Personal Punishment

In case you haven't been to my other currently running blog, The Way Of The Accommodite, I have recently adopted the use of the sentence system (where you write "I will/will not [fill in the blank here]" multiple times) as a penalty myself for anything I do wrong that negatively affects others physically or emotionally. Sometimes, I make simple mistakes multiple times, and they are often the kind where "I should know better". I am hoping the sentence system will remind me that I need to engage my brain, act my age all the way, and be mindful of the details of my conduct so as not to hurt or anger anyone. Besides, how can I consider myself to be a well-behaved Christian woman if I'm constantly slipping up?

Yesterday was the first time I did this punishment. My nephew was getting something out of one of the rooms, and the light was left on by mistake. When my sister came home, it was still on. She reprimanded both of us for it. She had turned it off, but it didn't change the fact that my nephew had forgotten to turn it off. At the very least, I should've checked to make sure it was off. After all he's eight, which (probably) means he's young enough that he should be told better, whereas I'm twenty-five and should know better. Also, as the one looking after him in the day, I've got a moral responsibility to set the best possible example for him. There were also times when I have left a light on when I shouldn't have, especially when turning it off when I leave an empty room should be second nature. If I'm caught doing the wrong thing or failing to do the right thing, thereby warranting a reprimand, I see it as a sign of my carelessness and get very angry at myself for engaging my brain properly in order to prevent the mistake.

Anyway, back to the punishment. I didn't have any actual paper, but what I did do is start a Word Document where I typed up a sentence 100 times stating that anytime my nephew or I left a room that wasn't otherwise occupied, I would see to it that the light was off.

This may sound like I'm being hard on myself, but my behavior is the only one that I can control (besides that of any children I ever have). If the people around me won't tolerate my mess-ups, why should I? Besides, a mistake I make could cause problems for my next job, my future husband, and more. I don't want that.