We all know that person—including ourselves—who finds reasons to complain about the same little things again and again. The food, the traffic, the people who never seem to listen. In the moment, it feels good to let it all out. It feels cathartic.
Complaining might make us feel heard, even for a second. It might even make the real problem—hiding behind those insignificant complaints—feel smaller for a moment, but it doesn’t get to the root of it. It doesn’t change things, or move us forward. The frustration is still there, waiting for the next shoe to drop.
Change comes in the doing, not the griping. Sometimes it’s small: like pinching yourself when your mind goes sideways, setting a boundary, or simply choosing to focus on what you can do better. Sometimes it’s bigger: having the hard conversation, leaving the situation that drains you, or taking a leap into the unknown.
The point is, complaining alone won’t change anything. It keeps us stuck in the same loop, talking about the problem without ever facing it. But when we stop crying about it and start taking steps, even tiny ones, momentum builds. And before we know it, the situation we’ve been grumbling about might finally start to shift.
So yes, venting helps—but only as a prelude to action. Because if you only cry about it, nothing changes.