When we complain and become impatient, our energy works against us. Gratitude helps us shift our story and our mindset.
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What are you worried about?
Having spent a bit of time in the UK, I’ve become fond of witty British slang expressions (check out some here). Aside from feeling knackered (exhausted) and chuffed (thrilled to bits), I was recently reminded to stop whingeing.
Whingeing, for those who don’t know, means “to wail or moan discontentedly,” with less emphasis on the sound of the complaining and more on the discontentment behind the complaint (thanks Merriam-Webster!). I recently found myself whingeing quite a bit over things in my life not happening quickly enough. It was my “doing” energy pushing me to make progress and get sh*t done already.
I know you high achievers can relate – we get so impatient with things not moving fast enough. And as a result, we drive ourselves mad and miserable. This was my situation. I’d worked myself into an impatient and annoyed lather in my mind and it started bringing me down.
Thankfully I was able to notice the signs (self-indulgent storytelling) and called myself out. I wondered what was going on and how I had allowed myself to fall into a hole of despair. While I’d like to blame COVID as the culprit, I believe the starting point was when I stopped appreciating all the great things that I do have going on (the present) to focus on all the things outside of my control (the future).
When I noticed and made the shift into presence and gratitude, everything changed! I began feeling lighter, more appreciative and got more pep in my step. I went from Debbie Downer to Hilary Hopeful in the bat of an eye.
So how can you turn around your frown?
Some suggestions to help shift your perspective…
- REALIZE what’s going on. See your complaining, pushing and impatience for what it is – a bid for attention. Some part of you is feeling frustrated and wants you to take action. This is likely your desire for control and to make things move faster. Ask yourself, “is my impatience (or insert other strong emotion) warranted or am I just aggravating myself for no reason?”
- RELEASE your need to control. Can you let it go? Surrender to the whatever process you are in. Allow things to unfold on their own timeline and decide to go with the flow. Remember, it’s a choice we make in how we respond. Do we want to react (defense) or act (offense) and make different choices?
- REIMAGINE how you feel when everything you want is coming to you. Does it make a difference when you know that don’t have to worry, you can relax and actually enjoy the journey? While of course, you could worry. What if you didn’t need to?
SHIFT YOUR PERSPECTIVE!
See if this reframe of your thought process can make a difference for you the next time you realize that you’re stressing yourself out or acting in a way that brings you down. How might you choose to TRUST THAT THINGS ARE WORKING OUT? If you knew that everything was happening for a reason for your best and highest good, could you relax and let yourself enjoy things more?
Once we realize we can change our thoughts, then we see how much power we have to change our experience. Our whole attitude and mindset can become more upbeat. And it does require conscious intention – to notice the unhelpful thinking in order to shift into something that feels better. As they say, suffering is optional. It’s always our choice – to make ourselves miserable or not.
Start believing that everything is coming to you and soon enough, it will. Want to whinge less and wonder more? For support in changing your perspective, reach out.
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