Personal policies

[pegkerr]

Here's a pretty interesting meme for which kiwiria tagged me:

"My Personal Policies

I think it would be safe to say that we all have personal rules that we live by. Surely it's not just ME. I'm not talking about moral rules, like "Do not kill." I'm talking about the silly policies we impose on ourselves, like "Never eat anything you can't identify," or "Don't step on sidewalk cracks." For some reason, I started mentally listing the quirky rules I follow and got curious about other people's personal rules."

Here are some of mine:

1. I have to have my neck covered by something when I go to sleep. I don't care how hot it is: I have to have at least a sheet tucked up over my body. Rob teases me that I do it to keep the vampires away.

2. I have to sleep on my left side. (Ever since my pregnancies, if I sleep on my back, my hands and feet fall asleep, and if I try to sleep on my right side I get heartburn.)

3. I don't allow myself to feel guilty for anything that happened over seven years ago. I call this my "Statute of Limitations" rule. I have a highly developed sense of guilt in general, but I read once that you replace every cell in your body (well, aside from some in the nervous system) within seven years. So I reason that I'm entirely different person than I was when x happened. If I ever start thinking about something and flailing myself about it, once I realize it happened over seven years ago, I tell myself, "Statute of Limitations, Peg. Drop it." And I move on.

4. I don't allow myself to have sexual fantasies about people I know in real life. *blushes*

5. I check e-mail first thing when I get up in the morning and first thing whenever I get home.

6. The dishes should be done every night before going to bed. (Unfortunately, the way that chores break down in our household, Rob is generally in charge of dishes since I cook, and he doesn't see eye-to-eye with me about this policy at all. The source of pretty frequent frustration.)

7. I try not to bad mouth people behind their back. And if I have a problem or conflict with someone else, I think it is important to go to them and work it out rather than kvetch about the problem to other people. I thank elisem for helping me to understand this as part of my personal morality.

8. My teeth must be brushed. And if any food gets lodged in those little crevices in the back by my impacted wisdom teeth (pretty much a daily occurrence), as soon as possible I use the little mouth irrigator that my dentist gave me to flush them out. I have one in my desk, one in my purse and one in the drawer of my bathroom so I can do this wherever I am.

9. If one of my fingernails cracks or chips, I immediately cut all ten fingernails off so that they will all be the same length.

10. I don't wear heels over two inches in height.

I'll add more as I think of them.

I tag kijjohnson, pazlazuli, jbru, naomikritzer and huladavid and anyone else who wants to play. If you do, leave a comment.

Comments

[kiwiria.livejournal.com]

Thanks for playing along, that was fun to read!

I like your Statute of Limitations. I shall have to try to implement that myself.

[skylarker.livejournal.com]

I like the statute of limitations rule, too. It makes a lot of sense.

[beetiger.livejournal.com]

3. I don't allow myself to feel guilty for anything that happened over seven years ago. I call this my "Statute of Limitations" rule. I have a highly developed sense of guilt in general, but I read once that you replace every cell in your body (well, aside from some in the nervous system) within seven years. So I reason that I'm entirely different person than I was when x happened.

This is awesome. I'm going to try to pick this up from you.

[lcohen]

yes, i was going to say exactly this.

[madam-silvertip.livejournal.com]

I never thought of it this way before, and it's an excellent idea.

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

One of my personal policies is that if I go up to a counter at a store (or the like) the person on the other side has 30 seconds to acknowledge my presence somehow or another. It can be a head nod, or a "hang on a second" gesture. If I don't get anything, I leave 'cuz I figure it's better than me standing there stewing like a Minnesotan.

[http://users.livejournal.com/anam_cara_/]

Personal Policy, or just a Quirk... I cannot abide feet on pillows. I don't want to lay my head where someone else's feet have been. This means I'm always pulling the couch throw pillows out from under certain, ahem, male family members who don't seem to care much about my personal policy.

[jbru.livejournal.com]

I'll have to think on this one, but it sounds like a fun distraction.

You might want to try sleeping on your right side after your gall bladder is out.

[whiskeychick.livejournal.com]

I always sleep on my left side, too. Habit I picked up after being pregnant and following my 2 spinal procedures.

I was reared with the dishes done before bed rule. But my great-grandma had instituted that on the consequence of nightmares. hehe. But it's still pretty well maintained in our house.

Beyond that I would have to think.....

I do like your "Statute of Limitations" rule.

Makes perfect sense! I need to try it!

[pazlazuli.livejournal.com]

So every 7 years one is a totally new person - that is cool! It is good too, because I stumbled about alot in my youth.
Fun post to read!

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

My sister is convinced that she has asymmetric ears because she has always slept on the same side. It is true that one of her ears sticks out a bit more than the other.

[kijjohnson.livejournal.com]

Cool, I'm on it.

[nickel234.livejournal.com]

I posted mine in my LJ. :) It was fun!

[skg.livejournal.com]

I don't allow myself to feel guilty for anything that happened over seven years ago. I call this my "Statute of Limitations" rule. I have a highly developed sense of guilt in general, but I read once that you replace every cell in your body (well, aside from some in the nervous system) within seven years. So I reason that I'm entirely different person than I was when x happened. If I ever start thinking about something and flailing myself about it, once I realize it happened over seven years ago, I tell myself, "Statute of Limitations, Peg. Drop it." And I move on.

Ooh! I like this one (having an overdeveloped sense of guilt myself). May I adopt this?

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Certainly, be my guest.