The Daily Complaint Corner

caramel

caramel

Member
Sometimes holding in the negativity isn't helping. The unfairness. The things that aren't working. The things that aren't going your way.

Nothing can be done about it. All that's left is the complaining.

Here's the place to do it.

What's your complaint about life today?

*Some things that would be better in another thread are serious health problems. They would do better in another thread. Or complaints about crime done to other people might be better in its own thread also.
 

I often classify myself as a GOM, a grumpy old man, but really, it is just that I lost my natural smile a few years ago, and it takes an effort to appear as people would like me to. I found a statement by James Hillman interesting and something that I can confirm after years of geriatric nursing:
Longevity enthusiasts neglect to mention that bad characters last, too. So do the helpless and the useless, the miserly who gather it in and store it away like fervent ferrets the longer they live. Sadistic cruelty may become ever more tyrannical as years eliminate other avenues of pleasure, and ambition does not necessarily moderate in later life. Simone de Beauvoir devotes vitriolic pages to the character of Marshal Pétain, the head of the French government that collaborated with the Nazi occupation. She shows him to have been mean, petty, selfish, vain, indifferent, harsh, evasive, obstinate, pretentious, prurient. None of these traits belonged to his old age as such; all of them belonged to his character, becoming more sharply visible in old age like a skeleton under the uniform and medals. Petain exemplifies character determining old age, not the reverse. This notion was well-known to classical observers.

Hillman, James. The Force of Character: And the Lasting Life (p. 44). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
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He says that the best way to extend our lives is not to prolong them but to deepen and widen them. That way, we become less grumpy.
 
Rakaia said:
Better an empty house than a bad tenant.
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Sounds profound. What does it mean in this context?

Edit: I did a search on the internet. It says it's an Irish proverb. The only meaning I came across is this one.
There's an old proverb, going back to the 18th century at least, meaning much the same thing: "better an empty house than an ill [i.e. bad, not sick] tenant".

: My understanding is that this is, at least in the parts of the UK where I've lived, a colloquial way to mean the release of something unpleasant, be it bad thoughts, pus, vomit etc, etc. All of these things are 'better out than in'.
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Today I wanted to go for a ride on my motorcycle, I was all dressed up only to find the battery was flat. I tried to roll it out of the driveway and bump start it in second gear. Due to a lack of speed it stopped dead when I dropped the clutch and down we went. Apart from wounded pride the other damage appears to be a broken foot peg
It's pretty rare for me to drop a bike so this is pretty confronting. The fact that it was quite an effort to pick the bike up has made me realise that I'm in decline through aging. I'm sure you know what I mean...
 
I'm going to try not to have any negative thoughts or inner conversations and see if that helps my life to become better. So no complaining for me for awhile. If I have awesomely great results I'll let you all know. I really do believe it's better to have positive thoughts than negative ones. It gives you a sunnier disposition. and opens your life to possibilities. You just wither and die with negative thoughts.

:giggle:
 
I am irked by idiots when grocery shopping stop to look at a shelf item and leave their cart smack dab in the middle of the aisle with only a narrow way around it. Worse are those who give their cart a tug so it is turned about 45 degree and blocks even more of the aisle.
 
chic said:
I'm going to try not to have any negative thoughts or inner conversations and see if that helps my life to become better. So no complaining for me for awhile. If I have awesomely great results I'll let you all know.
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I'll be interested to see what you find.

That's never worked for me. I just become negative on myself for being negative. Then I'm chasing my tail in negativity. That didn't leave any room for real positivity, only the positivity that I was forcing myself to be, which wasn't all that positive. For me personally, positivity comes from dealing with the negative, not dwelling on it, but dealing with it in a self compassionate way. Not that I'm any good at it, or that it's easy in any way.

I hope you fare better than I did in your efforts.
 
Brookswood said:
I am irked by idiots when grocery shopping stop to look at a shelf item and leave their cart smack dab in the middle of the aisle with only a narrow way around it. Worse are those who give their cart a tug so it is turned about 45 degree and blocks even more of the aisle.
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I remember when we were all such courteous shoppers we minded the unwritten law; southbound traffic and northbound traffic, and east and west bound traffic. And we smiled more...because, courteous shoppers.
 
caramel said:
I'll be interested to see what you find.

That's never worked for me. I just become negative on myself for being negative. Then I'm chasing my tail in negativity. That didn't leave any room for real positivity, only the positivity that I was forcing myself to be, which wasn't all that positive. For me personally, positivity comes from dealing with the negative, not dwelling on it, but dealing with it in a self compassionate way. Not that I'm any good at it, or that it's easy in any way.
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This is *exactly* the post I was about to make and then I saw you said the same. It never worked for me pretending the negative wasn't there. Actually I'm pretty sure it made it worse trying to stifle it. We can't control negative thoughts and fears and/or will them away... we just deal with them one by one. That's what's been healthier for me. Thinking back, my daughter taught me that when she was around 11 or 12... "Mom, being a Pollyanna and pretending everything is fine is living in LaLa Land and is not healthy." Out of the mouths... @caramel
 
Stoppelmann said:
I often classify myself as a GOM, a grumpy old man, but really, it is just that I lost my natural smile a few years ago, and it takes an effort to appear as people would like me to. I found a statement by James Hillman interesting and something that I can confirm after years of geriatric nursing:

He says that the best way to extend our lives is not to prolong them but to deepen and widen them. That way, we become less grumpy.
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This is very wise. Once I've read: "Don't give your life more years but your years more life".
 

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