Quit Yer Bitchin'

Yesterday on Hacker News I came across a fascinating little post on going complaint-free for 21 days. Today I'm putting it into action, today is day zero in my personal instance of said experiment. The idea is you wear a bracelet on one arm and the moment you catch yourself complaining, you switch to the other wrist and reset your counter. Thus, it is entirely at your discretion as to what constitutes an error and whether or not you recognize it; your friends' can help too. The blogger wrote his article in September 2007 and "A Complaint Free World", with its purple reminder bracelets, has stuck around.

Rev. Will Bowen of Christ Church Unity in Kansas City, MO was teaching a series on Prosperity. Part of this series was helping the congregation to form a habit of gratitude by going 21-days without complaining. Studies show it takes 21 days for people to form a new habit. In an effort to make the lesson practical, the church purchased purple bracelets and gave them away encouraging them to move the bracelet to the other arm if they caught themselves complaining.

It takes one to two weeks, according to their website, to receive a $1 bracelet; that detail among others I will forgo. A rubber band or the notion itself will suffice. My personal rules center around negative output, not indomitable mental turmoil, and only when the context is non-constructive. Such a challenge presents an increased difficulty to such as whining reveler as myself. Friends have long endured pointless, except for entertainment, monologues focusing intensely on events, technology, or individuals. Think before speaking, and string sentences of substance and solution.

I'm scared or nervous, one or both. There is a cold nugget of doubt in my mind over conscientious capability to control such a seemingly niggling habit. Quelling a part of me, perhaps? Let the competition between impulse and fortitude begin!