Talk About What You Love, Not What You Hate

I was scrolling through my Facebook page today and I noticed how frequently people talk about what they hate.

Ugh. It’s so hot out!

The (fill in any baseball team) are the WORST!

(fill in any political candidate) is insane.

It took 78 minutes to get into work today! The (fill in any local expressway) is horrible.

And on.

And on.

And on.

None of these status updates make the world a better place to live and none of them will change the way things are. But there is a better way to think…a better way to live.

Rather than focusing on the things you hate, speak about the things you love:

Fall is coming. I love sweatshirt weather!

The (fill in any baseball team) are awesome!

(fill in any political candidate) is brilliant.

It took 78 minutes to get into work today! I got to listen to almost two full podcasts!

Life is how we perceive it and others view you by your positivity or negativity. Why not focus on the positive?

Nobody wants to hear about your endless complaints. Really, they don’t.

Grandma always said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.” I still mostly agree with that. If you have something nice to say, say it loud and proud. If you have to provide constructive criticism, do with good intentions. If you have something mean, critical or judgmental to say, it’s probably best not to say it, unless you are offering a solution. Every complaint must also come with a solution.

Be a force of positive in the world. Be the light in someone’s day. Be the person who never has a bad word to say about anyone. That doesn’t mean that you love everything about everyone…just that you know that it won’t help anyone to scream it across Facebook.