I have been trying to write this for a bit. Sometimes it isn’t easy to jostle works into meaningful sentences when the whole world has gone crabby.
Everywhere you turn, complainers are cranked up to full volume. Yellers are yelling and doomsayers are, well, doomsaying.
I have to chuckle at all of the anti-president folks who think the current president is the worst thing that has ever happened. News flash…every sitting president has been the worst president ever in the history of America until he dies. Then he was a wonderful statesman and patriot. Every. Single. President. It has all been done before, only this time we have Twitter.
When was the last time you were grateful for what you had and the people and things around you? I never see that on Facebook. Feeling crabby? Count the good things that you have. Think of your personal riches as compared to people in the world who are making do with the nearly nothing that they have. You’re lucky. That should make you feel good.
Have you considered your accomplishments? Did you raise a family? Get an education? Do something that you excelled at? Helped others? Volunteered your time? Successfully build a business? Create jobs? Or even find a better way to do something? The list could go on, but you get my drift. These things make you a special person, if not in the eyes of many, then in the eyes of the one person who thinks of you as an angel who helped them when they needed it most. That should make you feel happy.
When was the last time you set aside your own opinions, prejudices, and fears and treated someone with respect? I have found many an amazing person with an equally amazing story in someone who was different from me, or by someone who I was initially put off by. Respect also tempers our reactions to hatred and anger. You treat others better when you respect them and are worthy of their respect. It makes the world a better place.
Complaints? Everyone has them. Solutions? Not so much. Instead of voicing your complaints to people who can’t solve the problem, tell someone who has the power and authority to fix the problem. Present a solution, even if it’s not the best, at least you tried to think of a way to solve the problem. Work with the problem until it can be resolved.
Just feeling crabby and out of sorts? Instead of sharing you mood with others, or allowing your mood to dictate your manners, take a breath. Figure out what’s wrong and fix it. Meditate, lose yourself in a hobby, grab a cup of coffee and just settle down, play some music, reset. Being miserable gets misery returned to you. It is very contagious. Fortunately so is happiness, industriousness, and laughter.
Last week I actually shut off my phone, refused to go out and lost myself in a novel because everyone I spoke to was crabby, disrespectful of my ideas, and in general…not who I wanted to be around. I had to shield myself from the negativity around me.
Choosing crabby is definitely your prerogative. But it gets you nowhere, fast. Believe me.
Be thankful. Be respectful. Be happy.