We all know one person— or a handful of people— who you can't have a conversation without then complaining about the same thing that they complain about every time you talk to each other. I'm talking about every single time they are complaining about the same things, people, or situations that they have been complaining about for months.

Then we have the people who rant. They're annoyed or feeling uber passionate about something, so they go into a rant about it. And that's it. They have 1 rant, then they move on.

The difference between the two: you rant to move on and you complain to dwell.

If you want to keep complaining about the same situation, I can guarantee you that I stopped caring around the 2nd or 3rd time you told me about it. If you don't do anything about it except complain, it's not going to get any better. You cannot use complaining as a scapegoat to keep you from solving your problems.

Want understanding, compassion, or just to get something off of your chest? Rant! I will 100% fully listen to you rant and get everything off your chest so you can push past it and move on. I get it, I really do. Sometimes we need to just get all of our thoughts out and say how we really feel. And you SHOULD do that! What you shouldn't do is complain about the same things constantly and do nothing to improve your situation or move forward from it.

Be proactive by having a rant and moving on. Force yourself to confront whatever you are feeling about a specific situation and deal with it. When you keep complaining about the same things, you're only going to become increasingly frustrated with them. Here's a guide:

Can fix it? -> Fix it.

Can't fix it? -> Move on.

Fixing it will be really hard and require a lot of effort and struggle? -> Is it worth it?

It IS worth it. -> Fix it.

If you can't control a situation, you CAN control how you react to a situation. If you really need to, have a rant about it instead of complaining. Get it off your chest and either move forward or do something about it.

Moral of the story? Don't complain about things you are not willing to change.