Dear LPG readers,

Sometimes you can’t help reading some of the articles on the LPG pages without feeling the need to add a comment or two, and that is precisely what happened when I read what NF had to say on the subject of bad habits (►►►).  

Having reviewed the list he left us, I came to the same conclusion as him. Some are undeniably bad, but quite a few only become bad when we overindulge. 

Looking closely at his list, I found several overlapping categories of misdemeanours depending on the guilty person. 

There are the ones we do even though we know we are going to do wrong before we get started, which includes buying things that we don’t need and can’t afford, annoying people on purpose, eating when you are bored and not answering the phone (now that we can tell who is on the other end before we pick it up). 

Some things seriously affect the people around us, like being late, finishing their sentences, criticising them, and, perhaps worst of all, borrowing things and not returning them (especially money).

There are the awful ones that you do before your brain even registers that you have done it again, and I suggest swearing, picking your nose, eavesdropping when you find yourself in the right place at the right time, fidgeting, and biting your fingernails are perfect examples of those.

And the things that do you no good even though you keep on doing them: overthinking, skipping meals, watching too much television, leaving your things in random places and not being able to find them when you want them next time, and taking your bad mood out on the people close to you do you no good either. 

 NF suggested that, armed with and utilising the knowledge to know which ones not to touch with a barge pole, having an indulgence day now and then with a like-minded friend or two while throwing a pre-determined amount of caution to the wind can be a good thing, and I agree.  We nearly all do them anyway, so perhaps permitting ourselves to indulge occasionally might well get that need that we all feel when we decide that we can’t do whatever it is, well and truly out of our systems, has got to be a way forward.   

But I have another radical idea: make the occasional effort to give up that personal bad habit that annoys you the most for a day or even an hour at a time. If it is not too individual to admit to, get a friend involved by getting them to remind you as soon as they notice that you have gone there. Getting them to join you in your challenge might be the therapy you both need. 

Two things to remember, though. 

1. If they will join you in such a venture, you need to be ready to do the same for them sometimes…

2. It is essential not to forget that you can also work at the reverse sometimes and get some of the more positive habits addressed between you, too.  

 All you have to do is pick a time and get started… 

KU, Ladywell.