Whinese: The language of those who stay stuck infinitely longer than necessary. -- Margaret's Dictionary

That began my journal entry in September, and it made me laugh when I re-read it this afternoon when I was ticked off about something. Whinese was never intended to be a first language, but it can happen and here's what I've discovered:Take time to smile

Whinese is chatter that identifies a problem: "Sir, it appears the boat has sprung a small leak." It runs the gambit of emotions right into: "We are all going to die, man! We are dead! Do you hear me? Dead! Oh, why did I go out in this garbage barge in the first place? This is horrible, just horrible. I hate this boat, I hate you! We are going to sink!"

Even if it were true, who needs to hear it said over and over? In the movie "As Good as it Gets," Jack Nicholson said, "I'm drowning here, and you're describing the water!"

Sometimes Whinese can be comforting, like eating a side of beef or a gallon of ice cream when I'm depressed. But then there's the fat payoff. So the comfort never lasts.

When somebody else is speaking it, sometimes Whinese can be humorous, too. So I laugh about it. But if I was stuck in an elevator for nine hours with negative humor, it would turn on me, like a bad hamburger.

Whinese is also contagious. Just stick around an office or workplace and watch what happens to the expression on everybody's face when somebody speaks it fluently.

So Whinese leads to life-sucking, lack of progress and depression at best and possibly weight gain. I keep in mind that Whinese is a choice. And sometimes I eat the ice cream, indulge the side of beef, but the deep down me would rather not.

The solution for me is to kick the needle off the record, skip the track, change the CD, go out for a walk, write a have-done list (as opposed to to-do), join a recovery group, count blessings. Sometimes more than anything, I just need to be around somebody who smiles and has a positive attitude...

May your day be filled with positive attitudes and at least one smiley face! (I've included one just in case.)