The only thing complaining ever did for me
“The only thing complaining ever did for me was change people’s opinions of me.”
This saying reminds me of two things. One, complaining doesn’t accomplish anything. It’s just a way of venting frustration. It’s okay to complain, but I don’t want to make a habit of it.
The second thing this quote reminds me of is many people use complaints and tragedies, whether these are health issues or they’re broke or whatever calamity is going on in their lives to attract sympathy and compassion — to attract community.
I actually suffered my way through this cycle of complaining for a while (gratefully, it was only a short period of my life) where I somehow came to believe I needed to have some kind of calamity in my life every day, so I had something to tell people about it.
Boy, was I miserable during this period of my life. Luckily, I got over the drama queen phase, and moved on to concentrating on the good things in my life.
I learned that it’s a lot more fun to share good things going on in my life with people than it is to force people to listen to whatever self-imposed exaggerated tragedy I created and then blew out of proportion that day.
I want people coming into my life because of who I am, not because I’m needy or broken or anything else. At the same time, I don’t want needy and/or broken people in my life.
Today I see many drama queens and trauma kings as I go through my life. A drama queen is someone who is upset about a current happening, a trauma kings is someone who dwells on a past experience.
I have a rule that people who start complaining about anything within a short time of meeting me for the first time, do not become my friends.
Think about it. . .
When we first meet people, we talk about the weather, favorite TV shows and bands, mutual interests and other shallow things to get to know each other. Then as we get to know each other, we open up more, and talk on a deeper level.