The Rational Rabbit Hole no. 3

“Complaining is the American pastime.”

Embrace the Within.

There are many things about which we can complain. And some folks are trying and succeeding at making this their whole identity. And I am not going to foster that negativity in my life. I have no time for complaining without action.

If something is bothering me, then I have two choices. I can fix the problem or can I give it to God. The problem, at times, is trying to figure out whether I can fix the problem or not. After the storm last week, the outdoor electrical outlets were not working. So, I created a work around by plugging the chords into another circuit. After tripping that circuit several times, I figured it would be better to solve the problem with the original outlets. So, yesterday afternoon, I spent about half of an hour wandering around my house searching for the GFCI outlet that governed those three external outlets since the breaker for those outlets was not tripped. I wandered the basement, the first floor, and the second floor until I took a moment to think. And behold, there was the outlet right under the fuse box that I was initially looking at for answers.

And sometimes the answers are just like that. Right there for us to see if we know where to look. I have lived in this house for eighteen years and never once had to find that GFCI outlet. I never knew it was even there until I needed it. And there it was right where it was planned to be.

Complaining about the GFCI outlet wouldn’t have made it easier to find. It probably would have made that half of an hour much longer. Complaining never solves anything. Complaining is activity disguised as accomplishment. And we can choose to complain about all manners of things.

Human stupidity seems to be an often complaint around my house. There is a low tolerance for suffering fools around the plantation. Some of that stems from being a bit self righteous about our own intelligence around here and some of that stems from working in systems and some of that stems from human behavior. There is a potpourri of reasons for not suffering fools. BUT we have to because sometimes we are the foolish. I have no count of the number of foolish things I have done in my life BUT I am certain that number is in the hundreds at the least. And I am sure I am the focus of many complaints by other folks. So, that is something I now consider when seeing the folly of another. I need a little more love for the foolish and a lot less complaining about their behavior because I have been there and may return yet again.

I have very little control over my own foolishness and even less control over the foolishness of others. So, I get to choose whether or not I am going to let foolishness lead me down a path of complaining and resentment and hatred and anger OR am I going to leave the foolishness of myself and others to God. I have chosen the first path more times than not. And that path is no longer where I am choosing to journey. So, my only other choice is just to acknowledge that I have no control over the foolishness and leave it to God. Whatever your source of complaint, whether it be a system, a person, a community, a rule, a law, a place, a weather, a situation, or me, I hope you choose peace over complaint.

Bless your heart. Have the day you want. I hope you find whatever you’re looking for.

#ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoGodsNoMasters #MyBodyMyChoice #MakeYourselfGreatAgain #EmbracetheWithin