As I sit down at my computer to write this morning, I’m speechless…or is that write-less? I could complain and say I am super tired. Which I am. (I have been up since 1:00 because my knee hurt and I could not find a comfortable zone). I could say my brain is mush after a long day yesterday of preaching, interacting, building relationships, studying, and drinking one bottle too many of Dr. Pepper Zero. (At the most I drink one every other day or so. I drank two yesterday afternoon. I think I’ll think twice before I do that again). To top it off I have a whopper of a headache that I have just now taken some ibuprofen to take care of (I do that very sparingly). Then when I got to the office the young people decided to “decorate” my office. I think it took me almost 1/2 hour to get it cleared out.
So what do I do? I remember a book I read last week by Jon Gordon called The No Complaining Rule. I just hate it when something I read comes home to roost so quickly. Well…not really but I wanted to get that off my chest! 🙂 Jon likes to write Leadership Fables and this was in an office setting of a company that just had a disaster hit its product. It is well worth the time to read it. It is a quick read of 120 pages with suggestions after the story. One of the solutions to complaining is what I needed to practice and see again this morning. It is called Five Things to Do Instead of Complaining. I decided to practice them and to share them with you:
- Practice Gratitude. Counting our blessings changes our perspective and our attitude. I needed an AA (Attitude Adjustment) this morning to be thankful that I have wife and family who loves me; a church who is grateful for me and whom I love; for the two who made public confessions of their faith yesterday and then were baptized; and for another day vertical.
- Praise Others. Part of my sleeplessness last night was doing just this: how can I thank the two at the YMCA who opened early for us to use the pool for our baptisms?
- Focus on Success. We had a good day yesterday. Many pastors focus on numbers and I’ll admit I’m not immune to that (although I try to be). But from the very first note of our worship, I sensed God’s presence. I loved the songs we sang and one of our men did a bang up job (with help from his daughter and wife singing) on his Communion Meditation.
- Let Go. Focus on things we have control over, not those we don’t.
- Pray and Meditate. I will say Pray and Read Scripture. This morning I read Psalm 57 and 58, as well as Proverbs 27. I triple dog dare you to read them. 🙂
As I look this over, I have written more words than I thought I would. Guess that is what happens when you stop complaining!!
