It is no use to grumble and complain; It's just as cheap and easy

“It is no use to grumble and complain; It’s just as cheap and easy to rejoice; When God sorts out the weather and sends rain — Why, rain’s my choice.” — James Whitcomb Riley

Listen well, O child of reflection, for these gentle yet profound words from James Whitcomb Riley, the “Hoosier Poet,” carry the quiet strength of contentment — a strength far rarer than courage in battle or triumph in ambition. Riley, a man of humble spirit and simple wisdom, lived close to the heart of the people. His poetry, warm with humor and humanity, celebrated the beauty in ordinary life. When he said, “It’s just as cheap and easy to rejoice,” he was teaching that happiness is not found in circumstance, but in the soul’s choice to accept what life brings with gratitude instead of complaint.

The origin of this quote lies in the late 19th century, a time when life was slower but no less uncertain. Riley grew up in the farmlands of Indiana, where each season was both gift and gamble. The farmer could plant with hope, but the weather — the great equalizer — was beyond his control. A storm could destroy the harvest; a drought could starve it. Yet in the heart of the wise farmer, Riley saw a lesson for all humanity: we cannot command the skies, but we can choose our response to their moods. Hence his cheerful defiance — “When God sends rain, rain’s my choice.” It was not resignation, but reverence; not indifference, but peace.

To grumble and complain is the reflex of the unguarded heart — it spills easily, like water from a cracked jar. But to rejoice in all things, even the unwanted rain, is the act of one who has mastered himself. Riley’s insight calls us to this mastery. For every day, the winds of fate bring storms — disappointments, delays, losses. Yet what does complaint earn us, except weariness? It is, as he said, “no use.” But joy, that stubborn light within, costs nothing and gives much. The rain, which others curse, may be the very thing that nourishes unseen roots in our lives.

Think, O listener, of Viktor Frankl, the man who survived the horrors of the concentration camps. Surrounded by suffering, stripped of freedom, he found one truth that no tyrant could steal: the power to choose one’s attitude. In that hellish place, some chose despair, and others chose to remain human — to share bread, to comfort the dying, to hope. Frankl wrote that even when everything is taken from a man, one thing remains — “the last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s own way.” This, too, is Riley’s message. Though we cannot change the rain, we can choose to call it a blessing.

The rain itself, in Riley’s verse, is not merely weather — it is a symbol of life’s inevitabilities, those moments we wish away. The sun is joy, but the rain is growth. A life of perpetual sunshine would soon become a desert. So it is with the soul: comfort may make us soft, but struggle deepens our roots. When we learn to say, “Rain’s my choice,” we align ourselves with wisdom — with the truth that every season has its purpose, even those that sting. Gratitude transforms adversity into abundance, turning sorrow into the soil from which understanding blooms.

Let this then be the lesson you carry: do not waste your spirit in complaint. When hardship comes, do not curse it — greet it as a messenger of growth. Say, “This, too, is part of my becoming.” Practice gratitude even in difficulty. Each time you are tempted to grumble, remember Riley’s laughter in the face of storm. Ask yourself, “Can I rejoice instead?” For joy is not naïve; it is brave. It is the soul’s declaration that no darkness can rule over it.

And so, my friend, when God sorts out the weather, and sends you both sun and storm, greet each with the same open heart. Let not the clouds dim your faith, for even rain carries light unseen. Say as Riley did — not in bitterness, but in faith — “Rain’s my choice.” For the one who welcomes all things with peace has found the secret of enduring joy: that the weather of the world matters little, when the sky within the heart forever shines.