I’ve been staring at my computer screen for a good 15 minutes now trying to decide what to write about today. I feel like I’ve shown several product posts, business updates, and personal posts lately and I want to share something different with you – I’m just not sure what that should be… So after much thought I’ve decided to write a little about my thoughts on negativity.

Have you ever noticed how much people complain? It’s something that becomes more apparent to me and something I hear more frequent with every passing day. People enjoy complaining. If I’m talking about going to a restaurant and my friend Peggy Sue had a bad experience there – you can bet your boots she’s going to jump into that conversation quicker than a cat pouncing on a field mouse. She’s going to let you know every little problem she had with her waitress, why her food wasn’t satisfactory and why she is never going to go there again.

What people complain about can range from the absurd to the very legitimate as far as reasons to complain go. Sometimes people have every right to be upset, angry or frustrated with the business in question, and sometimes it seems as though they just want something to complain about. For instance, a person who goes to a restaurant and asks for water with lemon and just gets water with no lemon but never once says anything to the waitress and then complains to all her friends that they got her order all wrong…. I personally think that’s a little silly. Now if you go to a restaurant and you ordered grilled chicken salad and they bring you out country fried steak, and you inform them that there’s a mix up that this wasn’t what you ordered and they look at you like you’re dumb and tell you that the country fried steak is in fact what you ordered – that seems like a pretty good reason to complain. Or if you wait 30 minutes just for your waitress to take your order and another 45 to get your food – I would find that a little frustrating.

I’m not saying it’s bad to warn your friends of about a place that they might not get their money’s worth, but as a business owner I know how bad these kinds of complaints can hurt a business too! All it takes is one person spreading the word about how dissatisfied they were with you, and you can be out of business before you know it. I do my best to take care of my clients, but I’ll be honest – I’ve  had a couple of dissatisfied clients that never once let me know they were upset. I thought I took very good care of them. Answered all their questions promptly. Got their orders to the lab and to them as quickly as possible. I even really enjoyed working with them. Only to find out later that they were upset with me and when I hear why – all the facts have been misrepresented and I even have documentation to prove it.

I just don’t understand this kind of negativity, this need to undercut others and manipulate the truth. Part of me honestly believes that it’s people who just want free things. Who want quality but don’t want to pay for it. Who don’t care to understand what it takes to run a business and who just want something to complain about. And I truly find this very sad!

I feel like at this point in my life… there are a lot of things I could complain about. I could complain that it’s been almost six months since I’ve had a home. I could complain about that fact that I have to replace everything I owned. I could complain about the amount of time it’s taking to rebuild my house or to get things from insurance or the bank. I could complain about all the things that I lost in the fire that can never be replaced…. But that’s not who I am. I try to look for the good in every situation and in every person, and I try to see things from other people’s perspectives. Sometimes this is really hard to do and sometimes it doesn’t matter how hard I try – I can’t feel good about a situation or a person or a business. And that’s okay – but I don’t like being a Negativity Nelly. I only voice my dissatisfaction when I’ve really been ripped off by someone, and there’s nothing I can do to remedy it. Otherwise – I keep my opinions to myself.

Even more important – when I have a really great experience with a business – I tell EVERYONE I know about them! I would much rather share my knowledge about a really awesome business than share my negative thoughts on one. And the more people I tell about this great business I love shopping at – the more business they get and the better their odds of staying in  business. This is just something that really matters to me: Being Positive and Supporting Other Business People! And I hope it’s something that you start taking an active interest in too!

I hope you all are having a wonderful Monday! I’ll see you back here on Wednesday! 🙂

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