Daily Prompt 4/365: Tell us about something you’ve tried to quit. Did you go cold turkey, or for gradual change? Did it stick?
Pop.
I used to bite my nails down to the quick. The skin of my fingertips was usually swollen, at least a couple of hangnails would be sore or bleeding, and it seemed for a while that nothing could stop me chewing them.
Crack.
When I was old enough to start wanting to paint my nails, my mother told me I’d have to stop biting them first. Easy, I said. I’ll stop right now.
And I did.
My nails never fully recovered – they are thin and break easily, some of them grow wonky – but I haven’t bitten them in almost twenty years.
Pop.
Of course, now I’ve got a new habit. From morning to night, my knuckles, knees, neck and toes are bent and pushed and flexed until that ever-satisfying CRACK rings out.
I wait a few minutes, maybe an hour, and they’re ready again.
So much better than waiting for nails to grow out.
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