Can I move from complaints to compliments?
Recently, I was extremely embarrassed in front of my guests. Once everyone left, my husband said, “I’m sure that must have been so embarrassing.” And shortly after, I felt a whole lot better. The
acknowledgment that it was difficult helped me accept that it happened, and it was now over. Normally, I might have agonized over this for the next month, but instead it became a funny story.
As a critically thinking person, I’m very good at being critical. I can easily point out what doesn’t look right in a picture, what didn’t taste good at a restaurant, and what went wrong today. I have long lists of the things I want to change about myself (and others), while the lists of positive qualities I appreciate are pretty short.
Why do many people tend to gravitate toward negativity? Why do we find it so easy to complain and so difficult to praise? In fact, when we meet people who are perpetually positive and cheery, we may even think of them as simpleminded.
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