Do we talk too much about our problems? Time to talk about our joys.

Talking about our problems is our greatest addiction.

Break the habit.

Talk about your joys.” – Rita Schiano

I read this post on my Pinterest motivational quotes board recently and it really got me thinking.

I realized there is a lot of truth in it. While I don’t have an addictive personality, I have certainly been giving this addiction a run for its money lately!

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Out to dinner with a friend recently he commented that I appeared stressed.

I then launched into a long list of reasons why I had every right to look stressed. While it seemed justified behavior at the time, looking back now it seems rather petty and more harmful than helpful to be rattling off and then talking endlessly about my laundry list of problems.

When you think about it, this is how we interact in a large percentage of our conversations. You talk about your problems, then your friend talks about theirs.

While it can be therapeutic to get our problems out in the open and share them with the people closest to us, those interactions should always be followed up with all the wonderful, joyful things happening in our lives as well.

If we are going to share our problems, we also need to make sharing joy part of the package.

Besides how miserable would be sound to other people if we only talk about our problems? It certainly wouldn’t make us fun or pleasant to be around.

So what if we turned this on its head?

What if we talked about our joy?

What if we only talked about the good stuff? What if we were constantly talking about positive things instead of negative ones?  What if we laughed more and worried less?

What would you personally have to talk about? I hate to ask the question but would you have a problem finding joyful topics to talk about?

Think about this for a second. What would you talk about if you had to be joyful? Would you be able to stop yourself from talking about your problems?

If you think you have no joy in your life, then you are not looking closely enough.

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Maybe you need to do a little digging. Maybe it’s a matter of as Rita suggests in the above quote – breaking the habit.

Complaining and talking about our problems has become a bad habit for many of us. We complain, we whine about our work, family, bosses, partners, kids, the politicians – you name it.

What about if you said something positive about each and every one of these?

What if you could talk about each of these topics with joy in your heart?

Let’s start this week with a kick-ass challenge. Try it for a day. If you slip up, which is probably going to happen, that’s okay.

Don’t be hard on yourself, just think of something happy, joyful, and wonderful in your life at the moment. If you do start talking about a problem, stop for a moment, actually examine that problem from a different angle, and then talk about it in a positive way (yes even if you have to find some sliver of light in the darkness – it will be there).

This exercise alone will give you some insight into how much you are talking about your problems.

Breaking bad habits starts with awareness.

Be aware of your joys. Talk about them. Shout them from the rooftops!

If you enjoyed this post, please share the joy with your friends on social media. You just might make someone’s day and remind them of their joys!

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