I went a day without complaining.

For someone who loves things done in a certain way, I would complain and rant when things go otherwise.

So lately, I realised I had complained and whined more than I talked. This was affecting my work, friendship, and devotion to God. I knew I had to stop complaining, whining, and fault-finding because God didn't like it, nor did my friends or colleagues.

So my first day of intentionally not complaining started out great till I got to the hospital; I was asked to get a queue number, and I did get that and waited patiently as I read a book. While reading, a staff of the hospital asked me to follow him as there was a doctor who was not attending to anyone on another floor. I went there with him, anticipating getting attended to and returning to work in time. On getting there, I asked, "Where is the doctor?" He quietly replied, "Sorry, madam, a person didn't enter her office" This means sorry, someone is in the office to see the doctor. I then responded, "Why did you let me come down if..." I literally lost my speech there; I heard the Holy Spirit tell me, "No complaints, not today" That was it. I sat and smiled. I am sure the guy will be wondering what went wrong. Some other lady across the passage had a big frown, but the moment I smiled, she smiled, too.

Well, I happened to sit beside a little boy and his mum. We exchanged pleasantries, and I continued reading my book. Somehow, as we waited, another lady in a hijab walked by with her son. This other boy would not walk past. He stopped, smiled, and stretched his hand to get some of the biscuits the kid beside me was eating. It was then that I quickly reached for my phone to capture this beautiful moment of borderless and uncompromising love.

This teaches me a lot: you share joy when you don't complain, people get comfortable around you, and, more importantly, you see the beauty in humanity. Had it been I flared up or complained, I would have been in a downcast mood to have noticed the beautiful show of love happening around me, and I would have missed out on letting the lady across the hallway smile at my smile. Lol, cliche, right? But I mean it.

PS: Do not complain today. I mean, try it. It is hard, and you will get tempted to, but please don't fall for the temptation.

PSS: Sometimes, for us to stop complaining, we have to remove some folks from our lives. People who trigger anger and complaints are not worth sinning and getting moody over. Just move on already.

Originally published on 9/30/2016 at 4:00 PM.