It's another bright day and thank God it's a Friday. Work starts today as usual and it starts right here! Yesterday was a beautiful day as I took time out to pimp my weblog in my own little way and after a while, I logged onto my facebook chat.
I was happy to see my sister-Gbemi online and out of excitement, I asked her if she has seen my blog. She confessed it was a beautiful page but typical of my lil' sister, she didn't forget to mention the fact that my childhood habit was evident in the picture. She suggested that i should either crop off my fingernails or remove the picture from the page. I paused for a while and thought to myself...this should be a topic for my blogging tomorrow
I was happy to see my sister-Gbemi online and out of excitement, I asked her if she has seen my blog. She confessed it was a beautiful page but typical of my lil' sister, she didn't forget to mention the fact that my childhood habit was evident in the picture. She suggested that i should either crop off my fingernails or remove the picture from the page. I paused for a while and thought to myself...this should be a topic for my blogging tomorrow
As children, we developed some habits which appear in many different forms. Many people engage in some degree of habitlike behavior in their lifetime. For example, habits can range from seemingly benign behaviors, such as nail biting, thumb sucking or foot tapping, to more noticeable physically damaging behaviors, such as teeth grinding (bruxism) and hair pulling. Fortunately, many childhood habits are benign, they are considered a normal part of development, they do not meet the criteria for a disorder, and they typically remit untreated.
Onychophagia or nail-biting is the habit I developed as a child. I was such an addicted "eater" that mine almost lasted a decade. It bothered my dad a lot as I grew up and he did all he could to stop me. He was hell-bent on stopping me because he thought it wasn't a good habit for a girl who would someday grow into a lady. Dad went as far as painting all my fingernails with an antimicrobial agent called Gentian Violet(G.V.) which is a green crystal (violet in water) used as a dye and for the treatment of burns. The solution colours the skin purple and as addicted as I was to my habit, the scary colour didn't stop me from biting my nails.
I continued biting for years and when I grew older, I became conscious of it and decided it was time to let go. I resolved to fixing articial nails which would cover up my natural fingers. I stopped fixing artificial nails after a while, as it obviously did more harm than good because of the chemicals used in gluing the nails. I haven't given up completely on artificail nails though, but I only fix them on rare occasions and I am now striving hard to groom my God-given nails.It's quite difficult because of the damage I did in the past.
tI woke up this morning with the thought that I would obey my sweet sister who is a fashion icon and either crop off my"beautiful" fingernails or remove the picture completely and just then, the words of La Rochefoucauld flashed through my mind...
"Some beautiful things are indeed more impressive when left imperfect than when too highly finished.”
The picture has been left to show my imperfection. I don't blame my lil' sister who wants everything about me to be beautiful, I blame our society who is obsessed with being beautiful on the outside and forgetting that there is more to beauty, than what meets the eye. We tend to establish standards and criteria that constitutes beauty and we forget that God has created us all to be equal and he made us all beautifully.
To my dearest sister- Gbemisola, I love you so much and I appreciate the fact that you are proud of me. You've said countless times that I am a beautiful "orobo" but always remember to say my fingernails are beautiful too and they will get more and more beautiful by the day as God gives me the grace to totally kill my old habit.
To my readers out there, struggling with one habit or the other, all you need is the grace of God, don't give up. Keep praying for the grace to let go of it and I can assure you that victory is certain.
Before I forget, this is a Birthday wish to the following friends on facebook ....
GBEMISOLA ADENEYE-BADEJO- A birthday is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip and may all the blessings of the journey be yours. Happy Birthday!
BUKKIE OMOYAJOWO-Because time itself is like a spiral, something special happens on your birthday each year: The same energy that God invested in you at birth is present once again. May God invest such blessings into your life this year. Have a beautiful day!
TOLU OLU-IKHUMI- As you celebrate this year in the joy motherhood, May His joy never cease from your household. Congrats on the birth of your son and have a lovely birthday.
