Bad habits

I have some really bad habits.

I bite my nails. I pick the skin around my fingers. I mess with my mascara. I have bad posture.

Those are just a few.

I know that none of it is good to do, and it definitely doesn’t make me look good. However, I am a fidgety person, and I don’t know what else to do with my hands.

I’ve tried breaking my bad habits time after time. I get better for a while and then I get stressed and go back to my bad habits. Then I get stuck in the same old circle.

I know that my nail-biting and finger picking makes my hands look bad, and I know that Nate wants me to stop, but it’s hard to give something up without a great reason for it. It’s not like it’s against the law or has harsh consequences, it just is a bad habit.

Why do we pick up bad habits? It’s something to do. It helps relieve stress. We see other people start and follow suit. After doing it for a while, we just get used to it and don’t know how to stop.

That happens with a lot of things in our lives. Little decisions tend to grow and become habits, even when we don’t realize it.

I was thinking today, why should I give up my bad habits? What will really hit home that will make me want to give them up? I tried thinking of how stopping this would glorify God - making me the best person I can be, etc. Nothing really stuck.

Through the years my mom has bribed me to get me to stop biting my nails. Nate has told me how much he wants me to stop picking my fingers. People have prodded me to stand up straight.

I try to do it for a variety of reasons, but then I give up.

I think I need more will power.

Maybe we all do.