Narcissism at its Finest

I will start this one off by saying: If you are not in the mood for some conviction, then you should probably just finish this sentence and go along your merry way.  However, if you are up for some uncomfortable truth, then feel free to stick around.
 Still with me?  Sweet.

Complaining.  We do it all too often, and if we are being honest with ourselves for some pretty lame reasons.  I could go into a montage of some examples, but I'm sure plenty are rolling through your head right now so I'll move along.  Lately, I have been trying to dig deeper and get to the root of why we gripe constantly.  I have had my thoughts here and there, but it all clicked yesterday when I was listening to John Mark Comer's sermon on John chapter 11.  For those of you who don't know, John Mark is one of the pastors at Solid Rock Church in P-town, Oregon.  In his sermon he says that we (Americans) are such a narcissistic people.  Did you just feel that slap of truth too?

Everything is about us.  Right?  I mean, the world revolves around us, our friends revolve around us, and God is our genie in a bottle there to cater to our every need?  Therefore, when something doesn't jive with our desires of course we have every right to complain about it, because things should be going precisely our way.  How dare that professor give me a paper to write, of course the rain would start just as I have to walk home, I don't want to get out of bed, school sucks, I'm tired, my head hurts, they changed Facebook's layout again, my internet is slow, it's too hot, it's too cold...  Looks like that slur of examples came out after all.

I'm about to rock your socks ladies and gents.  The world does not revolve around you, and it does not revolve around me.  God is not here for you, or for me, but rather the other way around.  Does crap happen?  Yes, it happens to all of us.  It isn't wrong to recognize, or say it out loud.  The brilliant thing is, we have a choice of how to act when it does happen.  When we complain about the bad, we allow it to have power over us, and we become slaves to it.  We can make the choice to gain power over it by being joyful in spite of whatever it is.  Does it take more effort?  Just as it takes more effort to pin someone to the ground than it does to be pinned.  But which one gets their hand raised by the ref and a trophy at the end of the match?

Frankly, we have no right to complain about anything.  Especially about the petty things like school, the weather, and Facebook.  There are those who have it so much worse than us, you cannot even begin to fathom their circumstances.  I have had the privilege to interact with several of them over the years and what's ironic is that they are often more joyful than we are.  In talking with them you wouldn't be able to guess that they only made seventy-six cents that day, didn't have breakfast or lunch, and ate dinner from the garbage dump they live on.  You wouldn't be able to guess it because they are so overwhelmed with joy over the fact that they are breathing for another day.  Let me ask you, when was the last time you were genuinely grateful for the simple fact that you are alive?

Negativity is contagious.  When a person complains, it sets the tone not just for him or her, but for everyone in the vicinity as well.  Likewise, positivity is also contagious.  When you are grateful for your circumstances and let the people around you know, it becomes inspirational.  To the Christians reading this, how can we spread the love and joy of Christ if all that is coming out of our mouths is complaint after complaint?  What sets us apart from everyone else?  It's when we choose joy in the middle of all the crap that is happening that people start to wonder both why and how.  So count your blessings, and find joy in them.  Then make it known through your words and actions.  If you aren't a Christian and are reading this, do it simply to help brighten someone's day.  You have no idea how much of an impact it could make.

I am not claiming perfection in this area by any means.  However, I have been working hard to continually change my mindset for the positive.  Gandhi said that you have to be the change you want to see, so that's where I am starting.  Care to join?