Declaring A “Complaining Fast”

Ta’anit dibur  - a speech fast.  Some sages would engage in them as a way to refrain form inappropriate speech or as a way to focus the mind.  Telushkin suggests that complaining makes us unhappy (or unhappier than we might otherwise be), as it focuses us on the negative.  He paraphrases Dennis Prager who says that many people are unhappy unless they have a reason to be happy.  Praeger wonders why we don’t default to being HAPPY unless we have a reason to be unhappy.

As Americans we have so much to be thankful for (lot’s to complain about as well, but let’s begin from the point of thankfulness).  Living in the suburbs of Boston, I have very little to complain about, and yet…I’m going to try to work Praeger’s philosophy into my life - default to happiness unless there’s a reason to be unhappy.  Starting…now.