Choose Optimism for Yourself and Your Loved Ones

This showed up on my Facebook feed this morning. 

I had never thought of complaining as an addiction, but I guess that those who do complain constantly must get some kick out of it. Maybe they think it's cool? It makes them appear grown-up, or important? Whatever benefit they imagine can't make up for the damage, though. It's got to be depressing and destructive to hear yourself repeat all those negative things all the time. It will probably turn off potential friends and clients and affect your success, giving you even more to complain about. In fact, studies have shown that negativity and complaining are bad for the brain. Repeated negativity is actually bad for the speaker and the listener. (check out this article) And so, I've discovered that it's a lot like smoking.

I'm a positive thinker, but I get dragged down frequently. I'm exposed to a great deal of complaining and it brings me down. I don't feel any of the benefits that you might feel when complaining. My empathy just makes me feel sad and stressed, and sometimes I'm exhausted from listening to your problems and complaints and criticisms. It's very much like the second-hand smoke I had to deal with when I was a child. I was exposed to a lot of cigarette smoke and had trouble with allergies and asthma, but not anymore.

Luckily, I never started to smoke even though I grew up with a smoker as a parent.

I won't pick up the complaining habit either.

I choose optimism for my own health and for my family's.