30 Complaint-Free Days 

Day 30

My last blog on being complaint-free.

It has been a relatively easy month to do this because I haven't been at work. That being said, life always has its challenges.

August has certainly zoomed by and I think I have appreciated most of it! Obviously there are always times when things aren't as I would have liked - remember Liskeard?! But there are always lessons in these events. I guess what I have learnt is

• Do things that make me happy
• Consider whether in a year it will still matter - if not then let it go
• Get fit, eat well and get enough rest - in common with most people, I am always in a much better, more positive frame of mind when I am not tired, hungry and feeling less than my best
• Remember that 'it too shall pass' whether it  is the good times or the bad. Change is a given, how I deal with it is up to me. Nothing is permanent. So fully appreciate the good times and savour them.
• Lighten up and see the funny side more

So thank you for reading my blogs/ramblings. I have had fun writing them.

Any ideas for my next blogs? I thought maybe the joys/trials of being a gluten-free vegetarian or progress on my daily steps with my Fitbit and the effect this is having on my health, wellbeing and weight - or should I just stop?!

Happy September - may you have noting to complain about!

30 Complaint-Free Days 

Day 29

Today was the day of the walk which turned out to be 8 miles long. Considering it was local it was a very pleasant walk taking in fields, roads, a village, the sea, country lanes, a coffee shop and a pub! What's not to like?

By the end of the day I had clocked up 23,000 steps which gets the week off to a very good start.

I do like to walk and used to walk far more than I do now.

I watched the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on tv for the first time in the evening and really enjoyed it - especially the Jordanian wave(!). The best bit was seeing bits of Edinburgh. I so enjoyed my stay there in March. It was a birthday pressie from my daughter and son-in-law. I really love the city, which was a surprise to me. I am looking forward to going back later in the year.

I am approaching the end of my complaint-free month of August. I have enjoyed writing about it. I haven't managed to be completely complaint-free - not finding a small bottle of water in a supermarket got the better of me, and I do remember a few complaints earlier in the month, though I can't remember what I complained about. I suppose that is the point - if I can't remember what I was complaining about only a few weeks later then it clearly wasn't worth having a moan in the first place! 

They say that before complaining you should ask whether it will still be important in a year and if not, then let it go. Wise words, I think.

I will miss writing a short blog each day. Maybe I should find another topic to write about?!

30 Complaint-Free Days 

Day 4

A much better day for complaining. I do believe that the only complaining I did was to myself about myself, which is interesting.

I have been able to accept everything else from everyone else - but not myself.

I suspect most people are the same - kinder to others than they are to themselves. I have read about the way we wouldn't speak to anyone else in the same way we speak to ourselves - and I am doing just that. I am complaining about so many things that I do and how I do them. I eat too much, drink too little water, don't do all the jobs on my list .....

I could go on.

So I clearly need to work out a way to develop tolerance to the fact that I am not perfect and I am doing my best. I wonder how best to do this?

They say that people should talk to themselves in the same way they would talk to a dear friend and be as kind and patient as they would be with that friend. It makes sense because if we can't be our own best friend and show others how to treat us then we can't expect others to treat us well.

I still need to be a little more disciplined though. Trouble is, I am ultra-disciplined when I am working (i would never be able to get to work by 7am or get anything done if I wasn't) but when I am not at work routine and discipline go right out of the window! Hmm.

That needs a bit more contemplation.

On a positive note, my Fitbit seems to be working well. I have done over 20,000 steps over the last 2 days and it doesn't automatically skip to distance now, which is good. I'm still not convinced that it isn't counting my typing and cooking as steps, but we shall see.

And, I came up with a 'recipe' for my own gluten-free cauliflower cheese grills today to use up some leftover cauliflower mash. They were delicious. I will develop the recipe further, but the first attempt was an accidental  success.

Onwards and upwards.

30 Complaint-Free Days 

Day 3

Today I complained - long and hard about my new Fitbit tracker! Yup - technology got the better of me!

The thing is - all I actually wanted was a simple pedometer to track my steps each day and this Fitbit tracker seems to be so complicated!

OK, I accept that I haven't had great success with pedometers in the past. They have worked - spectacularly simply and easily. My challenge has always come in keeping them for very long. I seem to have spectacular success in killing them off! About half of my past pedometers have ended up falling down the toilet - nice! The rest have managed to pop off my waistband or belt as I have got out of the car and ended up either being trodden on by me or run over by passing cars! So I thought that the wristband might be a bit more secure. Though quite how something on my wrist can track my steps I can't quite imagine. The way I throw my arms about when I talk I imagine it could believe I have done several thousand steps before I have moved at all. 

But I remembered to think of a better feeling thought to stop the complaints and came up with 

1. I am very fortunate to have a Fitbit.
2. I am sure I will eventually come to love it and it will transform my fitness levels - necessary now I am 60 years old. I intend to grow old disgracefully and have fun and I need to be fit for that.
3. I am blessed to have a lifestyle that requires me to keep track of my activity. Most people in the world do so much walking just to survive that this is truly a 'first world problem'.

Then the traffic almost got the better of me. I decided to take the garden waste to the tip and it seemed that every time I wanted to do a right turn 'the world and his wife' were waiting to stop me! But I was not really in a hurry and clearly everyone else was, so I calmed down and decided to find it amusing.

So what are my thoughts and pondering on my complaining today?

Well, I can reach for better feeling thoughts when I realise I am about to get cross, I can do things that  make me happy, I can make sure I leave plenty of time so I don't have to stress when I get held up in traffic, I can see the funny side and I can try to do things to help other people. I just need to remember how very blessed I am and trust that everything will work out for the best in the end.

ON the plus side - I suspect there is little danger that this step tracker will drop down the toilet of fall under a passing car! That has to be cause for celebration.

30 Complaint-Free Days 

Day 2

Day 2 began well. 

I have been pondering ways to make being complaint-free an easier option and so far I have come up with 2 strategies to help.

1. Feeling grateful. It isn't possible to be critical, judgemental or complaining when feeling grateful.
2. Doing things that make me happy.

So I have used these 2 strategies throughout the day to help.

In fact I used strategy 2 last night after I had posted my first update. I signed up for a 12 week course of Tribal Fusion Belly Dancing! Woohoo! I am so excited. The course doesn't begin until September, but it should be so much fun and is something I have wanted to do for some time. I prioritised my happiness on this issue and it feels good.

Challenge 1 came when driving - traffic jams, traffic lights and other irritations. So I let people go in front of me where possible, took my favourite route along the seafront because I had time and remembered to be grateful that I wasn't in a hurry to be anywhere.

I had my hair cut - always a fun thing to do. I always enjoy my chat with Amy, my hairdresser and the rest of the crew. Today Amy had a tickle in her throat and cough she hadn't been able to shift which I could see it was getting to be a problem for her. So, after paying I popped into the local supermarket and bought her a bottle of honey and a bottle of lemon so she could try that combination in hot water to see if it helped. I dropped it into her before going to the car. She was so surprised which made me happy! 

I had lots of other successes in the course of the day - I managed to get a fitbit that I hadn't been able to get for a few weeks (I have no idea how to set it up and use it, but when it is working it will help me move more and get in at least 10,000 steps most days. I am 60 so keeping fit is a priority for me.) I signed up with a new dentist and  made an appointment, I chatted to people and had a few laughs. Life was fun.

I did some knitting - I made 6 little bees (picture of them when complete later in the week), I did some exercise on my exercise bike and watered the plants in the garden - the water butt is now full again thanks to the rain. I really love the evening ritual of watering the pots and checking out the growth. There is another chilli that will be ready for picking by the weekend. 

Yes, I was beginning to complain when I was stuck behind some slow-moving people in the supermarket but I remembered to be grateful that I am able to move quickly and easily. It also reminded me that I could probably do with relaxing and slowing down a bit - after all, I am on holiday.

So far, so good. I am enjoying the challenge and the happy results.