As a staff, we have taken our theme “Setting Sail” and focused on four action steps to take as individuals that help encourage and enhance our community. These actions steps are organized in the form of an acronym for the word “Sail” with the first action being “stop the complaining.”

There are a number of personal and corporate reasons for us to try and lessen and stop our complaining. For the most part, as human beings, we tend to lean towards complaining. There are social reasons for this as nothing unites people faster than a common dislike. We can quickly feel included with others when we complain as that can create commonality between us. Complaining has also been shown to literally be contagious and acts similar to a virus. This results in an interesting statistic; the average person complains the equivalent of once a minute throughout the day.

The issue with complaining is that it is a downer for you and for those around you. For you personally, complaining has emotional, psychological, and even physical ramifications. Complaining has been shown to lower your immune system, increase your stress levels, and increase your blood pressure as well as other negative long-term impacts such as heart disease, diabetes, digestive issues, and weight gain. One of the articles I read for this post was actually titled “Complaining. Why it is literally killing you.” The unfortunate thing about complaining is that the more you do it, the easier it becomes. It literally re-wires your brain in such a way that complaining becomes easier and easier and more and more prevalent in your life. It’s a vicious cycle resulting in a downward spiral.

A question to ask is “If we never complain isn’t that unhealthy for us as well?” Yes and no. We do not want to create an environment where people feel they can never discuss issues of concern, frustrations, or needed improvements. There is, however, a difference between doing that and complaining and it simply lies in your personal motivation. The key here is your “why” or what is the purpose behind the “complaint”. Are you talking about it because you care about the person, you have genuine concern, or want to see improvements in them or the situation? Or is it for other reasons of personal gain.

Okay, so I understand that complaining has both negative effects on me personally as well as those around me, but what can I do about it? Here are a few strategies from the experts:

As a community lets strive for things that build us up. Let’s “Set Sail” and do our best to stop the negative and destructive habit of complaining.
 

Have a great weekend,

Karl Steinkamp
Head of School
 

 

University Visits to Dalat

외국 대학들이 달랏을 방문합니다
国外大学拜访Dalat学校

• September 30: Australia/New Zealand Uni Fair, noon–5 p.m. G Hotel, Gurney
• October 1: Azusa Pacific University (USA), 3:15–4:30 p.m. in the Dalat Library
• October 2: University of Southampton (UK), 3:15–4:30 p.m. in the Dalat Library
• October 4: University of Toronto (Canada), 3:15–4:30 p.m. in the Dalat Library
• October 11: Dordt College (USA), Bible classes, E & X Blocks in Dalat Library
• October 12: University of British Columbia (Canada), 3:15–4:30 p.m. in the Dalat Library