Will Bowen, a Kansas City minister, has designed an innovative tool in the fight against negativity, murmuring, and complaining. It comes in the form of a simple purple bracelet, which he first offered to his congregation with a challenge to go 21 days without complaining. Each time one of them complained, they had to switch the bracelet to their other wrist and start again from day one.
“It was simple but effective metacognitive awareness training,” reports Tim Ferriss of the HUFFINGTON POST. “The effects were immediate and life-changing.”
Complaining, Bowen suggests in his book A COMPLAINT FREE WORLD, is a habit which can be broken. And once broken, one can be liberated to enjoy a life of greater gratitude, contentment and happiness.
According to his website, his idea struck a real chord. His organization has, to date, distributed more than 10 million purple Complaint-Free bracelets to people in over 100 different countries.
Research has found it can take as little as 21 days to replace an old habit with a new one. Switching the bracelet from one wrist to the other after each complaint, until the bracelet eventually stays put for 21 days, is a simple and easy exercise that yields huge rewards.
As Pastor Bowen puts it, “Don’t be an ouch looking for a hurt.” Break the habit of whining and complaining about life. Take the 21-day challenge to help reset your mind’s default setting from the negative to the positive. As you speak fewer and fewer negative words, you’ll generate fewer and fewer negative thoughts.
“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people” (Philippians 2:14-15, NLT).
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Note: You don’t have to order the purple bracelets to take the challenge. Any easy-on/easy-off band will do. Our church used Dollar Store jelly bracelets. Others have used string friendship bracelets or even loose fitting rubber bands. The power isn’t in the bracelet; it’s in the resolve!
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[Original illustration at this number was a duplicate of HolwickID #22648]