Whine, whine, whine

One line of a talk in sacrament meeting has stuck with me this week.  The talk was about gratitude, but that was not necessarily the message I received. 

The line was "no misfortune is so bad that whining about it won’t make it worse."  It's from a talk titled "The Tongue of Angels" given by Jeffrey R. Holland in the April 2007 General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  After thinking about it for a few days, I decided to look up the reference.  I listened to it online in his own voice.  I have to say I should frame many parts of it and put them on my fridge.

There are so many scriptures I've underlined over the years on gaining control over what comes out of my mouth.
A soft answer turneth away wrath.
It's not what goes in, but what comes out of your mouth that gets you.
Don't provoke your children.

This talk kind of brought them all together and gave me a real wake up call.  I need to say less.   Say it better and still find a way to  be myself without the abrasiveness.  It's a hard line for me.  I like being open.  I like people knowing where I stand.  I don't like people feeling intimidated or judged by me.  I don't like hurting people's feelings. 

Back to the quote.  I do whine.  I think, truth be told, it gives me some power.  Trying to do what's expected of me is difficult.  Whining to my husband, my mom, or the occasional friend helps me express my will, even when I do someone else's.  Nevertheless, whining isn't a good thing.  It does stir the proverbial pot.  Like he said, it does make things worse.

Here's the link:  The Tongue of Angels  I would encourage it for everybody.