There is a whole host of onomatopoeic words to describe this - grumble, grouse, gripe, beef, whinge, bellyache, moan, complain, whine - and we like to make the most of it.  Any hard-luck story of mine you will cap, and I will try to cap that - you waited half an hour for a bus?  I waited an hour and a half.  The traffic on the A12 was bad - you should have been on the M1 with us.  Your children are causing you problems?  Mine are out of my control entirely.

 

But the more we focus on these negative things, the more we become aware of other small niggles that bask in the attention we lavish on them and in that warmth, grow into large issues.  We don't count the trains that arrive on time, just the one that is late.  We don't think of all the cheerful shop assistants, just the one who was a bit short with us that morning.  We get a positive pleasure out of working out just how badly done by we are...  And if someone dare ask us how we are, in this mood we're only too likely to tell them!

 

But think of those people who are a pleasure to be with, relaxing and comfortable.  They are not the moaners of this world but the ones who accept cheerfully what life brings them, good and bad.  They are the ones who will say, "I'm fine, thanks" even if they have just received bad news.  They are the ones who will listen to your grousing without trying to make you feel that they have had a much worse deal than you have had.  They do not need to prove how much they suffer in order to feel important.

 

Perhaps this is why we are told to "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, Rejoice".  If we can remember to thank the Lord for the many benefits we have received - starting with the fact that we have just woken to a new day - then other things seem to fall into place and we realise how trivial our little grumbles really are.

 

St Paul said in his letter to the Philippians:  "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things ...  And the God of peace will be with you." (Phil 4:8-9)

 

If we can only follow this advice and dwell on the positive things of this world, how much more pleasant life will seem.  Having then learnt this art, even when there is a real problem in our life, I am sure we will have more strength to deal with it, for God will give us peace.