Rituals are powerful

I used to bite my nails. It has been the hardest bad habit to shake by far. I had been doing it for years, and it would be so bad that my mother would try to scare me when I was a child. She told me that I would lose my fingers if I kept going. I knew that she was probably right, but I still could not stop.

I tried all the tricks, like that disgusting transparent nail polish designed to discourcage nail-biting by making your nails taste like chemicals. It would work for a while, but it never worked for good. At best, I once stopped for a month. Still, one stressful moment was enough to be right back where I started. So I gave up. I accepted I would lose a finger someday, and maybe that would finally be the moment I stop.

Then I met my partner. She also pointed out that I should really…