Challenge Accepted

7-Day No Complaints Challenge Journal

Wednesday, July 9th about 8pm

I practice gratitude whenever possible. I haven’t always been a glass half full guy, but it’s become somewhat second nature to me now.

I don’t really hold myself accountable though, and I’m still quick to have that initial judgment of unfairness or complaint. I catch myself getting swept away in the complaint-convo, all too often.

So I was stoked when I read NJ Simat 🤍’s Note saying she was going to try not to complain for a week. I was in before I heard the invite! Challenge accepted! And even more stoked when A Girl With No Name said the same and restacked!

This is so exciting! The world needs more Gratitude Challenges, and less cold plunges, or buckets of water, or whatever they’re doing these days.

I don’t remember complaining today, I might have mentioned the gnats—damn, I’d forgotten about the gnats!

But I have been doing better — I now say, “Boy I’m sure glad these pricks don’t bite.” Instead of, “GD these M&fing SOBs,” every time one flies in my nose or my mouth, knowing that said gnat just came straight off my dog’s asshole.

8:45pm

I think I’ll make this post a journal of this week. And I’ve had my first challenge—my sweetheart is not here tonight, and won’t be here tomorrow night either. She’s gone with her mother on an estate sale—they’ve got a house to do up in Tucker, GA.

Ha, this will be the first time in I don't remember when, that I’m not drinking myself to sleep while here alone. Not that I couldn’t, if I wanted to — I just don’t. I’ve not been drinking much at all these past few months.

So I could complain about being lonely, or the cold-empty bed. But instead I’m glad that she is getting to spend this time with her mama—it’s time they’ll both cherish. Gosh, that feels so good. It’s so much better than complaining. I have tears welling—of joy? Gratitude?

Maybe this won’t be as hard as I thought. I can’t wait until she calls, so I can tell her about the Challenge!

Thursday, the 10th

Day one was easy. Everything went pretty smooth today. I guess I could have complained about the heat, or gnats this morning while I was sweating my tail off working on the underpinning for the house, but it didn’t even cross my mind to. Work was great! I hope tomorrow’s just as pleasant. 🙂

Friday, the 11th

I dodged a bullet this morning, but I was able to catch myself before I complained. I am and have been frustrated with the slow moving machine that is my new employer. There was a problem with payroll, and I still have not received a check. I’m glad I kept my cool, because getting upset would have only made the problem worse.

I’m typing this Saturday morning — I was going to skip the journal entry for Friday, and just mention the above situation in my next entry since yesterday had went smoothly as well. But I messed up last night.

I slipped and stumped my toe…

Sunday the 13th – I had a wonderful weekend😁

Have you ever tried a No Complaint Challenge? If not, how about tomorrow?

Monday July 14th

Today was a tough one. I had chance after chance to complain, but I held strong…

When I got home from my morning shift and realized I’d left my sweetheart’s favorite cup at the main office, I just drove the 16 miles back to get it. When I went to drive her Jeep to work so that she could use my truck today, and it wouldn’t crank — I just got the charger and jumped it off. When I got to my office, and it was 175 degrees because the AC was frozen up — I just started defrosting it, and let my boss know. And when I couldn’t sleep, I just got up and read until I thought I was ready to try again. (And typed this;)

Yeah, today was tough—but I’m proud of the way I handled all of those instances. The day went much smoother than it would’ve had I let any of them get the best of me!

Tuesday the 15th

Today I learned that there is a difference between stating what something is, and complaining.

When I got to my office and the AC still wasn’t working, I contacted my home office only to find that nothing had been done. I will spare you any further details…

It is not a complaint, to be disappointed in another’s inaction. All I can do is continue to follow up—getting mad about it won’t help anything.

Wednesday the 16th

Day 7 was fairly uneventful. There were a few opportunities—the AC is still on the fritz, but I quickly tossed the complaint aside. I have begun scolding myself for having the initial judgment. I fear I may have become too critical of my thoughts…

Reflection

I’ve seen myself in a different light these past 7 days. One, I’m more aware now of some of the progress that I’ve made over the past few years. I knew that I’d gained some ground, but I see the field of play just a little bit more clearly today than I did a week ago.

I have also noticed that I am more critical of myself and my loved ones than I am of others—and I’m not sure how I feel about that yet. One thing’s for sure, I will continue to work to be more understanding of my loved ones—they deserve the best of me.

Now to address my statement on Day 7, which I alluded to in the above paragraph as well. I think, yes, I did at one point become too critical of my initial thoughts. I think that this shows that it’s possible to go too far in any direction, even if you're working on improvement. One can become so focused on the task at hand that they become fanatical quite easily, if they are not careful.

I think this is where that moment of pause, after the initial judgment is so important. It’s okay to give yourself a little grace sometimes. That initial thought or judgment is the culmination of a lifetime of knowledge, it can’t be changed over night.

---

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please consider sharing it and clicking that ❤ button, and I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments. And if you’re an email reader, just hit reply—I want to hear from you too!

Don’t like commitments, but still want to support my writing? You can make a one-time contribution here.

Photo by Jordyn Montague on Unsplash

---

Things aren’t always as black and white as they seem...