From complaining to gratitude

The attitude of gratitude brings happiness and contentment by revealing to us the many little - and not so little - blessings in our life which we had hitherto failed to notice or appreciate.

- B.K. ANAND SHEKHAR

Counting our blessings keeps us content and strong even amidst hardship.

The habit of complaining does the opposite — we may have everything we need, but focus our attention on what we lack, and thereby feel unhappy. This happens because the mind magnifies whatever we focus on.When we begin complaining, a steroid hormone called cortisol starts being produced in the body. It is meant to help the body respond to stress by making more energy available. But constant complaining creates a neural pathway that keeps us unhappy even amidst the finest comforts of life. Over time, too much cortisol damages multiple systems in the body.

Consider this scenario: A father scolds his two children for a mistake. One child thinks, “What kind of a father is he? He does not love us at all.” The other child thinks, “Father cares about me, that is why he is saying this.” The different ways their minds process the situation have different effects on them. If two persons are working in one place, one may be happy in the job while the other may curse his fate, thinking, “What kind of life is this?” No one likes to be around people who are always complaining, as such people feel miserable most of the time and share misery with others.