Secrets to putting up with annoying habits.

I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules or even solutions regarding how to endure bad habits, especially from those you love, but you can choose how you react.

Bad habits belong to everyone. I myself have chewed my fingernails on and off since I was nine years old and have never really been able to stop the digits from entering my mouth over the course of every single day. I also jump in on family and friends and finish their sentences if I feel it’s taking too long to get their point across. I’m impatient like that.

But, when it comes to the bad habits of those around us, it’s easy to nit-pick at their failings rather than take a massive look inwards. For example, my hubby is amazing in so many respects. He’s kind, protective, intelligent and often quite thoughtful, but he can also leave the wet mat on the bathroom floor which tends to drive me batshit crazy. He also never hangs his towel up straight, never makes the bed, throws his dirty clothes next to the laundry basket rather than in it and uses every cup, plate, bowl and spoon in the kitchen rather than re-cycling.

I’ve truly thought about murdering him on many occasions, but instead of committing myself to life imprisonment, I decided to alter my perception of his bad habits. Because let’s face it, nagging never changes a bloody thing. First off, I had to decide if the wet floor mat was that big of a deal when I have plenty of other dry ones in the cupboard. Could I scoop up the clothes and pop them in the basket as I walked past and we have a dishwasher so is it really a drama that he empties the cupboards?

The answer was staring me in the face. His bad habits are bad habits that I’ve imposed upon him. He was quick to remind me that I cut my fingernails on the couch, never put the rubbish out and force him to eat vegetarian when he’s a carnivore. The point is, our perspective interprets what is and isn’t a bad habit and although some things simply annoy or aren’t that good for us, how we react to each and every situation depends on whether or not it’s bothersome or not that big of a deal.

Kristy 😀