What Daily Habits Help People Do Hard Things Better?

That line from 'Jeremiah 17:9' always hits like a nudge in the ribs — uncomfortable but useful. On the surface, it's saying something pretty stark: the heart (which in the original language covers feelings, desires, will, and thought) tends to lie to itself. 'Deceitful above all things' isn't just poetic flourish; it points to a pattern where what we most want to be true colors how we perceive reality. Translating that into everyday life, it explains why I can convince myself a project is on track when I'm actually procrastinating, or why I keep telling myself a relationship will change even when the evidence stacks up differently. Thinking about it more deeply, I see two layers. One is a spiritual or moral layer many readers recognize: human nature often leans toward self-justification, rationalizing choices that comfort the ego. In that sense the verse nudges toward humility and accountability — you can't fully trust your internal compass without checks. The other layer is psychological and embarrassingly modern: cognitive biases, motivated reasoning, and confirmation bias. Social media amplifies this by giving us tailored feedback loops, so our hearts get reinforced in whatever direction they already favor. So what do I do with that idea? I try to treat my inner voice like a friend who's easily swayed by wishful thinking. I journal to see patterns I miss in the moment, ask trusted people for honest takes, and set small, observable tests for my own claims (if I say I'll write daily, then track it). I also appreciate the verse because it gently pushes me towards practices that matter: confession or honest talk with others, therapy, intentional solitude, and habits that reveal reality. It's humbling without being hopeless; knowing my heart can deceive me opens the possibility of discovering greater truth, whether that's through prayer, reflection, or just the hard work of living honestly. That balance — humility plus practical steps — is where I find freedom, and it keeps me checking in with myself more often.

I get a little giddy when people ask about merch hunts, so here’s a sprawling map of places I’d check first for anything tied to the 'goodbye things series'. Start with the obvious: look for an official shop. If the series has a publisher, production company, or an official website or social feed, that’s the most direct route to legit goods, limited editions, and pre-orders. Official stores often have the best quality prints, enamel pins, artbooks, or special bundles, and they sometimes do worldwide shipping or list international retailers. If the official channel doesn’t have much, move on to big online retailers and bookshops. Sites like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, or regional bookstore chains often carry tie-in merchandise or the book itself if the series is literary. For anime/manga-style items, check specialty shops like Right Stuf, Crunchyroll Store, CDJapan, AmiAmi, or Animate (they carry figures, CDs, and event-exclusive goods). Don’t forget secondhand markets like eBay, Mercari, or local used-book/collectible stores for out-of-print items. For fan-driven merch and indie sellers, Etsy, Redbubble, Society6, and Teepublic are lifesavers. You’ll find prints, stickers, shirts, and sometimes creative takes that the official line never made. If you want something truly custom, use Printful or a local print shop for hoodies, posters, or badges. Finally, hunt in community hubs—Twitter/X, Reddit, Discord servers, and fan groups often swap leads about pop-up shops, doujin circles, and con-exclusive drops. I usually mix official buys with a few fan-made items to keep my collection interesting, and it always feels good to support creators directly when possible.

Night after night I'd sit at my desk, convinced the next sentence would never come. I got into therapy because my avoidance had become a lifestyle: I’d binge, scroll, and tell myself I’d start 'tomorrow' on projects that actually mattered. Therapy didn’t magically make me brave overnight, but it did teach me how to break the impossible into doable bites. The first thing my clinician helped me with was creating tiny experiments—fifteen minutes of focused writing, a five-minute walk, a short call I’d been putting off. Those micro-commitments lowered the activation energy needed to begin. Over time, therapy rewired how I think about failure and discomfort. A lot of the work was about tolerating the uncomfortable feelings that come with new challenges—heart racing, intrusive doubts, perfectionist rules—rather than trying to eliminate them. We used cognitive restructuring to spot catastrophic thoughts and behavioral activation to reintroduce meaningful action. Exposure techniques came into play when I had to face public readings; graded exposures (reading to a friend first, then a small group, then a café) were invaluable. Therapy also offered accountability without judgment: I’d report back, we’d troubleshoot what got in the way, and I’d leave with a plan. That structure turned vague intentions into habits. It’s important to say therapy isn’t a superhero cape. Some things require practical training, mentorship, or medication alongside psychological work. Therapy helps with the internal barriers—shame, avoidance, unhelpful beliefs—that sabotage effort, but learning a hard skill still requires deliberate practice. I kept books like 'Atomic Habits' and 'The War of Art' on my shelf, not as silver bullets but as companions to the therapeutic process. What therapy gave me, honestly, was permission to be a messy, slow learner and a set of tools to keep showing up. Months in, I was finishing chapters I’d left for years, and even when I flopped, I flopped with new data and a plan. It hasn’t turned me into a fearless person, just a person who knows how to do hard things more often—and that’s been wildly freeing for me.

My mind lights up at the possibilities for a screen version of 'Unspeakable Things'—it feels like the kind of story that needs actors who can carry dread in a glance and tenderness in a whisper. For the lead role, I’d pick Florence Pugh: she can be ferocious and fragile in the same scene, which is perfect if the central character is someone haunted by secrets and forced into impossible choices. Opposite her, someone like Barry Keoghan would bring that slippery, unpredictable energy; he can be quietly menacing or heartbreakingly vulnerable, and that duality would complicate every interaction on screen. For a parental figure or antagonist, I imagine Toni Collette or Willem Dafoe—either could give the role a lived-in menace, Collette with domestic terror and emotional volatility, Dafoe with an uncanny, almost mythic intensity. A child with a crucial role should be played by someone who can hold their own in emotionally dense scenes—Brooklynn Prince or Jaeden Martell could do incredible work, offering both eerie stillness and real hurt. Supporting cast could include Jessie Buckley as a conflicted ally and Lakeith Stanfield in a role that subverts expectations: his presence adds unpredictability and a kind of sly intelligence. I’d want direction that leans into psychological horror more than jump scares—think the slow-burn atmosphere of 'Hereditary' or the obsessive detail of 'The Haunting of Hill House', but with its own identity. Cinematography should favor long takes and tight framing to trap the viewer with the characters, and a score that uses silence and a few dissonant motifs to needle anxiety. Casting diverse actors who can bring textures of memory, trauma, and secrecy will make the story richer, especially if the script preserves moral ambiguity rather than handing out neat answers. All in, this feels like a project that could become a modern oddball classic if the right mix of visceral performances and patient direction comes together—I’d be first in line to see it, completely curious and a little unnerved.

I get a little giddy thinking about tiny, sticky stories — those ones that lodge under your skin after a single read. For me, the trick is treating the short piece like a photograph, not a novel: pick a frame, a single decisive moment, and let every sentence serve that image. The first line has to be both hook and tone-setter; it isn’t just an opener, it’s a promise. I’ll often start by stripping away everything that doesn’t contribute to that one emotional or intellectual payoff. That means ruthless cutting of backstory, trimming description until every word hums, and choosing a point of view that amplifies the focus — sometimes a child's confused wonder, sometimes a weary narrator who’s already moved on. I love playing with constraints. A limited timeline or a single setting sharpens creativity: one afternoon in a laundromat, one night at a bus stop, one phone call. Within those bounds I concentrate on sensory detail and a single arc — small but complete. Surprise is key, but not cheap shocks; I prefer an emotional pivot or a reframe that makes the reader re-evaluate everything they just read. Titles matter, too: a good title can be half the story by offering context or tension before the first word. Finally, voice carries a short piece. A distinct narrative voice can make even a humble premise unforgettable. I study anthologies like 'Interpreter of Maladies' and 'Exhalation' to see how authors distill complexity into compact forms. When I write for collections, I think about how my piece will sit beside others — contrast and resonance make the whole anthology richer. In the end, I aim for a single image or line that keeps replaying in my head, and if I get that, I know I’ve done my job; that small echo is what I keep chasing.

Growing older has taught me that some lines from ancient texts don't just sit on paper—they ripple through art, politics, and how people talk about themselves. The phrase 'the heart is deceitful above all things' (Jeremiah 17:9) has been a sticky little truth-bomb for centuries: a theological claim about human nature that turned into a cultural riff. I see it showing up in confessional essays, in alt-rock lyrics that flirt with self-betrayal, and in characters who betray their own moral compasses. It colors how storytellers write unreliable narrators and how therapists and self-help authors frame introspection as a battle with inner deceptiveness. Beyond literature and therapy, the phrase morphed into a motif in film and transgressive fiction. The novel and movie titled 'The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things' pushed that darkness even further, making the idea visceral—childhood trauma, identity distortions, survival lying all become proof texts for the saying. Indie filmmakers, punk poets, and visual artists borrowed the line's moral weight to interrogate authenticity, performance, and who gets to tell their story. In social media culture the concept mutated again: people confess bad impulses with a wink, quote the line as a meme, or use it to justify skepticism toward charismatic leaders. I can't help but notice how the saying both comforts and alarms: it offers an explanation for hypocrisy while also encouraging humility about our own judgments. It pushes public discourse toward suspicion—sometimes productively, sometimes cynically. Personally, it makes me pause before I react; it nudges me to check my own motives without becoming a nihilist about human goodness. That tension is why the phrase keeps surfacing in new forms, and why I find it quietly fascinating.

Can't help but picture 'Easy Divorce, Hard Remarriage' with a crisp anime sheen — the sort of thing that could land on a streaming service and suddenly have every romance fan in my timeline buzzing. Right now there hasn't been a major studio announcement that I'm aware of, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. The story's hook is strong: relationship drama, emotionally sharp beats, and ripe character arcs. Those are exactly the ingredients producers look for when scouting material. If the source material keeps strong readership numbers and fan translations keep spreading it internationally, adaptation buzz tends to follow. From a fan's viewpoint, the real question is fit. Is the original pacing dense enough to fill a 12-episode cour without feeling rushed? Does it have visual moments that demand animation — cutscenes of emotional confrontations, stylish flashbacks, or memorable settings? When I imagine it animated, I think of cinematic lighting, a melancholic soundtrack, and careful direction to balance quieter domestic scenes with bigger dramatic turns. I'd tune in on premiere night and probably sob through at least two episodes, so my bias is clear — it deserves a chance, and I'd be thrilled if producers gave it one.

Big news — the wait is over for streaming folks: the official digital release of the 'Swing of Things' soundtrack is set for Friday, November 7, 2025. Most services will flip it live at 00:00 local time, so you'll see it hit Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, Amazon Music and Bandcamp as your clocks roll over that Friday. There's a full tracklist of 14 pieces (roughly 68 minutes) and a couple of previously teased motifs finally presented as full arrangements. A couple of platforms have already posted a single or two as previews in October, so if you’ve been following teasers, those will be the ones you recognize. Physical collectors should note a slightly different timeline: the standard CD and a limited-run colored vinyl will ship on Friday, November 21, 2025, with the deluxe box — which includes a 40-page booklet, liner notes, and a vinyl-only bonus track — arriving in late December due to manufacturing lead times. Japan gets a bonus track exclusive to its CD pressing (a short reprise), and some EU pressings include alternate artwork. If you want the extras, pre-order windows opened in mid-October through the official store and a handful of specialty retailers. I’ll be streaming it the moment it drops and then hunting down the vinyl because the arrangements really deserve that warm analog top end — honestly, it already sounds like one of those soundtracks I’ll be replaying through the holidays.