There Are More Important Things In This World Than Whatever It Is You’re Complaining About

I feel like I’m living with the most negative generation to ever exist on this Earth. The people around me always seem to find something to complain about; even if it’s the tiniest and most insignificant thing they can dig up. And once they find something, they fixate on it for the rest of the day. Everyone just wants to bitch about something. Anything. WHY?
I’m definitely guilty of this too, don’t worry, but I’ve become much more cognizant of it recently, so I’m trying to stop. I think it’s time everyone else did too.

There are more important things than the amount of work you have to do this week. When someone asks you how your day is going, don’t take that as an excuse to release all your anxiety on them. Instead of automatically listing off your to-do list for that day, why not tell them that funny thing your roommate said in her sleep last night or the story your professor told that made you hate him a little less? Save your to-do list for the sticky notes. You know you have to get it all done, so why stress yourself out more by talking about it all the time?

There are more important things than the fact that it just snowed and it’s the middle of April. Yes, it’s cold. Yes it’s been cold for a really long time. We were all there for the polar vortex and we all wish it was over too. So why bother talking about it? Why complain about it? Why waste precious (and rare) face-to-face conversation time with complaining about something that people have been talking about since January? We live in an unpredictable world and you should be used to it by now so ask someone what they’re looking forward to instead of asking “ugh why is it so cold” for the six thousandth time this year.

There are more important things than beating yourself up for skipping the gym once. Eating three full meals and a couple of snacks to sustain yourself should not make you feel gross. You shouldn’t be skipping class or meals just go to work out. You shouldn’t be waking up at 5:30 in the morning on your busiest day to work out just because you skipped yesterday. Life isn’t about working out. Life shouldn’t be all about working out, at least. I understand wanting to be healthy and in shape and all that but I hate seeing people run themselves ragged (literally) trying to manage all their work on top of a full workout schedule. I’m tired just thinking about it. Slow down. Please don’t hate on yourself because you had too much on your plate one day so you didn’t have time to make it to the gym. You won’t die if you don’t burn a zillion calories today. Do some crunches in bed tonight. Or not.

There are more important things than that boy, or that girl. They are just one of 7 billion people in the world, why are you letting him or her get you down so much? The only person who can dictate your happiness is YOU so don’t let this other person’s actions affect you so much. Yes, you do care about him or her a lot and that’s fantastic. Caring about people is absolutely normal, and necessary. It’s how we develop relationships which is how we stay alive but if he or she isn’t giving back to you as much as their taking from you, why stick around? You don’t have time for that. Respect yourself enough to walk away from anything or anyone that no longer serves you, grows you or makes you happy.

There are more important things than whatever it is you’re worrying about, stressing about, nervous about, or sad about.

When was the last time you called your grandmother? Or your mother, for that matter? What about your college roommate, or your best friend from grade school? Write someone a letter instead of an email. Play catch outside with your kids or your friends, listen to your favorite song sixty times in a row, and bake a cake for your neighbor because life is really good and the key to being happy is thinking about happy things and doing happy things. If you start thinking positively, who knows? Maybe you’ll find you have less to complain about.