Just for today, I hate these things:

Three behaviors that I do not like in myself and therefore cannot abide in others:

1. Monopolizing the conversation. Actually, conversation is not the correct word. What I mean is, turning what could have been a conversation into a monologue. Which, I believe, stems from the second detestable behavior:

2. Snobbery. Not believing that everyone has a talent and deserves respect, even if it takes a bit of effort to discover what that talent may be. Of course, if one is busy monopolizing the conversation, one will never understand that others have something interesting to say.

3. Blaming others for personal mistakes. Not accepting the consequences for our own actions. Fooling ourselves and trying to fool others into believing we have no part in our own failures and shortcomings. I could go on, but why? Working out an excuse is so much more difficult than simply saying "I'm sorry."

These three behaviors are like weeds in my mental garden and I promise to try to yank them up by the roots whenever I see them in myself.

I also promise to try not to point them out in others, since correcting people in public is something else I strive not to do. Hard, though, especially when it's poor spelling that could easily have been corrected just by clicking the spell checker link.

Yes, this is all very personal and its cause was a poorly-spelled post on a public forum in which someone who has never bothered to get to know me said some negative and untrue things. And yes, I gave in to the temptation to answer. Didn't correct their spelling and grammar, though. Good for me.