BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Buddhism Do Not Complain for 1 Month

Reboot 18, Day 2.

This starts getting into intriguing examinations of how one uses their energies. I can say as a baseline that I agree with the premise that if I fill my mind with "cranky" thoughts, it causes my body stress, which causes physical harm to my body. Those negative stress hormones aren't good for my body. I want to avoid them. I want to build my body's ability to focus, to be healthy, and to achieve its goals. Negative stress hormones work against those goals.

So, with that being said ...

Bob has decided we should watch a TV show, "Whodunnit". To be fair to Bob, I like to write mysteries and we watch them regularly. So this should be ideal for me. However, it's a reality show and it is *atrocious*. The "acting" and writing is beyond silly. So I find myself making comments ... negative ... about what is going on. On one hand one could say I'm pointing out issues with the show. But on the other hand, yes, clearly I'm complaining. I'm investing an hour of my life and being grumpy about how inane it is.

So, why? Why am I putting myself through this? I feel stress about how poorly it is put together. I don't gain much from the experience. I have *oodles* of awesome shows on Netflix or InDemand I could watch instead, which have incredible, inspiring writing. And - the main point of this exercise - I am allowing stress hormones to build in my body for no earthly reason.

So I think this reboot was a reminder to me to make healthy choices about where I invest my time. Each day is precious. Each day is a gift that, once passed, cannot be retrieved again. If something causes me to complain, it's a sign that it should probably be eased out of my schedule.

Leaves lots more time for Midsomer Murders .

Today I had an interview with a local newspaper about my two books which won IPPY awards. One of them was the book I wrote as part of the NaNoWriMo project. It was nice to have a few hours out of the house, and to promote my various writing projects. Hopefully this will bring more attention to battered women's shelters, which is my focus project.

Absolutely, a way to reduce my "stress" / "complaining" aspect is to focus on others. When I think of all that battered women have to go to, any issues I face seem quite tiny in comparison.

Also check out "Johnathan Creek"- here's some background. 3:)

OMG OMG OMG. Trying not to get upset here. My adult son keeps parking in the street when there is street sweeping on Tuesdays. HOW MANY TICKETS HAS HE RECEIVED?!?!?

To all or none,
Since this is in the Buddhism section,I might add that a person that does not complain for a month ,has to be enlightened,that ,not making him a human anymore but a living corpse waiting to die .If he is ot the Theravada lineage, he will remain in the realm of non existence i.e.Nirvana,If the same person is from the Mahayana Or Tibetan lineages ,he will come back in mansland as a Bodhisattva,to try to bring humans and sentient beings to Enlightenment.

loong
Mahayana lineage

To all or none,

Buddha ,said : Do not fight with your negative side ,including,anger,jealousy ,name them all.They all come from the same place THE MIND.
Instead ,like a mother with her crying child ,take these deficencies,and transform their energy into Mindfulness Energy,thus having no fighting in your Mind,and living in peace,harmony with oneself.

Loong

Yes, I like the idea of making a resolution to try to complain less, to dwell in negativity less, but at the same time sometimes we need to look at the root of our tendencies and show them compassion - show these parts of ourselves compassion.

Loong -

I'm not sure that not complaining for just a month makes someone a saint . A month is only thirty days. Hopefully we can all develop the patience to be able to go that period of time and be all right with the world around us!

The more I practice, the easier it gets. It all depend on what we choose to focus our energy on.

It's not a matter of fighting with a negative side. It is more a matter of realizing that things are just not worth getting riled over. There are more important things in life to focus on. It's not a fight - it's a release.

Reboot 19, Day 1.

I definitely am going longer and longer between restarts. Most of the time I have to restart because I let myself get cranky, when I should know better. Today was brutally hot, and I was hot, pouring sweat, and cranky. So it makes sense that I would complain about something silly. The thing that made me complain definitely wasn't worth the stress hormones in my system.

And to be in that cranky state in the first place was, of course, my own fault .

I had been holding off on putting the AC in my office because I didn't want to disturb the hummingbirds, who use a feeder in the other window. But I don't even know that they'll mind the AC. Heck, maybe they'll like it . So I let myself get cranky for an imaginary reason.

Bob put the AC in for me and now I feel SOOO much happier. A simple fix! Better health instantly!

So now to see if the hummingbirds use the feeder tomorrow .

And I am full of joy and gratitude for having my Bob in my life .

Reboot 19 Day 2 -

Not only do we have hummingbirds but we have *strings* of hummingbirds! Maybe the window is cool or something because of the AC in the room. See, my waiting was just silly, and for no reason . It goes to show that we can "make our own problems" sometimes with erroneous assumptions.

And my life is so much more serene with my body at a healthy temperature.