Welcome back to No Whining Wednesday, your (and mine!) weekly reminder not to whine, complain, or criticize for this twenty-four hour period. If you’re new to this blog or this segment, please refer to the first post HERE which explains in detail. (You can also see the other weeks we’ve done so far. Just click on the pingbacks)
The No Whining Wednesday Badge
Today’s reminder is all about looking for the strength in others, instead of the weaknesses:
“It is much more valuable to look for the strength in others. You can gain nothing by criticizing their imperfections.” – Daisaku Ikeda
We have a habit of seeing only the bad in people. Every day we place judgment on others in subtle ways. Maybe we saw a blog post we didn’t agree with so we murmured under our breaths. Maybe someone bypassed us on the street and we wondered why they wore those shoes. Maybe we rolled our eyes because someone did something we thought was the wrong thing to do. Maybe an author is not winning in our eyes. Maybe he or she is losing because they aren’t doing it the way we’ve been taught it should be done. Maybe, maybe, maybe. These “maybies” add up. Sometimes they come out of our mouths. Other times they stay in our heads. Either way, consciously or subconsciously, we tend to see the negative in people first and then, only if we’ve chosen to accept the person anyway, do we see the good.
What if we could see the good first? What if instead of counting my weaknesses, you can count my strengths? What if instead of seeing what I am doing wrong, you can see what I am doing right? Today, try not to criticize people’s imperfections. Instead, look for their strengths.
“Don’t criticize what you don’t understand, son. You never walked in that man’s shoes.” – Elvis Presley
I challenge you to list a strength you see in someone in your life in the comments section! Could be a fellow blogger, author, sister, brother, mom, friend. Anyone in your life. (You cannot talk about yourself).
Welcome back to No Whinging Wednesday! The only day of the week where you do not get to whine, criticize, or complain. If you’re new to this, please check out post one HERE.
The No Whining Wednesday Badge
Today’s quote and message of inspiration and encouragement is from Maya Angelou:
“What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.”- Maya Angelou
Today, as we strive not to be complainers, try something new. Instead of lingering on the situation at hand, what if you changed the way you thought about it? What if you changed your perspective and perception of it? Perspective can be defined as:
a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view
I remember when my husband and I were newlyweds and when we first moved down to Louisiana. Having rented a house from our elderly cousin, the house itself was not something we would have chosen. It was old (very old, I think her and her father built it and she’s like 80) and we had to move her stuff out before we moved in. The house wouldn’t heat well so winters were brutal. We literally fought to make it a home and there was much to complain about. There was much we did complain about. It was a big move for us and we had to give away some of our belongings to fit in the tiny house (we were downsizing from a three bedroom, three bath, and full basement home in Chicago to a two bedroom, one bath house in the county. Yikes!)
However, we were on 40 acres of land, had a horse, chickens, dogs and a garden. We had peace there and ended up renting the place for five long years. Some of the most peaceful and exciting years of our lives. That house was so poor that many people still make fun of us for staying there and have called us names, but it was ours and we made it work. We learned a lot of life lessons with the physical and mental challenges living there produced, mainly how to struggle together as a couple. We had both struggled individually growing up but not as a team. We are now staying at a place under much better conditions. Because we accepted the little, we were blessed with more. Despite how it looked, we even shared our home with others, opening it to anyone who needed it and as we often look back, we are glad to have lived there.
When you find yourself down in the dumps, remember that sometimes it’s because of how you’re viewing it and that things could always be worse. Remember the story of the wealthy father and his son:
Image Credit: Pixababy
Story by Dan Asmussen:
“One day a very wealthy father took his son on a trip to the country for the sole purpose of showing his son how it was to be poor. They spent a few days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family.
After their return from the trip, the father asked his son how he liked the trip. ‘It was great, Dad,’ the son replied. ‘Did you see how poor people can be?’ the father asked. ‘Oh Yeah,’ said the son.
So what did you learn from the trip?’ asked the father. The son answered, ‘I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end.’
“‘We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.’”
“‘We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to protect them.’ The boy’s father was speechless. Then his son added, ‘It showed me just how poor we really are.’”
“Too many times we forget what we have and concentrate on what we don’t have. What is one person’s worthless object is another’s prize possession. It is all based on one’s perspective. Sometimes it takes the perspective of a child to remind us what’s important.”
You can no longer blame the childish things you do on your youth. You think of ways to be as immature as possible before leaving the 20s club.
You’ll get fat. You’ll definitely get fat. You picture yourself grossly overweight with eight kids. You work out as much as possible before your birthday.
Kids will call you old. You try to say something hip to sound cool. You forget hip went out ages ago. You just said hip and ages in the same sentence. Your nieces roll their eyes. Your nephews shake their heads. You walk off in shame.
You wear a smirk at the possibility of catching up with your husband’s age. You’ll both be in the 30s now. You think you’re winning. You forget he’s nine years and four months older than you are and is on his way to the 40s club.
Speaking of 40, birthdays will never be the same again. You’ll have to wait ten years before getting the spark back. I mean, 31? No one is ever excited about 31. You consider ways to slow down time.
You fear you won’t actually sound 30 when it gets here. You realize you don’t know how 30 sounds. You consider asking your husband. You forget about the immature thing. You wonder what’s mature and what’s not. You overthink it.
You hide 20s memorabilia. You’re afraid you’ll miss it. You re-watch chick flicks and cartoons as much as possible before your birthday.
Speaking of Underground, here are some Fun Facts about Harriet Tubman from the Blackmail4u blog. (I believe Harriet adopted a baby girl too named Gertie)
Would you like a simple way to really change your life? Instead of merely getting by, you’ll find that your life can truly be exceptional when you focus on positive solutions rather than the constraints of your challenges.
This 10-Day Negative Thought Fast, originated by Emmett Fox, one of the most popular self-help authors and speakers of the early 20th century, is an adventure you’ll reap many benefits from.
Here are the rules:
1. If you break any of the other rules, you must start the 10 days over from the beginning. To get the full effect, you must complete 10 consecutive days. Giving up negative thoughts is a little like giving up a drug; you’ve got to stop using them completely, otherwise you haven’t truly quit.
2. You cannot focus on a negative thought or remain in a negative emotional state for more than five minutes. Ideally, the time…
The PBS Blog 