Here's my Complaint

Staples.
That's it. My complaint about my new job in a building that generates lots and lots of paperwork. Staples are everywhere! Embedded in the carpet are staples. Lying at the edge of every desk are spent staples. Easy enough to sweep those laying on desks into the trash. However those staples which have become one with the carpet must be pried, loosed, cajoled out.
And that's it. That is my complaint.
Here are five things I love about my new job. Five things for which I am thankful.
1. Viewpoint: From my parking spot I have a beautiful view of the river. It is the first and last thing I see at work each week day. Pretty awesome view, thanks to The Creator.
2. Pay: Enough said.
3. People: The people I work with are friendly, intelligent, and genuinely appreciative of what I do. Dare I say in this season of gratitude, they are thankful? In fact many have thanked me for my work. My supervisor thanks me at the end of each day. What a guy!
4. Satisfaction: I find satisfaction each day making the building I work in look nice and smell good. Don't you love when you walk into an establishment and the first thing that hits you is the scent of clean?
5. Believers: I have already located several fellow-Christ-followers at my job. I look forward to their encouragement each day, and try to provide them with the same.

It is easy to complain. Often we have every right to do so. We may be completely justified in a full blown rant on occasion. But complaining pulls energy from our spirits. It can lower our mood, rather than lifting it up. Complaining can lower the moods of those we complain to in those perfectly justified rants.
It feels good to have dear friends whom we can "unload on" when life gets really, really tough. It is important to have loved ones to share our walk with. People we can share the ups and downs of our daily life with, be it in the form of a diatribe, tears, laughter, or even all three.
Unfortunately it is also easy to get stuck in the muck and mire of a complaining pit. As preventative medicine in our Thanksgiving week, I want to challenge all of us to try to find five positives for every one negative.
So if I have one negative about my job (staples), then I need to share five positives. (viewpoint, pay, people, satisfaction, believers).
Lets see how our days are changed in the coming week as we play this 1:5 game in our heads. Please, please,  share your most profound, most amusing, most insightful 1:5 negative:positives with all of us in the comments section of this post.

I leave you with these words from God's Word:
 "Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever." Psalm 136:1

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and bless his name." Psalm 100:4

I'm thankful for each and every one of you!
Blessings-Lorilise