Don't complain!

So, a typical conversation with a friend might go something like this...

"Hey!  How's your day been?

"OH!  The WORST!  I'm so tired, I did such and such, and can you believe what so and so said about me?"

"I know right?  I heard!  But you won't believe how much crap I had to do today..."

Sound Familiar?

I find that a lot of times, my interactions with people end up being a competition to see who's life is worse.  Kinda reminds me of the song, "It Sucks to be Me" from "Avenue Q".  But in doing so, I feel like we brush off the parts of our day that were actually really good.  By focusing so much on the negative, we miss the little miracles and tiny blessings that are before us every day.  

I was reading in the Book of Mormon today, and I was struck by a passage.  The Prophet Nephi and his family had been traveling in the wilderness for a long time.  They had left behind their home, belongings, and comforts in Jerusalem to follow the command of the Lord to flee to a Promised Land that had been prepared for them.  The wives of Nephi and his brothers had all borne children while they were traveling.  Now, hiking around in the desert is bad enough, but imagine doing it while you're pregnant!  Then imagine giving birth to that kid in the desert with no doctors, no hospitals, and then having to do everything in your power to keep that new-born baby alive in the desert while trying to survive yourself.  

No. Thank. You.  

But here's what Nephi wrote about those amazing women, who often get overlooked in the scriptures...

"And it came to pass that we did again take our journey in the wilderness...And we did travel and wade through much affliction in the wilderness; and our women did bear children in the wilderness.  

And so great were the blessings of the Lord upon us, that while we did live upon raw meat in the wilderness, our women did give plenty of suck for their children, and were strong, yea, even like unto the men; and they began to bear their journeyings without murmurings." (1 Nephi 17:1-2) 

Wow.  They didn't complain.  

My challenge for me and for anyone who reads this is to stop complaining so much.  Let's focus on the positive things that happen to us, and be grateful for them.  This does NOT mean that we pretend like we don't have troubles or that we pretend that our lives are perfect....I think it means that we embrace everything that we're given in our lives, good AND bad.  And that we try to accentuate the positive, without following the popular trend to harp on the negative.  

Try it.  I dare you.  And let's see how much it can brighten your day.  :)