addition of a full year to one's life. Can it be that I waste, in
sleep, in fifteen or sixteen years, a whole year of time?

I must do so no longer. It injures my complexion; it injures my health;
it is an indolent practice: but above all, it is a sin against God.

I am resolved to redeem my time. And to aid me in this work, I am
determined, if I fail in any instance, to remember this decision, and
the grounds on which it was made.

She carries out her decision. She finds herself waking too late,
occasionally, it is true. However, she not only hurries out of bed the
instant she wakes, but recalls her former view of the sinfulness of her
conduct. She is no sooner dressed, than she asks pardon for her
transgression, and prays that she may transgress no more. This course
she continues; and thus her convictions of the sinfulness of her former
indolent habit and waste of time are deepened. At length, by her
persevering efforts and the assistance of God, she gains the victory,
and a new and better habit is completely established.

Just so should it be with any other bad habit. Every young woman should
consider it as a sin against God, and should begin the work of
reformation as a duty, not only to herself and to others, but also and
more especially to God. If it be nothing but the error of eating too
much--which, by the way, is not so small an error as many seem to
suppose--let her try to regard it in its true light, as a transgression
against the laws of God. Let it be so regarded, not merely once or
twice, but habitually. In this way it will soon become--as in the case
of early rising--a matter of conscience.