Stuart McLean, a radio broadcaster, tells the story of a group of young people who were in the far north planting trees.  It was a hard job, the soil wasn’t good and the bugs were bad, sometimes intolerable.  Most of the group whined and complained a lot.  One guy didn’t.  He was oddly at peace.  He just kept planting trees.  He planted more trees than anyone else.  When he was asked whether the bugs bothered him, he said “They do, but I don’t complain.”  Those are very wise words.  What do we get by complaining?  Whining or complaining doesn’t solve anything.  It doesn’t make us feel better and it usually makes us feel worse, often much worse (notice how you feel when you complain!).  Listening to someone else whine and complain isn’t fun either.  If you have a problem, change what you can, accept what you can’t.  Adopt a zero tolerance policy for whining and complaining.  Don’t participate in it and don’t tolerate it from others.  You’re bigger and better than that.

Lessons Learned:

Don’t whine or complain.  It’s not productive.  It steals your energy and happiness, as well as the energy and happiness of those around you.