Dear one,
A conversation last night reminded me of the most difficult spiritual challenge of my life thus far. The challenge was so tough, it took me more than a decade to meet it, and I still fight with it almost daily.
The challenge: Go 24 consecutive hours without complaining.
It seems easy on the surface, but your inner voice complains even when you don’t speak the words out loud, and that’s the real hard part. If you’ve been my friend for any amount of time, you’ve probably seen me pushing back against my “complainer’s nature” without even knowing it. I do it by saying one simple sentence:
Thank you for everything, I have no complaint whatsoever.
Try it. See how long you can go without complaining. When you catch a complaining thought coming into your mind, immediately say that sentence – Thank you for everything, I have no complaint whatsoever – and move on without dwelling on it.
Never forget that I love you, and that excludes no one.
Love,
