Sun Yi with Baron Baptiste
One girl said “My complaint is that I don’t go after my dreams”
Another said “My complaint is that people don’t recycle”
Then Baron said “Don’t be shy. What’s your REAL complaint?”
Then shit got real.
“Our president is a moron”
“My co-workers are fucking lazy”
“My husband is a cheating asshole”
“My dad is a piece of shit and he raped me”
My complaint was that my employees didn’t care and I had to do all the work.
After everyone shared their complaints, we were asked to think about what we GAIN out of complaining, and what we LOSE by complaining.
Sun Yi meditating at Baptiste Yoga retreat
That evening we had the most intense yoga class of the week. At the end, during savasana, I started crying uncontrollably.
I don’t exactly know why, but I came to a sudden realization that my employees DID care. I just wasn’t LETTING them help me.
I was saying things like “they can’t do anything right” or “I’m the only one who gets shit done around here”…
I was complaining because it made me feel like I was better than them. It was also an excuse not to spend time training or guiding them. This wasn’t serving me at all.
I started thinking of all of the other complaints I had in my life. I knew I had to stop playing the victim role.
That day I made a promise to myself to not complain about anything ever again.
I still complain, but a lot less.
It helped me take ownership of my life.