Why RFK decided to NEVER COMPLAIN about anything

I was so impressed by this part in an interview RFK did a few months ago, where he says he never complains... and he means it. His son once asked him why he never complains. And I was so impressed by what he said. You can see a transcription of what he said, and the YouTube video, further down the page. 

I knew I wanted to add it to this blog, but I couldn't remember which interview I heard it in, so I had to spend hours, digging through different videos online. I was so happy when I finally found it. I've listened to over a hundred interviews, largely while gardening and dog-walking or doing dishes, so I had to dig through a few. It's crazy to think he does 7 or 8 interviews per day, so I haven't even listened to a fraction of what's out there!

In many ways, RFK kinda reminds me of my Dad, who shared the same birthday, but passed away in 2001. I remember one day when I was in my mid-20s, I was having a bad day, and had been bitching about something, and my Dad gently reminded me that, if you don't have something positive to say, sometimes it's better not to say anything. 

Because he said it in non-judgmental voice with a softer tone, I wasn't upset or offended at all. I appreciated seeing that my Dad had enough moral character to try to point this out, but do it in a way that wasn't harsh. I still think of his words till this day, and I thought of them again, when I heard this interview, so I thought it was worth a few hours of digging, to find this interview again. 

It's nice to see that RFK Jr. has the ability to influence others to follow in his lead. His son certainly seemed to, and I think if and when he gets into the oval office, he will be able to encourage many more people to do the same. 

Flagrant interview with RFK Jr. - Why he NEVER COMPLAINS  (transcript below)

 

RFK says:

"I got sober four years ago but at one point I said... I heard my myself complaining about something, and I thought you know that's kind of a natural reaction for me, that if somebody asks me "how you doing?" that I'll share some, you know bad thing that happened to me recently or something."

"So I said I'm going to experiment which is not complaining about anything for Lent. And it was right at the beginning of Ash Wednesday. I went for 40 days, and I just didn't complain. So if somebody asked me, 'How are you doing?' I always say, 'Great!'"

"And then what I would do, because I don't want to lie, I'd say, well, why am I feeling great? I'm feeling great because I'm an American at a time in history when most of people in this country live like Gods, compared to everybody other person in history. I live at a time when there's antibiotics. I'd be dead if it weren't for antibiotics. I can get orange juice whenever I want it, I can get...you know, there's glass in front of me when I drive so the bugs don't come in my eyes."

"And I think of all these like little things that, okay, I'm grateful for, and then I make that... like, I feel differently about life. I'm processing life differently, processing experiences differently, in a way that lifts my mood and makes me feel grateful. Gratitude ultimately is a choice, you know.  So at the end of 40 days I just said, this is really working for me."

"And so since then, I've never complained about anything in my life. Nothing. And, I have my son Connor... when I was about... when he was, I don't know, he was like 14 years old, and he "said to me, "Hey Dad, how come I've never heard you complain about anything?"

"And I said to him, 'It's actually not a natal impulse for me.' My... you know, my atavistic impulse is to complain about a lot of stuff. And I told him the story that I just made a decision, and that it really worked out for me and after that I never heard him complain in his whole life. And he's went through a lot of, like,  nightmare stuff... but everybody loves him, because he just has a buoyant attitude and never complains about anything."

"So I recommend it, I think it's a a really good way to live your life and to forgive people who, you know, who wrong you. And I've had people do things... I could walk around with Justified anger, if I... I have things that I could justify if I wanted to be if I let myself be angry. (But) you're giving other people control over your mind and you know, over your over your day."

Andrew Schulz says, "So when it comes to complaints, it's about personal situations.  Like obviously, you have gripes with the American system and you have the gripes with government and you feel comfortable pushing back against those things?"

RFK: "If I see something wrong yeah I'm not going to say, "Look what they're doing to me!" You know, they're treating me... it's not about you... it's about something bigger than yourself."