I don’t have enough time to write. My husband doesn’t help out enough around the house.

Write? Ha! I can’t even spend two seconds thinking without my children interrupting.

My complaints simmer on the back burner of my mind, a ready meal of pity when needed.

I bet you have your own list.

Complaints snuff out gratitude, but they pose a greater threat when we use complaints as excuses to fully live.

Our grumbling can extinguish our passion and prevent us from living our callings.

How we think affects our lives in every way. We all know it and probably own self-help books touting this truth. So why not try a proactive experiment with me?

Let’s change our complaints into expectations.

Take this for example. Instead of saying I don’t have the time to hone that gift or to chase that dream. Why don’t we say I might not have all the time I would like, but I do have some time.

Not only does this focus our attention on what we have instead of what we don’t have, an important key to life, but it opens an avenue of possibility that can grow into a wild highway of expectation.

And boy were we made for expectation. Just think about the way children hope. Only us grown folks learn pessimism as a way of life, living a cycle of ever-waning passion.

If you want to live a more positive life and defeat the barrage of lies, I dare you to try this with me.

Rewrite the script of your top two biggest complaints into expectations for a better life. Then share one or both in the comments below.

Let me go first. I’m so busy serving everyone else in my life that I don’t have any time for myself, let alone time to write.

It embarrasses me to type these words. I wouldn’t dare let anyone hear me say this. So why would I put this tract on repeat in my mind?

The rewrite: I owe it to my children and my husband to spend time relaxing and resting, so I can be a better spouse and mom. And by spending time developing my gift, I’m setting an example for my children and leaving a legacy that will outlive me.

Now it’s your turn. What sort of expectation can you write into your life if you could rescript your monologue of complaints?