Complaining (Blog)

[Steve Pavlina]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Complaining

[{aspiring_to_clarity}]

Wow, another doozy! Thanks for yet another blog that said just what I needed to hear. If that's not syncronicity, I don't know what is.

Just FYI, this sentence needs an ing:

However, if you play with this idea for a bit, you’ll come to a new understanding of the LoA, one which I believe is more consistent with its actual functioning.

[Shamou]

Great blog Steve...

I especially like the part that goes...


"Recognize that the LoA is timeless, not time-bound. Here’s how I like to think of it: Any thought you hold at any time is a timeless intention, so all thoughts in all times influence your results in all times."

However you might want to review the following sentence: "The more you complain, you more you summon your creative energies to attract something to complain about." I'm not complaining though...
.

[pharmboy]

I'm completely impressed with the last two blogs. They are very much related. I know many people that I should hand out copies of each to (including myself). I have noticed that some people in my life constantly complain and trouble swarms them from the most unlikely of places. Things happen to them that I don't see happening to anyone else.
I, too, have been in the negative complaining pattern that Steve talks about. Recently, I have made a few positive changes, and the positive results have multiplied. Simple things like not drinking, and exercising a little more, have made me feel terrific. I never got hang-overs from drinking or felt any really negative effects, but the fact is that I wasn't feeling as good (or conscious) as I could have. Small harmful things seem to multiply other small harmful habits and consequences.

Thanks for two outstanding posts in a row.

[Akashic_Librarian]

Hither Twice, Steve recently your blogs have been above what I had come to expect of you, incredible actually.

I really like this post because it gave me a fresh look at what the LoA was really about, brain-food indeed.

[winyourmind]

This is a very timely article for me and my family. A few things have happened recently that I felt were setbacks, and I have found myself nursing the complainer seed. I was feeling like throwing in the towel on all the positive work I have put in over the last few months because of some obstacles.

Your article reminded me that I am still responsible for my thoughts and attitude, regardless of circumstance. More than that, the complainer seed is more deeply rooted than I thought, and I am creating negative circumstances by feeding it. Uprooting complaining and other negative mental habits is a constant struggle, and we all need occasional reminders to get us back on track.

[Life Warrior]

Great post. I've been guilty of such thinking myself, and will have to be more concious of my own undermining latent intent to fail.

The timelessness aspect reminds me of Bruce Lee's quote:

"To realize freedom, the mind has to learn to look at life, which is a vast movement without the bondage of time, for freedom lies beyond the field of consciousness. Watch, but don't stop and interpret, "I am free" - then you're living in a memory of something that has gone. To understand and live now, everything of yesterday must die."

Great stuff Steve. Thank you.

[sidelko]

I’m actually suggesting that your act of complaining about the accident after it happened is what manifested the accident in the first place. If you weren’t going to complain about it, the accident might never have happened.

I think this could be what happened this week in my life. I'm done complaining about this incident in my life and I'm throwing away the complainer seed forever.

And I would have to agree with Steve on this one, about the law of attraction running both ways in time. It makes since since time doesn't really exist to begin with, it is just our own, human point of view.

[elai]

I find complaining more of a social bonding thing than anything else. People probably don't really care about the complaints they make, but can make a group feel more close.

[Dan.Linehan]

People commonly assume the LoA only travels forward in time. I don’t think so. In fact, I’m fairly certain that isn’t true at all.

That's interesting.

//pondering implications.

[Akashic_Librarian]

I second Dan.Linehan's post. Its certainly something interesting to think about...

[sri]

Originally Posted by elai

I find complaining more of a social bonding thing than anything else. People probably don't really care about the complaints they make, but can make a group feel more close.

elai -- exactly! Long time ago (way back in college) I took a workshop that helped me focus in life. And it helped me to stop complaining about things. And life felt very good after that. But after a while, I started complaining again; about small things. "omg, that assignment is too much" or "she didn't teach that properly" etc (what college students normally complain about).


But quickly I realized that by complaining (and listening to other people's complaints) that I was connecting with the people around me. At that time I wanted to connect with my classmates -- so I started complaining just like them. I think in most groups (people in these groups probably haven't made a choice to live consciously), complaining is the easiest way to bond with others.


And I think that the funny thing is that people believe that complaining is normal thing in life -- a way to relieve stress and their frustration. And so most friendships are based around that: I'll listen to your complaints if you'll listen to my complaints.

[Sam988]

Cool, you last 3 articles were indeed amazing.

[BlueCrane]

I have never thought about complaints this way, but what you say makes perfect sense to me.

Thanks Steve, I'll act accordingly in future.

[Chinese Dragon]

Very useful article! I hadn't really thought of a future complaint causing the event that triggered the complaint itself, but the complaint was ready to spread negativity regardless of weither (spell checker broken) or not something to cause complaining manifested. IMHO you didn't need to explain the complainer seed, I grasped that concept before I even got to the seed paragraph.

Steve, I think this sentence needs another word:

They’re not going to perfect about it, but this is their dominant pattern.

Also, don't you mean "Give it back to the Source?" and could someone please explain why it's capitalized? I hadn't realized their was a source of intentions.

[Blueskied]

2nd sentence:
The more you complain, you more you summon your creative energies...
(No native speaker but i think it should be the).

[ArthurHung]

Polarization (becoming a lightworker) and law of attraction seem to be quite related. In fact, I would argue that a lightworker is a person who has mastered the law of attraction and vice versa.

To the "objective" disbelievers of LOA I ask you this: is it possible for people to live without bias?

If no, then it makes perfect sense to bias yourself very much into one direction (light/dark worker) when the end result, to put it simply, is ongoing happiness/bliss if you believe what Steve says about his state of being. And "logically", even a small chance for ongoing happiness/bliss for a zero dollar investment is worth a try.

Everyday in life people struggle with their thoughts, about the decisions they have to make and their analysis (read: complaining or negative thinking) about certain things. If you've polarized into being a contributing lightworker, then you'll be very actively pushing positive high-energy enthusiasm thoughts into every activity you do and self-limit your thinking/decisions into positive alternatives to "complaining".

Steve's message here is simple. Think happy thoughts instead of unhappy thoughts all the time or LOA won't give you the results you want. Thinking happy thoughts is not that hard when you are already in that state but the hard part is realizing when you've actually started thinking negative thoughts after being happy for a while.

How to become a Lightworker/use LOA well

Step one:

Think happy thoughts with high energy and enjoy the state of being and results that come from doing this. Be aware that you are thinking a negative thought when it happens (hint: hesitation usually is or leads to negative thinking.)

Step two:

Somehow, someway, become positive and think positive thoughts with high energy. Do this IMMEDIATELY.

Step three:

Do this 24/7

[Andrew Brunelle]

I enjoyed this post. It is all about how you can choose how you react to anything that happens. And if you choose the most positive way to react, then you will live a positive life. Complaining never got anyone anywhere anyway. What gets really hard is not complaining about people who complain. But remaining in a positive emotional and mental state at all times seems right and although I slip up every once in awhile, I feel that is is very beneficial. Thank you, Steve.

[Max Power]

Now we can see how important it is to be aware of our present moment, for ever present moment is creating that moment.

So when we complain, we create a moment that is not in alignment of who we want to be or what we want and the more we complain the more we create moments that create the moments.......once we realise just how important every single thought is (like the seed of creation) and how they're all connected, then we must plant, guard and nuture them for they create everything right now.

Max

[Love]

I understand this.
Thank you, Steve.

[Niki]

How did you react to the breakdown after it happened? Did you complain about it? Did you keep going over it in your mind, making your negative reaction stronger and stronger? Do you realize all those thoughts are intentions? I’m actually suggesting that your act of complaining about the accident after it happened is what manifested the accident in the first place. If you weren’t going to complain about it, the accident might never have happened.

Brilliant!!!

Just what I needed...

ThankYou Steve !

[JeremyW]

I've started pinching my index finger every time I find myself complaining or thinking thoughts that make me feel bad.

[torilink]

Let me give you a real-world example. Suppose your car broke down this morning, and it was totally unexpected.

What caused that breakdown? Some might say it’s the laws of physics. An LoA advocate might say that you were unconsciously putting out intentions before then to manifest the breakdown, perhaps for reasons that may not be clear to you. However, I’m suggesting something else may have caused the accident.

How did you react to the breakdown after it happened? Did you complain about it? Did you keep going over it in your mind, making your negative reaction stronger and stronger? Do you realize all those thoughts are intentions? I’m actually suggesting that your act of complaining about the accident after it happened is what manifested the accident in the first place. If you weren’t going to complain about it, the accident might never have happened.

I know this runs contrary to how most people think about cause and effect. However, if you play with this idea for a bit, you’ll come to a new understanding of the LoA, one which I believe is more consistent with its actual functioning. If you begin to see intentions as running backward and forward through time, you’ll recognize just how crucial it is to keep your thoughts positive at all times if you want to manifest a positive life. Even complaining about the past is a thought pattern you must eventually drop.

People commonly assume the LoA only travels forward in time. I don’t think so. In fact, I’m fairly certain that isn’t true at all.

powerfully good stuff Steve, thanks!

[theknightwhosaysni-NI]

Let me give you a real-world example. Suppose your car broke down this morning, and it was totally unexpected.

What caused that breakdown?
[...]
I’m actually suggesting that your act of complaining about the accident after it happened is what manifested the accident in the first place.

I understand what is mean't here but this exemple implies that having a car that breaks down is a bad thing (or something we should complain about), which I don't really believe is true.
It could also be a very valuable lesson given by our higher selves in order to improve our counsciousness? (so yeah, in a sense,if I am the driver, I intended it, as my higher self is me).

Also here with the word "after" reference is made to time (future), this is difficult to understand as everything is now. It's hard to put that into word I think.

[ExploringTheMatrix]

Originally Posted by theknightwhosaysni-NI

I understand what is mean't here but this exemple implies that having a car that breaks down is a bad thing (or something we should complain about), which I don't really believe is true.
It could also be a very valuable lesson given by our higher selves in order to improve our counsciousness? (so yeah, in a sense,if I am the driver, I intended it, as my higher self is me).

It's not so much that the car breaking down is a bad thing, as the question of whether or not you want to experience it. What we're trying to do is align ourselves more closely with the higher self so we can create more of what we want (rather than having a fairly random experience). Since you didn't deliberately have the car break down, that indicates that there's something hiding there that you might want to deal with so you can choose whether your car breaks down in the future.

[Nur]

Hello. This is my first time on any forum so am quite excited and eager to see what awaits. I have a question about the 'Complaining' article. Says that some past complaints or negativity in us , can create the current situation. How then does one eliminate this past negativity. Options are doing some reflection and letting go(infinitely difficult) or using Ho-oponopono. A Hawain technique wherein one says 'Sorry, please forgive me' to negativity within, and it clears up , without even knowing the problem. What do you'll think.

[smartile]

I guess I take a slightly different point of view on this topic. Without getting too technical or philisophical, I prefer to place things in one of two categories:

1) Things that Work
2) Things that Don't Work

Complaining falls into category two!

Use it or Loose it.

Cheers,

Stephen Martile — Personal Development with NLP

[JimOfferman]

That's the main reason why I've given up on complaining (for the most part anyway): not all bad things that happen in your life are actually bad for you. Some times it just takes a while to see it.

My car's engine broke down earlier this year. The engine turned out to be a total loss and the cost to have it replaced would have been close to what I paid for the entire car when I bought it. At the time, I had just sold my old house, incurring a major loss on the sale, so I just could not afford another large expense. After taking a long hard look at my justifications for having a car, which were really negligible, I decided the best course for me would be to ditch the thing at the scrap yard. Now, some months later, it turns out that I really don't have a need for a car at all. Plus I ended up going on a nice vacation from the money I saved from no longer having to pay for the upkeep of a car.

So, in the end, loosing the car was a good thing - even though I felt pretty bad when it happened.

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by JimOfferman

After taking a long hard look at my justifications for having a car, which were really negligible, I decided the best course for me would be to ditch the thing at the scrap yard. Now, some months later, it turns out that I really don't have a need for a car at all.

That's interesting. How do you get around, and how do you do your grocery shopping?

[JimOfferman]

I walk, I cycle or I use public transport.

I usually pick up groceries (for the next day or two) during my lunch break at work and then carry the bag home in the evening (which is really not a big deal). In the weekends I usually make one trip to the nearest mall to get some of the larger/heavier supplies I need. If I need really heavy stuff, I'll just have it delivered to my door.

I should probably note that the mall is 1.5 km from my house, the office 3 km. Obviously, if those are much further away in your situation, a car may be less optional for you.

Jim.