NORMAL LIFE: Nailbiting - Kicking The Habit!

I am particularly proud of myself. In the last year, I have managed to stop biting my fingernails four times. As a self-confessed lifelong nail-biter, I took stock last Summer when a colleague of mine came into my office and, while showing me some papers at my desk, I noticed how sore his nails looked. Realising that my nails were in fact even worse than his, I think seeing somebody else' bad nails gave me the impetus to do something about my own. In that very moment, I got the urge to stop.

However, four times I have 'fallen off the wagon', biting away at my ten digits. I know it sounds disgusting, but I liken it to smoking when, during especially stressful times, those who have recently stopped smoking get an urge to smoke. I guess the same is true for people who try to stop biting their nails after 20-odd years - it's just a gross habit which reveals that human beings have some bizarre weaknesses. Anyway, it's been three weeks since I bit my nails. I'm hoping that 2006 will the year when I finally kick this god-awful habit!