Solid Walrus Sound
Does anybody get the reference? I'll give a hint. Katherine Heigl says it.
All right. It's that time again. Time for me to stop disappointing my readers. It's been twenty-two days!
Do you have a habit? Of course you do. Everybody has habits. Good habits, like brushing your teeth twice a day, and remembering to wear deodorant. Do you have bad habits? We all have those too. I have a bad habit of leaving dirty dishes places: on my desk, in the sink. I just get caught up in doing whatever else I was doing as I was eating or drinking. (I also have this habit of multitasking. Because I get bored just eating, or just reading. I have to watch something too, or listen to music. Sometimes I get bored while watching TV and grab a magazine.)
I used to chew on my fingernails. (My sister sometimes still chews on her fingers, despite me and my other sister repeatedly telling her not to.) One day, my grandma said to me, "You really shouldn't do that. It's bad for your nails." And I stopped. Yeah, just like that. Habits aren't usually so hard to break, but if you hit them just right, it's easier than you might think.
I used to steal things. I mean, I never stole anything worth more than a few dollars (that I can remember), but still, I stole things. I'm pretty ashamed of it now. But then, it didn't feel wrong. I think I knew it was. I'd steal gum and candy from convenience stores, just because I wanted it. Dad caught me one time (I didn't do it often), and took it from me. He said that stealing was wrong and I shouldn't do it anymore. Or I'm sure he said something like that; I can't remember the actual conversation taking place. But he's a good dad like that.
My mom really got me, though. We went to a friend's house. They were pretty well-off, so when I saw some cute doll's clothes, I didn't think it would matter if I took some. So I put them in my pocket. That night my mom saw them and I had to tell her where I'd gotten them. She told me I would have to give them back to the girl and tell her I was sorry. I was a shy kid. I didn't talk to anybody, so to have to do that was terrifying. And I've never stolen anything ever again. Even sometimes when people tell me I can have things, but they're not around when I take them, I feel anxious, like I have to call them back in so they can see me taking the things and tell me it's okay.
We have a lot of habits. Good ones and bad ones. I'm sure you're thinking of yours right now. And how about the more social aspect of habits: how others feel about them. You know some of these reactions as pet peeves. Oh, I have a lot of pet peeves. What are some of yours? Are some of them a little hypocritical? Be honest! I get really annoyed when people sing along to a song they don't know, or think they know it, but the lyrics are wrong. I wish they'd stop. But I do the same thing. When learning a song, that's what we do.
There is one habit, a habit I've been thinking about since I started this. It's one that bothers me more than any other, that harms everyone, and one I just don't understand. It's smoking. I try not to judge smokers. I try not to think of it as a reflection of their character. What really reflects their character is the way they react to my telling them not to smoke. My mom gets defensive. She tells me it's not doing anything to her, that all of these people smoke and nothing happens to them either. She tells me this after she's just finished coughing for three minutes straight. She just can't seem to stop coughing and catch her breath. Others tell me they've been meaning to quit, but it's too hard. "I really want to, but I can't."
Besides being a literally nasty habit, I can't help thinking of smoking as being a weak habit. When you smoke, you accept, even embrace, the idea that you can't handle the idea of whatever it is you're facing without the help of a cigarette. You are essentially accepting the fact that you are weak. And that you don't need to be strong.
All right. It's that time again. Time for me to stop disappointing my readers. It's been twenty-two days!
Do you have a habit? Of course you do. Everybody has habits. Good habits, like brushing your teeth twice a day, and remembering to wear deodorant. Do you have bad habits? We all have those too. I have a bad habit of leaving dirty dishes places: on my desk, in the sink. I just get caught up in doing whatever else I was doing as I was eating or drinking. (I also have this habit of multitasking. Because I get bored just eating, or just reading. I have to watch something too, or listen to music. Sometimes I get bored while watching TV and grab a magazine.)
I used to chew on my fingernails. (My sister sometimes still chews on her fingers, despite me and my other sister repeatedly telling her not to.) One day, my grandma said to me, "You really shouldn't do that. It's bad for your nails." And I stopped. Yeah, just like that. Habits aren't usually so hard to break, but if you hit them just right, it's easier than you might think.
I used to steal things. I mean, I never stole anything worth more than a few dollars (that I can remember), but still, I stole things. I'm pretty ashamed of it now. But then, it didn't feel wrong. I think I knew it was. I'd steal gum and candy from convenience stores, just because I wanted it. Dad caught me one time (I didn't do it often), and took it from me. He said that stealing was wrong and I shouldn't do it anymore. Or I'm sure he said something like that; I can't remember the actual conversation taking place. But he's a good dad like that.
My mom really got me, though. We went to a friend's house. They were pretty well-off, so when I saw some cute doll's clothes, I didn't think it would matter if I took some. So I put them in my pocket. That night my mom saw them and I had to tell her where I'd gotten them. She told me I would have to give them back to the girl and tell her I was sorry. I was a shy kid. I didn't talk to anybody, so to have to do that was terrifying. And I've never stolen anything ever again. Even sometimes when people tell me I can have things, but they're not around when I take them, I feel anxious, like I have to call them back in so they can see me taking the things and tell me it's okay.
We have a lot of habits. Good ones and bad ones. I'm sure you're thinking of yours right now. And how about the more social aspect of habits: how others feel about them. You know some of these reactions as pet peeves. Oh, I have a lot of pet peeves. What are some of yours? Are some of them a little hypocritical? Be honest! I get really annoyed when people sing along to a song they don't know, or think they know it, but the lyrics are wrong. I wish they'd stop. But I do the same thing. When learning a song, that's what we do.
There is one habit, a habit I've been thinking about since I started this. It's one that bothers me more than any other, that harms everyone, and one I just don't understand. It's smoking. I try not to judge smokers. I try not to think of it as a reflection of their character. What really reflects their character is the way they react to my telling them not to smoke. My mom gets defensive. She tells me it's not doing anything to her, that all of these people smoke and nothing happens to them either. She tells me this after she's just finished coughing for three minutes straight. She just can't seem to stop coughing and catch her breath. Others tell me they've been meaning to quit, but it's too hard. "I really want to, but I can't."
Besides being a literally nasty habit, I can't help thinking of smoking as being a weak habit. When you smoke, you accept, even embrace, the idea that you can't handle the idea of whatever it is you're facing without the help of a cigarette. You are essentially accepting the fact that you are weak. And that you don't need to be strong.
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