Complaining

Truth: I love facebook.  I am not great at staying in touch with people, and my friends are scattered all over the country, so it's really helpful.  However, sometimes facebook is reduced to a forum for complaining.  I'm guilty of it.  And it's not normally legitimate complaining either (I do believe that if, say, someone hits your grandmother with a car, you are justified in venting about that person on the internet).  Most of the complaints on facebook are riduculous, because what they really accomplish is revealing just how grateful we should be. 

Case in point: "I am so so so sick and I am stuck in bed all day watching movies and sipping tea."
Why this is a lame complaint: If your lifestyle/financial situation allows you to stay home and rest when you are sick, you should be praising the Lord!  Many people have small children they need to chase around the house when they are sick, or jobs they need to go to no matter how sick they are, or both.  Also, there are people you know, people who are reading your posts on facebook (or whose loved ones might be reading your posts on facebook), with the kind of illnesses that cannot be cured by rest and tea. 

I am very aware of the "complaining about something I am actually very lucky to have" problem every time I am tempted to write anything negative about traveling all the time (which reveals I have a job), missing my husband (which reveals I have a husband), or the roads in Spokane (which reveals that I have a car).  My old litmus test for complaints used to be, "Is this a serious problem?"  Now I am modifying this to include, "Am I hurting or offending or seriously annoying someone by complaining about something for which I should be very grateful?"  Most likely I will never be able to think of anything to write ever again.