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From Complaining to Creating

A light gray background with a large gray number 39 in the top left. Bold, black sans-serif text reads: “Complain-ism has become all the rage. However, the Road To Miserable is paved with complainers and cynics.”

Complaining is like a rash—too easy to catch, and tough to get rid of.

I speak from experience. I’m a recovering “complain-a-holic” who’s still trying to find the cure.

And I don’t think it’s just me. It seems that complaining, with a heavy dose of cynicism, has become our national pastime. It only takes three minutes on social media, talk radio, or the news stations to know that if you’re not complaining about something, you’re a bit of an outsider.

Complaining has become our social currency, our shared language used to form a mutual—if somewhat bitter—understanding of the world we live in. We complain about our unbearable jobs, the slow Wi-Fi, our leaders in the office and around the world, and the waiter who brought only one basket of bread. The entire night!

But can we really be blamed? For twentysomethings who walked off the graduation stage and didn’t exactly see those doors of opportunity being flung open at just the mere glimpse of our bachelor’s degree, how can we not complain? For many, life has been more sour than sweet. How do we not sing woes when trying to reap from fields ravaged with locusts and wildfire? Isn’t lament a biblical concept?

Yet, even though the outlook may be bleak for many at first, there are those who are choosing not to wallow but to walk confidently forward—a band of people who have chosen to follow another word, forcing cynicism on a raft and shoving it out to sea.

That word? Create.

Complaining and creating have a direct correlation. The more you create, the less you complain. The more you complain, the less you create. It’s a pretty simple formula.

Instead of standing by the problem pointing out everything that’s wrong, create a solution.

Instead of ingraining an attitude of discontent, start working toward a new way forward. Create a movement, a relationship, a tool, or a conversation.

Do it big. Do it small. Just do something.

Complaining is passive and powerless.

Creating is proactive and powerful.

People gravitate toward Passionate Pursuers. On the other hand, people run like the plague from Complacent Complainers.

It’s up to us to create opportunity—instead of waiting for one to float straight to us.

What if we simply replaced moments where we had every “right” to complain, and created something instead? What would our world look like?

What if instead of termites, each one of us fighting to take our bite from the crumbling wood, we resembled millions of ants working together to rebuild our smashed hills?

For the hundreds of thousands of young people rising up today, the potential is astounding to do the same—to pick up the torch of the Creator and make beautiful things in a broken world.

Create. Make. Do. Rinse. Repeat.

Create. Make. Do.

练习题

Which statement best captures the author’s view of complaining in this section?

A. Complaining is rare because most people avoid negativity in public.

B. Complaining spreads easily and has become a common way people connect socially.

C. Complaining is helpful only when it happens on social media.

D. Complaining is mainly a private habit with little effect on relationships.

According to the passage, what is the relationship between complaining and creating?

A. The more people complain, the more likely they are to create solutions.

B. Complaining and creating are unrelated habits.

C. The more people create, the less they complain; the more they complain, the less they create.

D. Creating is useful only after complaining has convinced others to help.

Which response best applies both this section and the prior idea that people should prove their potential rather than wait to be discovered?

A. Wait patiently until an employer notices your degree and offers an opportunity.

B. Publicly complain about the job market until someone feels sorry for you.

C. Create a project, portfolio, or solution that demonstrates your ability and opens new opportunities.

D. Avoid showing your work because credentials should be enough.

Which actions reflect the author’s call to choose creation over cynicism? Select all that apply.

A. Starting a conversation that helps people move forward

B. Creating a tool that solves a problem

C. Standing beside a problem and only pointing out what is wrong

D. Building a movement or relationship instead of deepening discontent

E. Making something beautiful even when the world feels broken

The author presents complaining as both socially contagious and widely accepted as a shared language for understanding the world.

In the passage, creating is described as passive and powerless, while complaining is described as proactive and powerful.

The passage says that people gravitate toward ___, while they run from Complacent Complainers.

How could building an online presence connect the prior section’s career advice with this section’s message about creating rather than complaining?

A recent graduate is frustrated that employers are not noticing their potential. Based on the current section and the prior section on online presence, which response best replaces complaining with creating?

A. Post frequent complaints online so others understand how unfair the job market is.

B. Build an online home base that showcases work and gives contacts something professional to share.

C. Wait patiently until a company discovers their potential without needing proof.

D. Avoid networking because professional connections depend only on formal credentials.

Which actions combine the idea of creating instead of complaining with the prior advice about proving professional potential?

A. Create a portfolio site that shows completed projects rather than only listing a degree.

B. Ask friends to share a professional online presence when they make introductions.

C. Spend most conversations explaining why no employer has given you a chance.

D. Start a useful tool, conversation, or project that demonstrates initiative.

E. Wait for a company to discover your talent before showing any work.

True or false: If a coworker immediately says, “That won’t work,” the current section would support simply joining the cynicism, because workplaces are naturally awkward anyway.

Instead of passively waiting for a company to discover your potential, the combined lesson of the online-presence section and the current section is to ___ opportunity through visible, constructive work.

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