DONT SHARE YOUR ILLNESS TO THE PEOPLES

                                                      DONT SHARE !

               I'M NOT SUGGESTING THAT YOU JUST SIT BACK AND IGNORE ALL OF THE PROBLEMS IN YOUR LIFE. HOWEVER, RATHER THAN COMPLAINING, IT'S FAR BETTER TO FOCUS YOUR ATTENTION AND YOUR ENERGY ON THOSE STEPS YOU CAN TAKE TO SOLVE, OR AT LEAST LESSEN, YOUR PROBLEM. FOR INSTANCE, LET'S SAY YOU'RE FEELING A LITTLE TIRED LATELY. INSTEAD OF TELLING EVERYONE HOW LOUSY YOU FEEL, MAKE AN EFFORT TO EXERCISE MORE REGULARLY OR GET TO BED A LITTLE EARLIER.

            TO REVIEW: COMPLAINTS WORK AGAINST YOU IN THREE WAYS, FIRST, NO ONE WANTS TO HEAR NEGATIVE NEWS ABOUT YOUR ILLNESS AND YOUR PROBLEMS. SECOND, COMPLAINING REINFORCES YOUR OWN PAIN AND DISCOMFORT. SO WHY KEEP REPLAYING PAINFUL, NEGATIVE MEMORIES? THIRD, COMPLAINING, BY ITSELF, ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING AND DIVERTS YOU FROM THE CONSTRUCTIVE ACTIONS YOU COULD BE TAKING TO IMPROVE YOUR SITUATION.

IT'S BEEN SAID THAT 90 PERCENT OF THE PEOPLE DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR  PROBLEMS.... AND THE OTHER 10 PERCENT ARE GLAD YOU HAVE THEM! SERIOUSLY THOUGH, ALL OF US CAN CUT DOWN ON OUR COMPLAINING. FROM NOW, ON LET'S DO OURSELVES AND OTHERS A FLAVOR AND MAKE OUR CONVERSATIONS UPLIFTING.

THE PEOPLE WHO DON'T COMPLAIN VERY MUCH (AND THOSE WHO SPEAK POSITIVELY) ARE A JOY TO BE AROUND. DECIDE TO JOIN THAT GROUP SO PEOPLE WON'T HAVE TO CROSS THE STREET WHEN THEY SEE YOU COMING!.

SEVERAL YEARS AGO I WAS IN MY OFFICE AND THINKING ABOUT SOME OF THE THIGS THAT WEREN'T GOING AS WELL AS I HAD PLANNED. YOU KNOW, THE TYPICAL BUSINESS PROBLEMS RESULTS NOT HAPPENING AS FAR AS I HAD EXPECTED. AND I'LL CONFESS THAT I'D BEEN DOING A LITTLE COMPLAINING ABOUT IT.

 

THEN PEDRO WALKED IN. PEDRO IS IN HIS EARLY 20S AND CAME TO THIS COUNTRY ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO FROM HONDURAS. HE WORKS FOR A COMPANY THAT CLEANS HOMES AND OFFICES.  YOU TALK ABOUT A POSITIVE ATTITUDE! PEDRO IS ONE OF THE MOST POSITIVE PEOPLE I'VE EVER MET ALWAYS SMILING AND UPBEAT.

ON THIS DAY, HOWEVER, I ASKED PEDRO ABOUT HURRICANE. MITCH AND ITS IMPACT ON HIS HOMELAND. THE SMILE QUICKLY LEFT HIS FACE. HE TOLD ME OF THE DEVASTATION THE HURRICANE HAD CAUSED. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE HAD DIED. MORE THAN A MILLION PEOPLE WERE LEFT HOMELESS. 

PEDRO SAID THAT HIS FATHER, MOTHER AND BROTHER STILL LIVED IN HONDURAS, AND HE HAD NO IDEA IF THEY WERE DEAD OR ALIVE, HE HAD NO WAY TO CONTRACT THEM- AL THE PHONE LINES IN THAT AREA HAD BEEN DESTROYED. PEDRO SAID HE THOUGHT ABOUT HIS FAMILY EVERY DAY.

CAN YOU IMAGINE THE AGONY OF NOT EVEN KNOWING IF YOUR FAMILY IS STILL ALIVE?

THEN PEDRO WENT ON TO TELL ME ABOUT ALL THE THINGS HE WAS DOING TO HELP THE POEPLE IN HONDURAS. HE HAS COLLECTING MONEY, CLOTHING AND OTHER NECCESSITIES. HE WAS ACTIVELY WORKING WITH THE RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS. INSTEAD OF JUST GRIPING ABOUT THE PROBLEMS, HE WAS DOING WHATEVER, HE COULD DO TO EASE THEIR PAIN.

AFTER SPEAKING WITH PEDRO, I BEGAN TO REALIZE JUST HOW INCONSEQUENTIAL MY OWN PROBLEMS WERE... AND HOW FORTUNATE I AM ! YOU BETTER BELIEVE I STOPPED COMPLAINING. I FACED THE REST OF THE DAY WITH RENEWED ENERGY AND MUCH BETTER ATTITUDE.

BY THE WAY, SEVERAL WEEKS LATER I SAY PEDRO AGAIN. AND YES, HE HAD HIS USUAL WINNING SMILE AND HIS GREAT ATTITUDE. THE GOOD NEWS IS THAT HIS FAMILY MEMBERS ARE ALL ALIVE. THE BAD NEWS IS THAT THEY LOST EVERYTHING IN THE FLOOD AND ARE NOW LIVING IN SHELTER. CLEAN WATER IS VERY SCARCE. DISEASE IS RAMPANT. I CAN'T EVEN FATHOM WHAT IT'S LIKE TO LOSE EVERYTHING YOU OWN AND HAVE TO START OVER FROM SCRATCH, ESPECIALLY UNDER THESE DIFFICULT CONDITIONS. CON YOU ?

THERE'SNO DOUBT ABOUT IT. PEDRO HAS EVERY REASON TO WHINE ABOUT HIS FAMILY'S BAD LUCK. BUT HE DOESN'T. HE REALIZES THAT COMPLAINING WOULD BE A TERRIBLE WASTE OF HIS TIME AND ENERGY. THANK YOU, PEDRO FOR REMINDING ALL OF US THAT COMPLAINING IS NOT HE ANSWER TO OUR CHALLENGES IN LIFE.