Turning the Complaint Factor Around

Complaints? Maybe it's you.

Seattle Columnist Danny Westneat writes, "The tea partyers aren't crazy. Maybe they are just living in an alternate universe." But, that's what happens with complainers. We spend so much time cursing the circumstances of our existence that we fail to act. The tea partyers are just one example, sad to say. Most of us spend about 75% of our time complaining, which leaves only about 25% for everything else, including eating and sleeping. For all of our sadness over the state of affairs in our world, we aren't doing a lot to solve them.
    Now the truth is that I don't really know the percentages of our complaining versus our not complaining. In addition, it is not about whether we complain or not, but how much of our complaining leads to action. Yesterday, I spent a little time with students  from a high school in Salinas. Salinas has been known for a while as a town wracked by gang violence. Grownups, school teachers and administrators, government leaders--all complain. But, what was heartwarming is that I found a cache of individuals who are doing something besides complain and some of those people are "kids"--young people, if you will. When talking with Vicki Barrone, a teacher, I remember saying that we complain about 75% of the time to which she replied, "Not me! I don't have time to complain." Then with a smile, she added, "Okay, I reduce my complaining to less than 25%." Still, she had it right. Quit your whining. Get out and do something.

     So, why did I pick on the tea party? Well, I have some real issues with them (can you say, Sarah Palin and Glen Beck?--shudder--not together, though) and other groups, left-right, doesn't matter. They have most of the airtime these days, outshining each other on who is right and who is wrong. Well, here's a message. You're ALL wrong. Protesting in this way is for sissies. You ain't got no answers, go get them. Stop your bellyaching because I'm telling you that an army of peacemakers is being raised around the globe. Yeah, we might walk the streets, but with a purpose. We're gonna show you better than we can tell you, however. Because the writers who said that the tea partyers may be of an alternate universe wasn't far off the mark. Stop, folks. You live in this world and guess what, we got to live in it together. Which means ...

     [Drum roll] ... that we have to give a little, share a little, make the whole world shine--a little. That's the story of ... That's the glory of ...

     PEACE! Take care. See you at the march.

Special thanks to Sky Spirit Warrior from Seattle for the post from Danny Westneat.