A Complaint-Free World

For a long time now, I've wanted to do Will Bowen's project of not complaining for twenty-one consecutive days. I think this project is pretty famous, but if you aren't familiar with it, the idea is to break the habit of rote complaining by consciously trying not to complain for twenty-one consecutive days. You mark the time by wearing a bracelet on one wrist. If by chance you should complain, you move it to the other wrist and start again. 

I think--and I've heard Will Bowen acknowledge--that complaining does serve some useful functions. To me, these would be things like opportunities for commiseration and opportunities for change (if there's a dead cockroach in your soup, it's okay to ask for a different bowl of soup!)

But the purpose is to eliminate the habit of rote complaining, or senseless negativity without reflection or purpose, or, complaining that is somehow inauthentic or insincere and isn't followed by action to change the thing complained about, and so on. (I don't think I do this much?)

The way to eliminate all this unhelpful complaining is to reach three weeks of not having made any complaints, of any kind. 

I did try this once, without Will Bowen's book. But--this is embarrassing--I would keep forgetting why I was wearing the bracelet I had bought to mark the time. So maybe it's important to have the bracelet that comes with Mr. Bowen's book. I think it has a reminder on it--"complaint free world". 

A complaint-free person is rather beautiful.