My Week of No Complaining {Weekly Challenge}

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Last week, I briefly mentioned that I was giving up complaining for the week. Yes, you read that right - one week, no complaining. I read an article on Cup of Jo from a couple of years ago that inspired me to see if I could, in fact, go one week without complaining. It isn't that I complain an overly excessive amount - I am a generally happy person - but lately, I felt as though I was spending a lot of time talking to friends and family about my busy life, and complaining about every single thing I didn't like. And so, it was decided: one week without complaining.

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How did I do, you ask? I think I did pretty well. It certainly was not a perfect week, but I found myself doing something that I've decided is really important:

Every time I started to complain - even just to myself, in my head - I worked to 
replace that negative thought with a grateful thought.

It wasn't always easy, and it didn't always completely erase the negativity, but generally - it worked. And I think I was a happier person because of it. I took some additional inspiration from Mara at A Blog About Love and just spent time actively working positive feelings into my life. My week of no complaining also gave me some time to think about how we complain in our lives and that sometimes, I think that complaining is okay because everyone needs to vent and hash out internal feelings, even negative ones, but that if you find you are constantly finding people to speak to about all the negative things in your life, I'm not quite sure that that is such a good thing - and I can tell you that personally, it was not a good thing. I also tried to find little ways to change complaints into something better. Instead of complaining about being tired, I thought, I'm looking forward to going home and snuggling with Josh and our pup. Instead of complaining that I had so much work to do, I thought, I'm so glad that I get to be a part of this experience and share in this work. It was a really good week and I am looking forward to tackling another weekly challenge, along with Joanna from Cup of Jo, and her readers for this next week!

My new challenge? From today until next Thursday, I am challenging myself to drink 90 ounces of water each day. My water bottle holds about 30 oz of water and I don't drink nearly enough (sometimes days go by and I don't drink any water at all). I'm excited about this challenge and I hope you'll join me!

Did you try tackling a challenge last week? Do you think you might join me for this water challenge this week? Have you ever found a way to incorporate tiny challenges into our life? I'd love to hear about it!

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1 comments:

  1. UnknownOctober 25, 2012 at 2:54 PM

    That is such a great challenge! Sometimes it's so easy to complain but trying to think positive about every situation can really make your day brighter! I will have to try this!!

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