Six years ago this December, a very young cowboy was preparing for hip surgery. He stumbled across a book at Koelbel library entitled A Complaint Free World by author Will Bowen. The concept outlined in the book seemed simple enough. A person wears a purple wristband and tries to go twenty-one days in a row without complaining, criticizing, or gossiping. If the person engages in any of the three aforementioned actions, he/she must switch the wristband to the other hand and start anew on the quest for twenty-one days in a row. When I used the words ‘simple enough’ above, this idea is actually very challenging. It becomes immediately apparent how prone we all are to getting stuck in negative talk. I’m happy to report that once in the last six years have I been able to achieve not twenty-one days but twenty-eight. Author Richard Swenson wrote a book entitled Margin some years ago. In it, he mentioned the word ‘revertia.’ It means to tendency to revert back to habits of old. I must admit that revertia seems to have the strong pull like a mental magnet……as complaining, criticizing, and gossiping seem to occur so often. This Christmas season, I’m going to try to beat that twenty-eight day record. It might just make this a season to remember.
What You’re Saying