De Soto ? The purple bracelet has moved back and forth from Kay Speed’s right wrist to her left wrist.

Since she started wearing it, Speed has switched the bracelet to her opposite wrist more than 10 times.

The bracelet reads “A complaint free world,” on one side and “spirit” on the other and is a reminder for Speed to avoid gossip or complaining.

“I’m a complainer myself,” she said. “My main goal was to change myself.”

The complaint-free bracelets have been featured on the “Oprah” and “Today” shows and in “People” magazine. Christ Church Unity in Kansas City, Mo., distributes them. The object is to wear the bracelet for 21 days straight without complaining. If a complaint is made, the wearer has to switch the bracelet to the other wrist.

Speed said she heard about the bracelets from television segments and got the idea to bring them to De Soto.

“I thought it was a really good idea to do at our church,” she said.

So Speed ordered 200 bracelets to distribute mostly at the De Soto United Methodist Church.

Speed has passed out about 60 bracelets at church and about 20 others around town. She said she hoped the bracelets would help others remember to think before they speak.

“This is a small town, and there is a lot of gossiping that goes on in a small town,” she said.

However, not everyone is on board with the idea.

“I’ve had several people tell me that they didn’t want to try it, that they couldn’t do it,” Speed said.

Even Speed’s husband and children haven’t made the commitment. She still hopes to get the message out, but she doesn’t want people to try it if they’re unwilling.

“It doesn’t hurt to try,” she said. “You’re not a failure if you do complain. The point is to make you realize how often you do complain, criticize or gossip.”

Wearing the bracelet already has changed her thought process, Speed said.

“I’ve really thought about (not complaining) because I see that bracelet on my arm,” she said. “When I get upset about something I see that and I think about that consciously.”

Charles and Becky Miller decided to try the bracelets when Speed passed them out at church.

“It just seemed like a fun idea to try it to see how well we could do,” Becky Miller said. “It was sort of like a challenge.”

Soon she realized she was complaining a lot about the small stuff.

“It really showed me how much complaining I do without even realizing,” Becky Miller said. “Mostly I complain about the weather.”

Since she started wearing it a month ago, Miller said the longest she went without switching the bracelet was three days.

Her husband has a better track record.

“I’ve actually made it almost a week once,” Charles Miller said.

Becky Miller said wearing the bracelet as a reminder not to complain made her a better Christian.

“It reinforces all those things that we know and we just don’t practice well,” she said.

Her husband agreed, saying that it helped those who wear it to lead a better life.

“It goes back to trying to live a positive life, and I think that is the whole thing,” Charles Miller said. “If you do that, then the complaining will stop.”