I'm here to complain about complaining.
At the risk of this becoming a whiny, emo blog (which actually might not be a bad idea ... they're hot right now), I've decided that it's time to take a stand against the art of negative bonding.
Let me start by saying that I'm no saint. I obviously complain. My best friends will attest to the faces I make in the mirror as my hair disagrees with my every attempt to tame it. I have aches & pains, people irritate me, I have bad days where nothing goes right. I'm not above complaining. But there is something to be said for having a little perspective.
A few examples:
"It is so cold out! This is fuckin' ridiculous."
--- Well, it IS wintertime, isn't it? I mean, you knew what you were getting yourself into when you chose to live above the Mason-Dixon line. I understand the cold is hard to bear sometimes, but a yearly occurrence doesn't exactly qualify as a surprise. Weather is always a common bond to complain about. Why can't it be a common bond to cheer about? The snow is beautiful, after all. And every guy loves a rosy-cheeked gal. Perk up. Soon it'll be summer! But I'm sure it'll be so hot that you "can't fuckin' handle it".
"I'm sooooo tired."
--- To be honest, I'm very guilty of this one. But then I think about how I was out till 5am last night, how little sleep I got, how I forgot to eat breakfast, and how I'm still in my pjs. "I'm so tired" is definitely factual, but it's also definitely mea culpa. Replace "I'm so tired" with "I take mediocre care of myself", and do it to it.
"Ugh, you're such a little brat. All you have to do for finals is write those easy papers. I have these HUGE exams to study for. Am I right[, fellow bio majors]?" (I want to note that this is obviously not in reference to every science student in the world ... I just remember hearing this a few times, and understandably so.)
--- This one used to make me feel badly until I realized how absurd it actually was. I mean, yes, as a theology major I wrote papers, and as bio majors you studied for exams. Exams are difficult, but you know what? -- so are papers. AND you could've chosen to be an arts & letters student. And I could've chosen to pursue science. Obviously our choices always come with consequences of all colors, but there's no need to rag on others for theirs. And no need to beat yourself up about it. Life is hard enough without adding comparisons to the mix.
"Donald Trump weirds me out. What a creep."
--- Well, yeah. Ok, you're right. Accusation retracted. Perspective in tact.
Fin.
(And for those who wonder where the title came from, here it is. Great thanks to Vince Thomas for his impeccable sense of randomness.)
