The Positive Dog: A Story About the Power of Positivity

Turn Complaints into Solutions

“Nothing feeds the negative dog inside you like complaining,” Bubba said.

“I know,” said Matt. “I'm a pretty good complainer.”

“Pretty good? If complaining were in the criteria for the Westminster Kennel Club's Best in Show you would be the winner,” Bubba said, before letting out a big belly laugh.

“But I'm complaining a lot less,” Matt said.

“Yes, you are, and as we talked about with get to instead of have to it's important to focus on gratitude rather than complaints. But here's the deal: I don't want you to get rid of complaining completely.”

“Why not?” Matt asked.

“Because, let's face it, there are times when complaining is helpful and, with the right perspective, you can turn complaints into solutions.

“How's that?” asked Matt.

“Well, instead of mindlessly complaining and venting to yourself and others, you can think of solutions to your complaints. You can make a pact with yourself that you are not going to complain unless you identify one or two solutions to your complaint. Jade called it the ‘No Complaining Rule,’ and she read it to us when she was here. Since then, I've adopted the rule and found that instead of letting complaining generate negative energy, we can use it for a positive purpose. We can use our own complaints as a signal, letting us know we are feeding the negative dog, and then, in the next moment, we can think of solutions and feed the positive dog instead. Each time we catch ourselves complaining, we can say, ‘Okay, I don't ...