When I realized my time to break a chain was quickly approaching, I thought to myself “what is something really annoying that I do?” After a few thoughtful hours, I came up with the fact that I tend to talk more than I should and that I was tired of hearing my own voice to an extent.

                I told myself that I would take a vow of silence for a month (with the exception of talking to teachers or when a friend directly addressed me). All of my friends thought I was crazy, they doubted that I would last. A few made bets. I wanted to prove them all wrong.

                I failed.

                I lasted, oh, about a week. Even then, I had minor slip-ups. Someone would be having an interesting conversation during PRIDE, and I’d just have to put in my two cents. At the end of the week, I decided I did not, in fact, have the self-control to be silent for an entire month.

                I came up with a new chain that I would break – watching TV. At first, I thought this would be no big deal. As I came to realize I would have to DVR all of my favorite shows, and that the chances of them still being there at the end of the month were slim as my mother is a DVR Nazi, and I became doubtful.

My doubt was overshadowed by my overwhelming need to prove to myself that I can follow through with something. I told myself that the world would not end if I didn’t get to watch the latest episode of Gossip Girl. I could always watch it online.

I found that by cutting TV out of my life, I had more time to focus on other things –such as reading and actually doing my homework. From now on, I plan to not waste nearly as much of my life watching TV as I have in the past.