Bygones

Posted on May 31, 2005 - Filed Under Philosophy |

I came to a realization today.

I was having lunch with a friend.  Actually he’s a co-worker.  Every other day, he and I get together for lunch.  During this time, we spend it doing what most other employees do.  We complain.  We complain because this person is an idiot, or our boss is an idiot, or the company sucks . . . or any number of other things we can think of.  But our conversation always revolves around complaining.

I never realized what kind of an impact complaining had on me.  When I returned to my cubicle, I was completely drained.  No, it wasn’t because I ate too much at lunch.  I honestly believe it was because I had done nothing but spew out negativity for nearly two hours.  And I was doing this three and sometimes four times a week.  My afternoon would be shot and, in the evening, I wouldn’t really feel like doing anything.

This isn’t a kum-by-ya speech where I’m saying to ignore the negative aspects of life.  I believe in balance.  Yin and Yang.  But I don’t believe that you have to dwell on the negativity unless you choose to.  Being surrounded by like-minded co-workers, I have found that negativity is contagious.  If two people are being negative and a third person joins their conversation, they too become negative very quickly.  This has happened to me before.  This very thing.

This morning, I decided to try an experiment.  I went to my co-workers cubicle, just to say good morning.  He was there and immediately started spewing out negativity.  I tried for two minutes to get him to talk about something positive but no matter what I said he responded with negativity.  Rather than stand there and listen to it, I choose to leave.

And I felt the better for it.

There’s nothing I can really do about the people I work with.  I can’t change my boss. 

So why complain about it?  I’ve got more important things to do with my time.

From now on, I stop complaining about my job, the company I work for, my boss, and my co-workers.

If you liked that post, then try these...

Who knew? on May 1st, 2007
Reflection.

PMI is so . . . evil?? on May 3rd, 2005
I had lunch with a couple the other day.

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