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Something interesting happened to the people at Christ Church Unity in North Kansas City a few years ago.

Their pastor, the Rev. Will Bowen, challenged them to go 21 days without complaining. They were given purple bracelets and if they caught themselves complaining, they were to move the bracelet to the next wrist and start their count all over again.

While the people at acomplaintfreeworld.org say it actually can take between four and 10 months to make it a whole 21 days without complaining, gossiping or being critical, the movement has caught on across the world. According to the organization, which operates as a non-profit, non-religious entity, 4,954,938 bracelets have been distributed.

Here’s how it works: First, you wear the bracelet on either wrist. When you start complaining and realize it, switch the bracelet to the other wrist and start all over again.

So how do you know when you’re actually complaining? According to the group’s Web site, “To ‘complain’ is defined as ‘to express pain, grief, or discontent.’”

Complaining has the result of putting your focus on the problem “and, thereby, attracting more pain, grief and discontent,” the organization says. “Instead, think and talk about what you are grateful for. Talk about what you do want and not what you don’t want.”

We chatted with the Rev. Bowen recently to get his take on the success of the program and how you can apply it to your life. For more information on becoming complaint-free, go to www.acomplaintfreeworld.org.

QUESTION

Easter is a time of resurrection. Is this a good time to become complaint-free?

ANSWER

Well, you can totally resurrect your life ... you can draw to you what is good. To me, it is the essence of resurrection.

QUESTION

What affect have you seen this program have on people?

ANSWER

We had one man who suffered from chronic migraines who stopped talking about his headaches because that was complaining and, as a result, he has no more migraines.

QUESTION

What does a complaint-free world look like?

ANSWER

A world of gratitude, a world of looking around at what is good and letting that be your focus and your intention.

QUESTION

What do you recommend people do instead of complaining?

ANSWER

It’s not complaining to go directly and only to the person who can solve the issue.

The Rev. Bowen says, for instance, that when you go to a restaurant and your soup is cold, instead of complaining to everyone at the table around you, tell the waiter. Some people, he says, feel that complaining is healthy and that they’re just “getting it out.”

“No, you’re not getting it out,” he says. “You’re just spreading it around.”