DISAGREEABLE HABITS.



NEARLY all the disagreeable habits that people take up, come at first from mere accident or want of thought. They might easily be dropped, but they are persisted in until they become second nature. Stop and think before you allow yourself to form them. There are disagreeable habits of body, like scowling, winking, twisting the mouth, biting the nails, continually picking at something, drumming with the fingers, screwing and twisting a chair, or whatever you can lay your hands on. Don't do any of these things. Learn to sit quietly. 

There are much worse habits than these, to be sure; but we are speaking of very little things that are only annoying when they are persisted in. There are habits of speech, also, such as always beginning with "You see," or "You know," "Now-a, "I don't care," "I tell you what," "Tell you now." Indistinct utterance, sharp nasal tones, a slow drawl, avoid them all. Stop and think what you wish to say, and then let every word drop from your lips just as smooth and perfect as a new silver coin. 

Have a care about your ways of sitting, and standing, and walking. Before you know it, you will find your habits hardened into a coat of mail, that you cannot get rid of without a terrible effort.



 Little Corporal.


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"HABIT" is hard to overcome. If you take off the first letter, it does not change "a bit." If you take off another, you still have a "bit" left. If you take off still another, the whole of "it" remains. If you take off another, it is not "t" totally used up. All of which goes to show that if you wish to be rid of a "habit" you must throw it off altogether.




What about slouching?