JULY 2, 2012, NOCO DAY!

I have a complaint to make. A recent survey I conducted revealed that 52.7% of the day to day conversations that Americans over the age of 25 have, revolve around complaints. Work, relationships, prices, everything. What's wrong with us? What's wrong with our lives that we complain about it so often? Run into someone on the street, and what was once a smiling, kinda nice to see you chat, turns to something negative. And not only do many of us harbor a festering griping attitude, but we have, not surprisingly, the intense desire to spread it around. All around. I, for one, have heard enough of it.

I was thinking that when I grew up, we didn't have much and there were fewer things to complain about. For reasons I still do not know, we didn't seem to worry about money the pervasive way we generally do now. Sure, maybe the toaster or the oven or the refrigerator or the radio wasn't working right, and we could complain about that. But we didn't own a phone or a car and our complaint list was small and manageable. We seemed more focused on the positives in our lives (a new muffler, a new pen, a new friend).

But modern technology and "progress" have greatly expanded the products we own, and don't yet own, and "need" to own, including hidef tv, desk top and lap top computers, cell phones and IPods and ITouches and Blackberrys, and so on. The potential complaints list is overflowing... and expanding at an accelerating pace.

Time to take action, to reverse course. I am suggesting that we have a national NOCOmplaint Day. It will be one day on which no one complains about anything. 24 hours of noncomplaining. Talk about positive things in your life, talk about plans and dreams and hopes and wishes...or don't talk. NOCO.

Now, I appreciate that 24 noncomplaining hours is a marathon of sorts, and many of us do not have the stamina to endure it. But remember. During our average 8 hour sleep per day, we do not complain. We must add only 16 additional consecutive hours of not complaining to complete a full NOCO day.

Here is my plan. Each of us begins by not complaining for 1 minute tomorrow. That's it. One minute, 60 seconds. Can you do it? The rest of the day, complain away. Spew as much negativity as you wish to as many people as you wish. Each day thereafter, we extend the noncomplaining time by 1 minute...so that at the end of the week, we will not be complaining for 7 consecutive minutes. At that rate, the nation's first full NOCO day will be July 2, 2012. Think about it. What a glorious, life oriented, uplifting, happy, day it will be...perfect way to bring in the celebrated Independence Day weekend! Freedom from negativity!

It is my hope that the first NOCO Day, together with the serenity and contentment it engenders, will, of its own momentum, extend itself to NOCO Week, NOCO Month, NOCO Life.

(I am also thinking about a NOWO Day!)