MY 10 COMMANDMENTS: THE RESULTS

"I can resist anything except temptation," Oscar Wilde.

This past week I thought it would be healthy to set myself a few challenges for the sake of semi-serious self-improvement.  My ‘commandments’ included NOT being late for work; hitting the snooze button; bitching about customers; ordering takeaway; eating confectionery; succumbing to road rage; being stroppy with the boyfriend; swearing; skipping my skincare routine or telling a fib.

I had originally intended to talk about the reasons why I slipped up a few times, but to be perfectly honest I failed so miserably on most accounts that my findings will need to be much broader.  So here are 5 things I learned from my commandments:

1)  I have a talent for cheating.  Instead of hitting snooze, I woke up at 7.29am (alarm set for 7.30am) and re-set my alarm for half an hour later.  So technically I did not hit the snooze button.  But did this result in me getting out of bed any earlier than usual? No, no it did not.

2) Surprisingly, I found it far easier to stick to my personality-improving goals.  Every time I found myself being tempted to complain about difficult customers, grumble about ‘Sunday drivers’ or tell a little white lie, I resisted.  The only exception to this theory came in the form of being stroppy with my boyfriend.  For the first few days, whenever he did something slightly irritating, I decided to remain quiet.  Unfortunately, all this achieved was him asking me ‘are you ok?’ a thousand times, which of course only exacerbated my ire.  As it turns out, my occasional short temper is conducive to improved communication between myself and my other half and, as neither of us is adept at holding grudges, helps iron out little behavioural niggles.  

3) When Oscar Wilde claimed ‘I can resist anything except temptation,’ he might as well have been talking about my relationship with confectionery.  The second I placed a limitation on my intake of sugary goodness, every single cupcake and biscuit I came within a ten mile radius of became irresistible.  I also found myself craving takeaway more than usual!

4) A week of dedicated skin-care and less chewing-nail-naughtiness works wonders.  My skin is currently blemish free and my nails have never looked better!

5) Pub quizzes induce potty-mouth.  My competitive nature and a few glasses of wine possibly conspired against my good verbal intentions on Wednesday night…

All in all, I am glad that I find it relatively easy to be a good person but I could probably do with a bit of work in the will-power department.

What would your 10 Commandments be?