Contentment is the antidote to complaining. (Many sources)
Someone else has said that the antidote is being grateful. In any case, no one likes to be around people who are disagreeable, always critical of others, and dissatisfied with their circumstances. To counter such unpleasant behavior, don’t waste time using logic. Demonstrate your own gratitude for life and contentment with what God has given you.
The fear of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content (Proverbs 19:23).
An office is where an entrepreneur goes to hide from opportunities. (Dan Sullivan, U. S. Senator)
People who are gifted with unusual imagination and creativity often find it difficult to stay at a desk in an office. They need to be where the action is, where theory meets reality. In those settings, they exercise their unusual abilities to initiate futuristic ventures that often provide useful innovations for development. They find the opportunities for progress.
Do not neglect your gift … Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress (1 Timothy 4:14-15).
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and re-learn. (Alvin Toffler, American writer and futurist)
Illiteracy is still a big problem in many parts of the world—underprivileged people who have never learned to read and write. Toffler, however, suggests that in the literate world there is a greater problem: people who can read and write but who have lost the ability to think outside the box, to question and research to find new answers in a changing world.
Let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance. … Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. (Proverbs 1:5; 9:9).
Learning how to learn is one of the greatest skills anyone can have. (Mark Cuban, sports team owner and investor)
Education is an important issue in American culture. We spend millions of dollars in tax moneys and private funds to educate our children from pre-school through post-graduate studies. Is it possible that we’ve failed to teach the very first important lesson: how to learn? It isn’t memorizing facts; it’s applying truth to life. It’s called developing wisdom.
Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding (Proverbs 3:13). Get wisdom, get understanding (Proverbs 4:5).
When there is no wind, just row. (Keith Minier, American clergyman)
To enjoy a good sailing excursion, you have to have wind. Otherwise, you will just drift with the current. That’s not a very satisfactory analogy to life when there seems to be no supporting breeze to sustain your effort. But, you can’t just sit idle. As Minier suggests, you need to row the boat, you have to exercise your own strength to move forward.
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life: You should mind your own business and work with your hands (1 Thessalonians 4:11).
What you’ve faced might not always be reversible, but it is always redeemable. (Jessica Cain, blogger, photographer)
God will redeem me from the realm of the grave (Psalm 49:15).
What makes an idea worth spreading is not its novelty or scientific intrigue, but its ability to transform. (Tim Sprankle, American pastor)
Sprankle also said, “Information [by itself] does not result in transformation because information is impersonal.” Gossip, which is assumed to be information, is most often personal, but rarely intended for positive transformation. Ideas are important, of course, but we must be careful to impart truth that will help others grow and change.
Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind (Romans 12:2).
To be rich is to be content where you are and with what you have. (Jesse Deloe, writer, editor)
The older and wiser we grow, the more we realize that having lots of “stuff” is not what it really means to be rich. Property and possessions can be lost in an instant. Family and friendships have a longer life and continually add joy and worth to life. What’s more, a true understanding of being stewards of what God gives us adds value to life and labor.
I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation (Philippians 4:12). Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have (Hebrews 13:5).
Life is like a mirror—we get the best results when we smile at it. (Inspirational line)
It’s very likely that most people start the day with a look in the mirror. It isn’t always a pleasant view, of course—sleep wrinkles, tangled up hair, bleary eyes. Like so many other things in life, however, it’s not the first view (or words or thoughts), but the response to them that’s so important. Take the positive look, smile, and see how the day turns out.
Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like (James 1:23-24).
Everyone you will ever meet knows something you don’t. (Bill Nye, science educator known as “the Science Guy”)
Thinking of people as Nye suggests would open up unlimited opportunities to learn. First, it requires a certain sense of humility to realize that we don’t know everything. Then, it recognizes that other people will almost certainly be able to increase our knowledge or understanding if we will hear them well. Look for and welcome such learning experiences.
The wise store up knowledge. … The lips of the wise spread knowledge. … The advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it. (Proverbs 10:14; 15:7; Ecclesiastes 7:12).
The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion. (Paulo Coehlo, Brazilian lyricist and novelist)
It’s probably not true of every society, but we’ve been hearing a lot lately from some highly opinionated people. (Example: election campaign rhetoric, which, thankfully, ends today). How often we might think, “Please stop talking so much and show me how you live and act honorably.” Words are important, but only if they are backed up by integrity in behavior.
One who loves a pure heart and who speaks with grace will have the king for a friend (Proverbs 22:11). Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak (James 1:19).
The moment humans value things, however intelligent, over people, they embark on the road to ruin. (Jonathan Sacks, British rabbi)
What are the “things” we might value more than people? Surely not the passing, temporal stuff we play with, collect, or store away for the future. Maybe we value intelligence and learning over people. But it’s the learner, not the teaching that’s important. Remember to love people and use things rather than love things and use people.
So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them (Genesis 1:27).