Sorry everyone! Life has been so busy recently that I have fallen behind on my Waiting for Olives work. This past weekend I just had to spend some time refreshing with family and friends. It was much needed, but did mean I hadn’t time to get my writing in.
Better late than never, as they say. Here’s the second week of the gratitude challenge (AKA the no complaints challenge).
How I went with the first week
I’m going to say that my first week was a mixed bag. I started out well, nipping complaints in the bud and generally feeling more positive. However, things got more strained as the week unfolded. Work got hectic. It rained a lot. Before I knew it, I was letting complaints slip out or grumbling away to myself. However, the fact that I had set myself this challenge still had an impact.
I became a lot more aware of when I started complaining, and was able to cut myself short. I also realised how often I really do complain, catching myself on the brink so many times. The funny thing was, they were usually such minor complaints, I wondered why I bothered voicing them in the first place! I mean, did I really need to complain that I had’t time to wash breakfast dishes one morning?
The other thing I noticed was I felt much more positive about situations when I stopped myself complaining. I usually see complaining as a way to make myself feel better. Let off steam, voice my feelings. But it seems that in reality the complaints were making me feel worse, not better. Granted, this wasn’t a miracle cure for my more serious stressors. There were two work days that were really difficult, and not complaining (or reduced complaining) didn’t really buck me up much. Still, I like to think I would have felt worse if I’d allowed myself to wallow in complaints, so that’s something.
A fun gratitude game for your second week
This week, continue to note your progress, check in with your accountability buddy and hold back those complaints. As an added extra, this week I’d like to invite you to play this gratitude game at least once this week. You might feel like Pollyanna, but I promise it will make you feel better.
It’s simple. Go through the alphabet from A to Z and name one thing you’re grateful for that starts with each letter. You can name anything you want, including people, places, events or things. Just make sure that you are actually grateful for each letter’s item as you progress. Maybe you get stuck on Q, X or Z, but give it your best shot. You can play this by yourself, noting it in your journal or with others for a bit of family fun.
