My aunt told me years ago that I should learn to curb my laughter. She said I was developing laugh lines around my mouth. So if I must laugh I should just laugh gently. I do not think I took this advice though. I laugh heartily and contagiously. I have cried too much for me to have my laughter taken from me as well...
The laugh lines are worse now though..
Speaking of..my Mum always has one advice or the other as well...and frankly some times I feel persecuted. In retrospect though, there are many things she nagged about that if I'd heeded, my life would be so much more different..
Shoulda..coulda..woulda...I pray against regrets every day. Like let me not realise years down the line that I should have heeded that advice, taken that opportunity, or worse realise that I messed something up irrevocably.
"The gods will not do for us what we can do for ourselves..."
I used to be a nag once upon a time..I am not near as bad as I used to be though. This is more likely because I have stopped caring too much, which I was was once guilty of. Since sometime last year my default mode has been one of indifference. I rarely get excited, or miss anything or anyone, or even look forward to stuff.
Nagging comes from a place of caring too much about someone..or something. Maybe its alright for my Mum to nag or keep harping on stuff, after all she is a 'shareholder' in my life..and its OK for some of my friends too. Like one of them virtually pushed me to further my education, after I'd been procrastinating for four years. And another one is always forcing me to make plans, and would even help me draw up a 5-year plan or 3-month plan or whatever. She scares me at times because she forces me to be accountable and set goals for myself. Even to the extent of asking me how I hope to achieve these goals...
Nagging actually works for some people...probably people like me who could lack self-motivation at times, but for some other more 'serious-minded' people, they take the advice and run with it, no time-wasting.
Maybe its when its done wrongly that it is qualified as nagging. Like how many people can say about you- "I bless God for the day I met you". Whether its because you nagged them to better themselves, or chided them when they were making or about to make mistakes, it may not really matter. What matters in the long run is if they are really wise people, when they reflect on their lives, would you have been a 'You made my life better person', or the 'Help me hold my hair while I throw up from being so drunk person'.
I think it says a lot about our mindset which of our friends or relatives we miss or value in the long run.
Nice. You still nag though.
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