie, and then you will LOVE this family too. This is why when I feel like complaining, I will think of Nie.