4 weird life hacks

My new roommate is constantly saying, “UGH! You’re sooo logical!” With a little bit of “I hadn’t thought of it that way – good point” and a lot a bit of “be quiet!” – ha! But, it’s true. I get told that a lot of the time, actually. “Kate, you’re so literal!” And, sometimes, it’s the worst. People don’t understand where I’m coming from. They think I’m just being stubborn. Poetry is hard. But a lot of the time, I like my brain, ha. And through the years, I’ve noticed some weird things I do because my brain logicced them into being the smart way to do things. So, I wanted to share some with you.

As a friend once said – something that’s stuck with me and really meant a lot to me – “Why do you do it that way? I know there’s a reason, but what is it?”

1. paper towels and blow dryer

The quote above happened when my friend asked me why I used both paper towels and hand dryers at the same time. Well, because it dries your hands faster, and then you have something to open the bathroom door with. If I have to use just paper towels, I take three or four to get my hands dry. If I have to use a blow dryer, I end up wiping my hands on my pants, or using my shirt to dry under my watch. But, if I use both, then I only take one paper towel and the heat dries faster. Idk, it just works. Try it.

2. check the seat

I am afraid of looking like a fool. And what’s one of the most foolish things? Having something stuck to your rear because you sat on a dirty chair. (Ok, its not the most foolish, but I still don’t like it.) So, I started the “chair check” amongst my friends in grade school. I might be the only one to continue doing it, but before I sit, I look at my chair to make sure there’s nothing on it. And when it’s a toilet, I also check the toilet paper roll. This is something that you have to consciously do until it becomes second nature. I’ve been saved countless times because of a small glance.

3. my underbite

Ok, this one’s kinda funny. The other day, I was talking with my sister and we were talking about underbites and overbites. She said, “But you do have an underbite.” And I started laughing. I couldn’t help it. The thing is, I don’t have a natural underbite. I have an overbite.

Once, when I was a kid, I was at the dentist and he was talking to my mom over my head about my teeth. He said, “and her overbite isn’t too bad.” And I thought to myself, “If I make myself have an underbite (aka, over-correct), I bet my jaw will start to move forward and eventually sit where it’s supposed to. Then I’ll stop the underbite and have my teeth sit correctly.” So, I started pushing my jar forward, training it to sit where it’s supposed to. And now, all these years later, I still have an overbite. But, you can often find me sitting with an underbite because of the habit I formed.

(I recently learned that your teeth keep growing to meet each other, so if a bottom tooth were removed, eventually, the top tooth would grow down to fill up that space. This is one thing that would have been useful when I decided to practice an underbite. That aside from moving my jaw, I also need my teeth to grow longer, or I can’t chew my food…)

4. Wish list

I like to get people gifts. Sometimes, people tell me, “How did you know I wanted this?” “I’ve been wanting one of these for a long time!” I’ll tell you my secret, they told me. We were hanging out and they mentioned something like, “you know what I need? A picnic basket.” And then, here’s the hack, I go to my Amazon account right then and I add the item to a wish list I created called “Friend’s gifts.” I made it a private wish list so no one else can see it, and then in the notes, I add their name. And they sit there until the perfect occasion comes up. I don’t always buy the items from Amazon. Sometimes I go to more affordable/cute places and get it there, but it’s a list with pictures – and they’ll ship it to the person’s house if you want to surprise them!

Conclusion

These are weird things. Like, who does that? But also, they’ve trained me in a lot of ways. Like, a little bit of consistent conscious decisions trained me to second-naturely look at a chair before I sit. And, a little bit of listening and acting immediately got me to connect with people on a deeper level. Also, over-correcting something doesn’t fix a problem, it just creates a new one.

So, when you want to be more like Jesus, make some consistent conscious decisions until it becomes second-nature. When you want grow closer to your friends, listen to them and start praying immediately, not when they’re gone, not after you said “I’ll pray for you” or “Praying” – do it now. In front of them. And when you’re wanting to correct an area of your life to look more like Jesus, don’t go crazy off-kilter and become super religious or super demonic, just do what Jesus would do.

Do you do any of these? Let me know in the comments below!

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