Complaining hurts my ears. It is like scratching a chalk board, and literally is as unproductive. Working in a gym environment I hear people complain and make excuses all day, and I would consider this a more uplifting atmosphere than the average locale. On average, anyone walking into a gym is at least doing something positive for themselves, making a step in the right direction. Still, people find something to complain about. Exercise hurts too much, life is too stressful, their body isn’t changing fast enough, and the list goes on. People complain, many have made a pastime of it.
Warm fuzzy feelings of gratitude only here, thanks.
Last night I watched a MSNBC documentary on human trafficking within the United States. The film was devastating; human trafficking is alive and well and just might be right around the corner from you. There was a woman highlighted from eastern Asia who was brought into America to be a nanny for a foreign diplomat. For four straight years she was an indentured servant, working 18-hours a day, refused pay, freedom and basic standards of human decency, unable to do anything due to the diplomat’s immunity. Other stories documented were those of women tricked into underground prostitution and sex trade.
While we can all give thanks for the basic freedoms that we take for granted, we too often don’t. We forget that stories of trafficking are in our backyards, not just in the shadows of countries that we don’t even know how to pronounce. More than that, many of us spend our time complaining about our bodies and some of the circumstantial inconveniences in our lives, not even aware of how blessed we truly are. Make your life one that oozes in gratitude, especially for the little ways in which you are blessed.
Your body is wonderful; stop dwelling on the things that you don’t like about it and give thanks for the things that you take for granted. Your life is not as stressful as you allow yourself to make it out to be; let go and start looking at the sunnier side of things.