I recently stumbled upon something that really hit home. There is a man by the name of Will Bowen. Back in 2006, he was teaching a class on prosperity. While teaching this class he came to realize that people all would like prosperity in their lives, but most complained about what they already had.
He goes on to define a complaint as “an energetic statement that focuses on the problem at hand, rather than the resolution sought.” Will handed out 250 purple bracelets to those that he was speaking to, and introduced them as complaint free bracelets. Each time you would complain, the bracelet would be switched to the opposite wrist. The goal was to go twenty-one days without complaining, and to then notice the difference in your life. Will wrote a book, talks to organizations all over the world, has distributed hundreds of thousands of these purple bracelets to 106 or so countries around the world. He is in high demand and I believe his concept is brilliant.
Just simply hearing this story called my attention to complaining. I started to notice complaining like neon billboards in Las Vegas. I noticed when other people were complaining about whatever and Lord knows what else. I noticed that it was all the time that people were complaining. Then, I began to notice that I was complaining too. It was infecting everyone. It was all over like a plague. Then, I started to think about how I felt when I complained, and it feels kind of like when a big dark cloud goes over the sun. I thought about how I felt when someone else complained, and it made me feel like they slipped down a snowy hill and grabbed onto my clothes and pulled me down with them. We were both worse off because of that.
If you take this complaining thing and dissect it a bit more, it comes down to positive and negative. If I complain, I put negative energy out there for everyone, including myself, to deal with. Day after day of this from all of us doesn’t put us in a favorable place. It makes it pretty hard to get things done. The opposite of this would be the positive approach. This would lead you to either proposing a solution to the current situation, not talking, or generating something positive to talk about. In order for this to happen, a mental raquetball match has to take place. You can’t think the same way. You must change the way you think, and I think this is where the juice is. We all have positive and negative thoughts that go through our mind. What we do with those is up to us. We truly are the captains of our own fate. Anything is possible. I believe in the statement “10% of life is what happens to you, 90% is how you respond to it.”
I am not telling you to get a purple bracelet. I am not saying to drink the Anti-Complaint Kool-Aid or to buy this book. Although, all of these things I believe can be very productive. I am asking you to think about the energy you put out there. Think about the effect of what you say on those around you. Think about the effect of your words on you, if nothing else. Think about how your thoughts steer your words. I remember many days where I have thought myself into a dark cloudy cold cave of self loathing. I also remember the days that I have thought myself into a sunbathed paradise of glory, all from in between my two ears. It’s amazing what you can do with your mind. Its our greatest tool, and our greatest enemy. It’s yours to use as you wish.
Thanks, Will, for getting after it, and leading the charge for the positive.
Danny Lesslie
@dannylesslie
1/13/16 WOD
8 x 1 Banded Conventional Deadlifts
*Every 30 seconds
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“DIANE”
Complete the following for time:
21-15-9
Deadlifts (225/135)
Handstand Push Ups
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Accessory:
2 x 100’ DB Death March