No Complaining

For the second time in a year I've begun to wear a simple ponytail holder around my wrist to help remind me to not complain. This idea was passed on to the listeners of Fr. Roderick's "Daily Breakfast" podcast of SQPN (click to link on title of this post). Fr. Roderick explains that a habit can be formed in 21 days. For 21 days one must commit to wearing something about the wrist to remind them to not complain. If they do complain within the 21 days they must switch the band to the other wrist and start the 21 days all over again. Should there be something that really warrants complaining they must commit it to writing and also write out steps they, themselves, can take to make the situation better.

I'm all for this very simple plan and am trying it AGAIN. The first time I tried I lost count of the days as it didn't take root for me within the first 21 days, nor the second, but I really did try! :-) I like the idea of committing the said complaint in writing because for me I can then see that either this issue is so trivial it isn't worth the paper or I can put it in a form where I don't have to disturb the peace of others unless it is really important.

In my house there can be at times a great deal of whining from all around. While I try this exercise for myself at first I will then pass it along to the others as the opportunity presents itself. A particularly Catholic way of doing this is the sacrifice beads of St. Therese. They are a string of ten beads with a crucifix at the end. These teach the children to offer up the little annoyances without complaint by pulling a bead and uniting the sacrifice with Christ crucified for a particular intention for the benefit of others. This is a tangible way for the child to "do something" to reflect the inner struggle. These beads are between themselves and the Lord. In order for the beads to be of benefit the child must understand the meaning of sacrifice and know that these little sacrifices really do matter for the benefit of others.

For the little ones, the first meaning of the word sacrifice comes to them when they must wait on something that isn't coming to them quickly enough to suit their satisfaction. Isn't this a real issue with alot of people in the world today? If we haven't learned that lesson when young we will not be very pleasant to be around when we are older and that is the reason, I suppose, for the necessity of the 21 day "no complaining" wrist band! :-)