March is celebrated as Spiritual Wellness Month. It is a time to reflect on the values, ethics and morals that add value and give meaning to your life. Here at diGJamaica, we’re going on a quest for 30 days of inspiration: extracting the common principles from different religions and systems of belief that help their followers to find inner peace, purpose and direction. Each day for the month of March, we will be sharing another principle with you. Join us as we embark on this journey to spiritual wellness.
What we’ve covered so far:
Don’t Complain
Complaining may seem like a natural human response to undesirable situations, but science has actually proven that complaining is very detrimental your mental and physical health. It literally affects the wiring in your brain, transforms the atmosphere around you, and can often leave others with a very bad taste in their mouths. Here are reasons why you should NOT complain:
- It spreads negativity. There is a saying that misery loves company. Complaining is, in essence, turning attention to a the negative aspects of something. It spreads negative vibes to your friends and coworkers, and anyone sharing space with you. Psychologist Jeffrey lohr calls it ’emotional farting’.
- It gives a bad impression. If you are frequent complainer, chances are, people aren’t necessarily thrilled to be around you, work with you, or include you in anything. Complainers do not normally have large fan bases. People avoid persons who are always venting or griping about one thing or the other. Why? because they are downers. And after a while, chronic complaining becomes irritatiing and very unpleasant to be around.
- It rewires your brain to more easily create negative thoughts. There is scientific evidence for this. The more frequently you have a particular thought, the easier it becomes for your brain to create that thought next time. So, if you are not careful, complaining can become a brain habit. Do you really want that?
- It triggers stress hormone production. When you complain, your body produces cortisol, the stress hormone, which can trigger weight gain, higher blood pressure and cholesterol, and a host of other negative biological consequences, none of which contribute to you spiritual well-being.
Sources: Complaining is terrible for you, according to science | Why complaining may be dangerous to your health | How complaining rewires your brain for negativity
