Why Are Broke People Always Complaining?

I used to have a lot of money. Then one day, I didn’t. I wanted to go eat a $48 steak at BOA with an $11 side of mac and cheese. Could I go buy it? No. I had to think about paying rent. I couldn’t pay rent, so I had to figure out what to do to pay rent. Since I didn’t know what I was doing, I had to get creative, or else I would no longer have a place to live.

Then, one day, my electricity went out because I was $460 behind on my bill. It was only like $60 a month. So I was like 7 or something months behind. I couldn’t figure out how to warm up food anymore. So, now I was not only unable to eat the steak I wanted, but I couldn’t even cook at home. I had to carry my microwave into the hallway of my apartment complex and plug it in just to warm up food I bought from 7-Eleven. I had to take showers in the dark, because there were no lights to illuminate my place. I walked around carrying my cell phone and using the tiny light to help me find my way around.

Oh, and then another time, I wanted to get out of my situation, but I was just stuck. Stuck without a clue on what to do, so I just whined and complained about everything. Then, my life didn’t get better. Instead, it just stayed the same. I was lonely and cold, living in a dark place, without the ability to pay for anything. I was just working at a dead end job barely making enough money to pay my rent, but always falling short. I wondered what I could do to get out of the situation, but I was so broke that I couldn’t even pay attention.

So, I complained, all the time…

Wouldn’t you?

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Originally posted on Quora.

Leonard Kim is Managing Partner at InfluenceTree. At InfluenceTree, Leonard and his team teach you how to build your (personal or business) brand, get featured in publications and growth hack your social media following.