There are days when you wake up and just know that it’s going to be different than usual.  Your mind just isn’t seeing the blue sky and sunshine.  It’s the rough spot under your feet in the carpet, or the annoying cry from down the hall that capture your attention and frame the mindset for the day.  The pothole in the road become a little deeper, your coffee is a tad more bitter than usual, and your conversation with others begins with “Did you hear ….”.

Nothing, it seems is going to turn your day into a positive productive experience.  Each corner brings more malaise.

OK – your like me and you recognize that things aren’t fun and you want to change things.  After all what good is a funk when you’re not a funky person in the first place?  Well, I say roll with it for a bit and let the fun begin.  Blow a little steam, wrinkle your nose.  Heck – give someone a dirty look!!!  Relish in your blue mood for a bit (hopefully your among friends, so they’ll understand).  Isn’t that fun?  Or were you visious?  Maybe mean?  Did you get a few other people to come along on your train to the blue lagoon?  have you transformed the mood of those around you?

I’m not saying that whining is bad, I’m just saying that our outlook can affect those around us and we should always keep that in mind also.  I love to whine!  It lets me say what I feel, expressing my negative emotions, but it seems to build distance between me and those who are around me.  And I don’t like distance.  We are relational creatures, distance is not what we are after.

Whining, expressing our disappointments, sharing our frustrations, complaining without offering a solution builds our own egos at the expense of someone else who probably isn’t there to defend themselves.  It feels so good to let it out!  There’s therapy in the expression.  Sometimes, just the release of all that negative energy is what we need to  get ourselves back on the road to recovery.

But what if we stopped way back at the recognition place, before the whining even begins and consider the possible repercussions?  What would the day become if we took a few moments at the beginning to stop and smile at ourselves.  “OK, I’m in a bad mood today! Maybe I’ll add some extra sugar into the coffee to sweeten things up.”

What if we started looking at each activity with a solution in mind rather than the problems.  Or we look at the activities as an adventure rather than torture.  Nope – that can’t be easy and it would take some conscious effort, but the results of that effort is certain to build rather than tear apart.

Will I stop whining?  I don’t think I’m capable of that level of change, but I am more aware of how it affects others and I do try to hide my whiny moods when I can.  Solutions are the goal!  Accomplishments create mood changes.  Success, no matter how small, has a positive affect on our attitude.

Go ahead, swerve around that pothole – just don’t hit the car next to you!!

Have a wonderful day.