Day 19 – Notice When You Complain About Something

“See if you can catch yourself complaining in either speech or thought, about a situation you find yourself in, what other people do or say, your surroundings, your life situation, even the weather. To complain is always nonacceptance of what is. It invariably carries an unconscious negative charge. When you complain, you make yourself a victim. Leave the situation or accept it. All else is madness.”~Eckhart Tolle 

Day 19 – Notice When You Complain About Something

How To Do This: Today make it your intention to catch yourself complaining, out loud or in your mind, about a situation You find yourself in. Notice yourself in that moment. Observe your body, You’ll most probably detect some tension, that comes with the resistance to that situation. Then instead of complaining, assess your options: you can either change it, leave it or accept it. All else is a complete and useless waste of your energy.

It’s so easy to fall into the pattern of complaining, that’s why, noticing the voice in my head that was doing that was an awesome relief. You can read more about the voices in our heads and how to notice them in this post on day 6.

What I’ve realized while practicing this exercise is that my body is a great guide to help me observe when I complain and when I truly let go. That’s why I suggest You to use this tip I’ve practiced on my own: scan your body. Notice if there’s any tension anywhere. Tension comes from resistance to something, which might be hidden under the form of a complaint.

Breathe deeply into that and ask yourself: “Am I truly accepting this moment? Am I resisting or complaining about anything, even the tiniest thing, like that fly that keeps buzzing around?”

Most probably, after you ask yourself these questions You will become aware of any hidden complaining voice.

After that, evaluate the options about that situation (Eckhart Tolle describes them beautifully in The Power Of Now):

• can You change something about it? Make that change.
• can You leave that situation? Leave it.
• you can’t either change it or leave it? Accept it.

That’s it. It’s so simple, yet so powerful!

So that’s my take on today’s exercise. If You missed yesterday’s exercise here it is.

Spread the joy by sharing this post with your friends. And tell me how this day went for You in the comments bellow, I am very curious to hear about it.

Thank you for all the energy you are putting in being part of this 30 days challenge.

With all my love,

Raluca

PS: I leave you with this short video about the 2 types of complaints. Eckhart Tolle answers Oprah’s question: “What do I do if I am in a restaurant and my soup is cold? Don’t I have the right to complain about it?” 🙂