Have you ever thought about how much time we spend in our short lives complaining? And after complaining, do you achieve anything? Do you change anything?
Those questions were posed to me one day by someone who wasn’t particularly wise, but had lived a lot. I was expected to answer them in my mind.
And this is one of the major illnesses that society suffers from.
Let me give you a clear example from my reality, from my country.
If you follow my posts or search a bit on the internet, you’ll see that the economic situation in Cuba is a disaster. More than 70% of the population lives in what is considered misery (the percentage might be even higher).
Cubans have every right to complain; the government does everything possible to continue harming the people (yes, that word you’re imagining fits here)
But for most Cubans, it’s easier to sit on a corner, smoke a cigarette, and talk about how bad the situation is.
While waiting for the bus, more than one person is complaining about the reality we live in.
And they are right; in just a few years, the country has become something we never imagined.
But what if those people changed their mindset a little?
These days, many believe that the government should save them, and when that doesn’t happen, they complain and stop thinking about what they can do to get ahead because, of course, getting it for free is easier.
Undoubtedly, those negative thoughts have contributed to the reality we live today (I’m not saying they are the main cause). In my country, people spend a lot of time complaining about the situation.
Yes, they are right, but complaining is not going to change anything. I’m not one to believe that such thoughts bring misery, but I have seen how those thoughts block people's potential.
I’ve also seen how thinking a little differently can pull you out of that hole.
In my class, there’s a guy who lives in one of the worst tenements in Havana. He studies medicine like I do and is top student in our class.
But he has always wanted to give his mother a better future; he can’t leave the country. He doesn’t have enough money and has no relatives abroad.
During one vacation, he decided to change everything and became an assistant in one of the many pizzerias in Havana. For a year, he balanced his studies with work.
I still don’t know how he managed it; I don’t know if I could.
After a year, with what he was able to save, some knowledge, and researching online, he managed to open his own pizzeria.
He applied a bit of marketing to balance his studies and his entrepreneurship.
Today, two years later, we are about to graduate, and he is thinking about opening his own place after graduation.
He hasn’t been able to move out of the tenement, but now they live better.
He shared this story with me one day when I helped him with his marketing strategy, and he invited me to his home.
There, I realized that complaining only blocked my progress.
It was better to think about how to move forward or how to find a solution than to complain.
And yes, the initial questions were asked by his mother during one of the lunches I had with them. Like mother, like son, we would say.
If there’s something I take away and hope you do too, it’s not to waste time complaining; no one is going to come to save you, and you only depend on yourself.
It’s clear that complaining blocks our potential. When we focus on the bad and enter a destructive spiral, it’s hard to think of anything else. Everything becomes negative, and we see no way out.
When that happens, think of my friend; just a change in mindset allowed him to give a better life to his mother and himself.
If he could, I can, and so can you.
This isn’t a motivational post; rather, it’s a self-reminder that complaining won’t get me anywhere.
I hope you take that away too.
So, I hope you enjoyed the weekend and that this week is incredible. If you’d like to share your opinion, I’d be happy to respond.
Read you soon.
[dahpilot]
All images in the post are my own.
