Guest post by: LESTER TAGA CAPAS
Drinking, smoking, going AWOL, littering and similar transgressions are bad habits that you have to get rid of.
The list of possible vices and bad habits is a long one, so we will mainly focus on the most common ones. Drinking and smoking.
These are just some of the many things adults and teenagers attempt to justify based on their mentality of living life only once or whatever argument they may have in defence of their vices.
It is true that you live only once and how you live it is your choice. But you must remember that everything you do will one day come back to haunt you.
I’m not telling you that drinking or smoking is a bad thing because I have never done it. I am no saint. But what I am is someone who has been there and knows the consequences of past actions.
How long will you dwell in that mistake before it gets the chance to deliver an untimely coup de grace?
People often justify a vice by saying “not everyone gets sick because of it.” Well, Genius, what if you are part of the percentage that does?
Whether or not you give up a vice or bad habit is up to you but you have been warned. Here are some tips on how to break a bad habit.
1. Find alternatives.
People often reason out that they smoke to relax themselves. Even if they’ve been smoking 30 sticks straight for only half the day.
If you smoke in public, not only are you burdening other people with something you may find relaxing but they find disgusting. Have a little shame.
To smoke is a choice; you can relieve stress by listening to relaxing music, eating a little chocolate. Looking at a picture of someone you love.
Looking for something beautiful to take your mind off things. You’re a narrow minded person if you pick the worst out of the many alternatives simply because a little stick is BIGGER THAN YOU. Those cancer sticks may one day be the death of you.
Why does it have to be an alcoholic beverage? Do you need to be intoxicated to have fun? Why not a healthy fruit juice?
Not only is a fruit juice good for your health it allows you to be lively and less prone to outbursts in a conversation. The only real reward alcoholic beverages get you are hangovers and those are only a mild consequence.
If people dare you to drink and submit you to peer pressure questioning your trust, remind them that friends respect each other’s choices towards the better.
It is better to be alone than to have alcoholic liver cirrhosis together.
2. Find peace of mind.
Never allow yourself to be subject of peer pressure be it by your co-workers or your neighbors.
Remember that you can still have fun during their drinking sprees by eating the meals that accompany said drinking sprees.
All you have to worry about next are heart problems. You don’t need cancer sticks to relive your hurting head if you are at peace with yourself.
Is this starting to get boring dear reader? Guess what? A quality life lived well is one in good health and for all your talk about how manly it must make you to have vices I hope you know how stupid it also makes one in the long run.
Clear your head by thinking of something better to do other than wallowing in the instruments of sin. Yes Jesus drank!
But he never got drunk did he? Alcoholic beverages will give you the satisfaction of a moment in exchange for what could have been a better life. It is important to stay calm and have a long patience.
3. Build up self-esteem.
It doesn’t make you a sissy to not do what the rest of the group is doing. It only makes you smarter.
You will enjoy your best moments in a group outing if you are doing it with a clear mind free from hangovers the next morning.
Remember to choose friends wisely and walk out on those who bring you only misery. Learn to tell yourself that what you are doing is right each time you refuse a cancer stick or a bottle of hatred.
True friends will accept you and may even follow your healthier lifestyle. A bottle of brandy will make you forget your problems for one night and give you hangovers for an even longer time.
Trust yourself enough to be able to handle problems on your own. If you sleep off a problem it will still be there when your hangover kicks in but if you solve it now you won’t have anything to worry about next time.
4. When you drop it don’t pick it up again.
They say old habits die hard but people with bad habits and vices die early do they not? Sure it is a matter of a chance but you are asking for trouble.
When you are to quit a bad habit don’t do it and leave it that way. Turn to your alternatives whenever you feel like going back to your old ways.
The moment you slip back to your old habits you have done the devil a big favor and he will be the only one clapping when you die. I am not saying that bad habits will send you to hell but if it doesn’t then what does?
Be proud of overcoming your old ways it helps. Before you let yourself get dragged by someone to a vice, slap yourself and maybe it will slap some sense into you.
Treat a vice like a piece of paper put it in a bottle with sand then let it sink to the bottom of the Marianas trench.
Regardless of how much advice you are given the choice is yours – so is the suffering, if you persist.
