Whenever I am discouraged, lonely, or sad, I have learned to REPLACE MY THOUGHTS. It is necessary for survival, or I would have crazy thoughts running around in my head like a hamster on a wheel.

I replace my thoughts with everything that is good and pure and noble and true. It is NOT easy, that’s for sure. But it works. The more I practice replacing my thoughts, the more positive they are. We have to rehearse stuff to get better at it.

That includes getting better thoughts. Gotta practice.

Every November, people start posting gratitudes, talking about gratitude, practicing gratitude. With Thanksgiving rounding up the month, it seems like the perfect time. Makes sense.

Here’s the deal, though.

What if we went ONE STEP FURTHER?

What if we STOPPED COMPLAINING? And THEN we replaced it all with gratitude?

You see, complaining is what we use to start conversations. It’s what we have in common. We complain about work, about the weather, about our stress, about our aches and pains. It’s what we center our lives around. Isn’t it sad? But oh, so TRUE?

And yet…

Complaining only highlights the bad stuff. The annoying stuff. The stuff that stresses us out and brings us down. Complaining does nothing to make us better or help us become the best versions of ourselves. And, well, if you read the Bible, there are verses that say DO EVERYTHING WITHOUT COMPLAINING.

So….

WHY IS THAT HOW WE RELATE TO ONE ANOTHER?

I’m not sure that just adding a splash of gratitude will solve the problem. Of course, any gratitude is super good. But I do know that REPLACING our complaints with gratitude can not only change US, but change our conversations. Change our relationships. Change our attitudes. Change the people around us.

So, instead of whining about ALL THIS RAIN POURING DOWN OUTSIDE, I can say I am thankful for the rain. The way the wind blows the colorful leaves, whispering them to the ground. The fact that we have clean water. They way the rain sustains the trees here at the little house in the woods.

Instead of complaining, I can be grateful.

And I’m going to challenge myself to do this ALL NOVEMBER LONG so that maybe it might become a habit. Anybody want to join me? If you decide to join me, we’ll start on November 1 and go all the way through November 30.

When I’ve done this challenge in the past, I use a black sharpie and put an x on my pointer finger to remind me that whenever I point my finger at someone else, three fingers are pointing back at me. But this time, it’s not just a no complaining challenge. It’s a “replace your complaints with gratitude” challenge!

All November long!

So grab your sharpie and join me on November 1 for a month of replacing complaints with gratitude. You can even grab the 30 Day No Complaining Challenge frame on Facebook or Instagram! I challenge you to keep it up all month long as a reminder every time you hang out on social media!

• 

• 

• 

• 

Let’s choose gratitude!

---

Did you like this post? WOO-HOO! Please subscribe to my blog and get my posts every couple weeks – or whenever I get inspired.

Want to read more of my stuff? Here’s one of my most popular posts.  Here’s a letter I wrote to my daughter on her tenth birthday.  Here’s my Oprah appearance story.

Please leave a comment and let me know how YOU feel about the post. I always respond to every comment! Let’s be friends!