Happy September! My good friend Dave Bourdeau gave me a “do not complain” bracelet a few days ago. It inspired me to do a 30-day No Complain challenge!
Join me! Start by getting a journal today. You can use one you already have. You can use your phone or tablet. Heck, you can just post to social media.
However you do it, post something you are grateful for!
I’ll be putting together a book about this project, so any feedback you offer will be great! Here’s my draft at an introduction.
Complaining. It seems to be all around us. People complain about the weather. About the traffic. About their health. About politics. Hour after hour is invested in being angry about something in our world.
That is where this 30 Days of Uplifting Words project comes in.This isn’t about not caring. Quite the opposite – it is about caring so much that you want to spend your precious time doing something rather than whining about it.
The Uplifting Words project seeks to help us become more aware about how we invest our energy and time. We all have limited amounts of both. Our time on this Earth could end at any moment.
Every day matters.I very first began a Do Not Complain project back on April 7, 2008. I’ve started and stopped it any number of times, but each new session revitalized my energy levels and focus.
I was drawn to tackle this again when a good friend, Dave Bourdeau, gifted me with a Do Not Complain bracelet in the end of August 2019. I decided right then to start afresh with a 30-day challenge in September 2019. That formed the basis for this book. I wrote messages to myself on it in gold Sharpie. When we are participating in this project, we still make note of the things happening in the world around us. We make note of things which we’d like to be different.
And then, instead of simply ranting about it to family and friends, we find some way in which we can make a difference.
We all have different roles.
Maybe we like to write letters. We can be one of the people to send a letter in to a representative to make a voice heard. Politicians do cave to overwhelming pressure, and every voice adds into that.
Maybe we like to post on social media. We can spread the news about a problem so that more people become aware. That will trigger more voices to rise up about it.
Maybe there’s concrete action we can take in our own lives. If the issue is with childhood hunger, maybe we can volunteer time at a local food bank. Maybe we can donate some food. Maybe we can spread the word so others donate food.
There are a myriad of ways to help.
It all begins with easing back on the complaining and whining, one day at a time. With refocusing those energies and minutes to something productive. Something which will help.
Something which will make our world a better place for us all.
Let’s begin!
Here’s my full text for Day One – let me know if you have any suggestions!
The beginning of any new project is often a mixture of excitement, trepidation, and curiosity.
Will this work? Just how will it go?
For today, it’s time to lay the groundwork. If you’re able to, and want one, get a physical journal. There’s just something special about writing things down on paper. If you already have one, great! You can use that one. You can use any notepad or pad of paper.
If you prefer the electronic world, start up an area on your laptop, computer, tablet, or phone. Give it a fun name and/or icon that will inspire you.
You can also do this online. Post your entries to social media. Find like-minded friends to join in with you. It could be that the more you post, the more that others start to join in. It can build its own momentum!
So here’s your task for day one.
Post or write just one thing you’re grateful for. If you want, give thought to why you’re grateful for that item. What makes it so meaningful to you?
Think about that thing a few times during the day. Keep in mind that, with whatever other challenges you face, you have that item in your world.
* * *
I am grateful for the support of my family. I hear from other people how their parents were never around when they were growing up. How in their current lives other family members actively denigrate and scoff at the things the person loves to do.
That is wholly baffling to me. Life is so short. Why would someone spend their time ridiculing the passion of someone else? We have more than enough room in our world for all types of interests.
Every day, I know my family is cheering me on in my writing, art, and other projects. I am grateful for that.