Cribbing

 I have come across a lot of 'cribbers' in my life. So much so that I can crib about cribbers cribbing about their life. Everyone knows that happiness is relative. A person is not happy because he has everything. He is happy because he has something MORE than others. With that definition, everyone is happy because others are not and everyone is not happy because others ARE !! (Dont know whether this is a Catch 22 situation??). 

Its not that the cribbing mindset is adverse - everytime. It increases your dissatisfaction and drives you do stuff, which you wouldnt do if you'd been satisfied or happy with it. It gives you an objective, a goal, a motivation. It makes people aware that you are unhappy about something and in office situations comes pretty handy at times !! 

On the other hand it pulls you down mentally and creates stress or friction. People start to avoid you - so that they don't bear the brunt of hearing your pains and lending you a sympathetic ear. (Who wants to hear of other's issues anyway? Dont they have enough on their plate already? :) )  So how to go about it? 

I have discovered - and it is totally based on my experiences - that its fun to crib, but in a detached sort of way. When we friends meet, we gossip and crib about things - office, life in general, people, other friends who aren't in the room etc. It gives you a feeling of satisfaction, of letting go a burden which you were bearing on your own. It even charges you up - you feel elated that your friend now knows and agrees with you (even though he will know only your side of the story, which makes him biased !! :) ). You crib, gossip, enjoy maybe over drinks and dinner or a ride in the car. And then its over. You leave it at that. You come back home and sleep soundly or watch TV. There is no dissatisfaction in your mind at all, because you cribbed - BUT in a DETACHED way. 

All in all, you have to face all sorts of situations in life. Some make you happy, some leave you sad, still others affect your decisions. If you let every other thing affect you, you will crib incessantly and with unnecessary involvement. Anyway, you have to face the situation it, so face it, crib about it to your friends or relatives, but in the end let it go. Find a solution. Move on. Time heals everything.  Dont get stuck. 

And please pardon the home grown philosophy in the last para.....