brooke hargett's blog

 

Alright!  I am officially Complaint Free for 30 Days! I just received my book and bracelet in the mail. This is on my Bucket List and I’m really excited to start!!  I wrote a little bit about what I’m doing here.

“If you don’t like something, change it.  If you can’t change it, change your attitude.  Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou

There are all sorts of scientific facts to substantiate the idea that your thoughts contain a huge amount of power. When I was growing up, we used to live on the east coast, away from all of our extended family. About once a year or so, my grandparents would come out to visit us. I’m the oldest grandchild (and the favorite…. my blog, my rules), no but seriously, I’m my grandpa’s favorite.  Anyway, each time he came, we would have a little “chat,” where he would give me something to work on until the next time I saw him. I’m not sure why, but I always took these talks very seriously and was really interested in what he had to say. Maybe because he was so honest with me, and would call me out. The topics of conversation ranged from “you possess a power of persuasion that you need to stop using on your parents” (wait, did he just say I’m manipulative?) to dating advice (which he was surprisingly astute on) to this little gem:

“Whatever you focus on, EXPANDS.  So choose wisely.” -(the amazing) Joseph Bishop 

These words became a mantra I’ve followed throughout my life.  Basically, my grandpa came up with “The Secret” before it was a thing. He’s completely right. Thoughts are very powerful, and you need to be vigilant when choosing what you spend your time thinking about. If you keep thinking about how much you dislike something, whether it be a situation, a job, a significant other, those thoughts eventually turn into a negative feelings that can drown your happiness. Once you decide you hate your job/school/situation etc, it’s all you can think about, and then even when good things are happening, you are quick to dismiss them because your focus has shifted. If you only look at all the things your significant other does that drive you crazy, it won’t be long before those thoughts will take over. And you will be miserable. Whatever you focus on expands.

If you aren’t happy about a something, look for ways to change it, just like Maya Angelou said. Focus on what YOU can to do improve it. Sometimes, just realigning your focus can clear things up. Other times, you will have to be creative on how you can keep positive in the midst of imperfect situations.

One thing that has helped me in the past, is keeping a little thankful journal. I used to do this back in college. I had a notebook by the side of my bed, and each night I would write a few one liners of things I appreciated about the day.  They were simple things, but it trained me to focus on the positive, instead of negative. I found my attitude about life in general was significantly improved just by this one little act.

Sometimes you’ve got to look for the silver lining to find the good.  (On an only partially relevant note, if you haven’t seen “Silver Linings Playbook” you must finish reading this post, and then without delay, find the nearest computer/tv/viewing device and watch. It’s fantastic!)

So, in an effort to take my grandpa’s advice, as of today, I am Complaint Free for 30 days! Focusing on positive things! I’m wearing the bracelet as a visual reminder. Any of you can hold me accountable- if you hear me complain, I’m back to Day ONE. I’m excited to read the book and learn more about it. If you want to do it with me, you can order your own and read more about it here.

While we are talking about me wearing this bracelet, can I just mention that I have the smallest wrists ever?? (Notice that this is NOT a complaint.  It is a statement of fact.)

Look how far up my arm this bracelet goes (most others do the same thing, though)…

Awesome! Ok, I’m excited! I hope you all have an amazing Memorial Day Weekend, and that you get to relax and do something outside! Summer is almost here! See ya Tuesday!

Brooke