An Unpopular Complaint

I've noticed something recently.

Complaining is cool.

Pet peeves are popular.

(heehee, alliteration)

So if I complained about the fact that I don't have any light sabers (the ones pictured belong to my siblings), would I become cool?

But for real, people. It seems that getting annoyed easily is the thing to do. Other people can relate to your situation when you complain, so you should complain, or else people won't like you. They'll think you're fake if you never whine.

Just think about it. How many times have you heard "What are you biggest pet peeves?" asked as an icebreaker question at a gathering or posted on a blog? We like talking about the things that annoy us. It creates camaraderie when we find someone else who shares our grievances.

But should this be so? Speaking as a Christian--does it seem Biblical to be a person known for being easily annoyed?

All the verses I read about thankfulness and grace and putting others first and turning the other cheek and love is not easily angered seem to indicate that no--being easily annoyed is one of those things that should not be part of the Christian life.

I was raised in a climate where it was 80s and 90s all year round. I was also raised with a family rule that no one was allowed to complain about the heat. Because, yes, we were all hot, and that was not always fun, but complaining did nothing to ease the situation and it didn't inspire a good attitude in either the complainant or those forced to listen to complaints--so complaining was made illegal.

I have sought to carry that rule on into my adult life. You know what? I do not like going to cosmetology school. I could complain to Angel about it every morning and come home every day with a list of things that pissed me off at school to tell him about. But I choose not to. I choose to not, as far as it lies with me, be easily annoyed by situations at school or to waste mine or Angel's mental energy on it. I'm not being dishonest. Trust me, Angel know I don't like it there. But there's no need for me to continually harp on the subject, or post facebook statuses or tweets complaining about it five days a week.

I've recently discovered that people are annoyed by people who ask questions about them. I find this odd, myself. I mean, as a newlywed, I've been asked, "When will there be a baby?" countless times, just like every other newlywed on the planet, I expect, but I don't see the need to be annoyed by that. No matter how many times they ask, they aren't forcing me to have a baby. I can always respond with the truth: "Not today!"--what's so annoying about that?

One of the most common get-to-know you questions, "Where are you from?" is the most difficult one for me to answer truthfully. Honestly, I cringe internally when someone asks me that. But that doesn't mean I need to get annoyed at people who ask it of me! Rather than choosing to think, "Man, they're asking where I'm from just because they're dumb, or because they want to annoy me on purpose." I can choose to assume better intentions for them--maybe they genuinely want to get to know more about me.

One of my professors once told me that in a marriage relationship--if you're always getting annoyed by the things your spouse does, something needs to change about you, not them. You can choose to not be annoyed by the one you love most--and I believe that this advice applies not only to marriage but to relationships in general.

What do ya say, folks, what if we teamed up and decided that we'd make complaining--about the weather, about  your spouse, about Mondays, about the fact that you don't have enough money for a iPhone, or about unpleasant people in your life--an unpopular hobby?

p.s. I'm no where near claiming that I never get annoyed. Angel has a nickname for me: "Angry Bird" for the times when I go off, rationally or irrationally, and the unfortunately Irish side of me shows. He thinks it's cute, but that's only because I'm small. It's not a good trait to be easily angered or irritated!