Where's our focus?

The "see-how-bad-they-are" approach never works.

Be known as a dude who's got nothing good to say about your boss or organisation, and eye-brows will rise if you get promoted anytime soon. It'll also be surprising if you're in the top 30% most productive personnel in the company.

Be known as the sibling who's always chiding and gossipping about the family, and prepare to conveniently miss out on family invitations in the future. Even if your actions are benevolent, nobody likes to be with a constant critic.

Be known as the class complainer, and soon you'll be staring from outside the class.

Be known as the member who more than occasionally taunts and disses the leadership of the church, NGO or community, and it's more than likely nobody's going to look to you for suggestions to move forward.

The phenomenon is universal and near-absolute: If we're DEFINED by our focus on the inefficiency or defects or injustice of others, we will NOT be defined by our efforts to nurture the community, offer constructive alternatives and a build relationships.

Thus, nobody 'remembers' Hitler for being a great innovator of the German highway system. Nobody 'remembers' that Gandhi couldn't resolve a squabble with his son. Nobody 'remembers' Martin Luther King, Jr. for being monogamously challenged. Not many people 'remember' that Jesus used profanity with the Pharisees.

All these individuals were defined by the focus of their lives. What's ours?