The cure for grumbling

Of late the days have been overcast over most of North India. A bashful sun has stayed behind darkened clouds that has amplified the cold and allowed it to seep into bones and joints. It can be pretty gloomy.

Sometimes life is like that, when everything appears gloomy and there does not seem to be a ray of hope or sunshine. Our outlook becomes dour and we find ourselves grumbling at petty things.

Grumbling and murmuring are attitudes, besides being verbs. Once we start allow ourselves to murmur and grumble, our whole outlook changes, and the world suddenly becomes a sunless place. We find ourselves finding fault with everything and everyone, and if we persist, it can seep into our soul and change our character, elongate our faces and banish smiles and laughter.

We do not realize that it is our choice that made us this way.

What is the antidote? The old saying “Every cloud has a silver lining” is for many of us a mental fact rarely utilized. We concentrate on the clouds and darkness, forgetting the ray of sunshine hidden behind. This ray is the clue to avoid being sucked into the morass of depression and despair. The key is gratefulness.

We often grumble at circumstances, people and express disappointment at our unfulfilled expectations. How often are we truly grateful for what we do have? If we consider this even for an instant, we will realize that our world is not so gloomy after all, and we have been blessed in countless ways which we had not been aware of earlier.

Gratefulness is the antidote to despair, yet, both are at opposite poles of the spectrum of our “feeling” thermometers. It requires us to make a choice to gravitate towards one or the other. This is our voluntary choice.

Practical points:

Are you disappointed or excessively upset about some situation in your life? Without any of your circumstances changing, try and count the following:

1.     The things you have been blessed with – family, friends, job, health, etc.

2.     Try and find things to thank God for even within those circumstances, for example, if you are bereaved, dwell on fond memories of a dear departed soul.

You will find that some of those clouds lift, and a ray of sunshine breaks in, bringing hope and thankfulness.