Complaints
/Did you know that our complaints are really indicators of our unmet needs?
Notice the complaints you have today, see if you can identify an underlying need beneath the complaint.
These might not be true for you, but for some:
Financial complaints might really be about feeling safe and secure.
Work complaints might really be about not being appreciated.
Service complaints might really be about a lack of respect.
Waiting in line complaints might really be about feeling like a bad parent running late to pick up a child.
Being ignored complaints might really be about feeling invisible at this age.
Family complaints might really be about not being understood your whole life.
Friend complaints might really be about feeling judged and excluded.
When we can notice what is really going on beneath the surface of our frustrations, we can better understand ourselves and communicate more clearly with others.
Take a few minutes on a piece of paper to do a “complain dump” of everything that isn’t right in your life. List all of the snarky, ridiculous, annoying things in your life right now. Let it flow out onto the page, no one is going to see it but you.
Then for each complaint, see if you can look deeper into what it might be indicating as an unmet need. How could you help yourself meet this need? Approach it with self-compassion and love. It is okay to have needs - that’s part of being human. But, if the same need goes unmet often, it likely becomes a complaint.
Make a plan for yourself to meet your needs - it may take some creativity, but your needs deserve to be met.
When your needs are met, you are a more satisfied human.
Satisfied humans radiate more kindness into the world.