Smoking
Here, I must speak of a very difficult period for me...a time when I was addicted to smoking. This was quite a long time back, and recently I was reminded of that phase, so I thought I'd share my views here.
I have a theory that people start smoking for various reasons...but mostly people take up the stick to feel comfortable with their inferiorities, insecurities and general tensions. The same was with me. At the time I started smoking, I had been wallowing in a great deal of self pity. I was extremely depressed with the way I saw myself, and felt greatly isolated from others. The only thing which provided me some sort of comfort from this was the cigarette. Smoking provided me a release, however temporary, from the thousand different things about the world and about myself that were playing on my mind. And since it did give me that sense of release, I kept smoking...which caused an addiction to the tobacco. I later realised that it's never good to be reliant on something for your mental peace...it's always better to attain it without the help of substances, which create a false sort of mental peace.
It needed a great deal of will power and determination to quit smoking. Contrary to what some think, I had resolved to quit a lot earlier than I actually did...later events just strengthened my resolve to not smoke.
I managed to kick the habit...and I've gone a very long time, smoke-free. I must confess that it wasn't easy, laying off something I've been dependant on...but I managed it. Since that time, I've had a couple of cigarettes occasionally, but now I find the taste of the smoke abhorrent, and the few times I've taken drags, I immediately felt like spitting because I no longer liked it.
That said, I find that smoker-bashing has become a fashion, and those who do smoke get a lot of grief from others because of their habit. Since I've been through the phase of smoking, I know how the smoker feels, and what kind of a release they get from smoking...which is what causes their addiction. That is why I sympathise with the smoker, and although I don't smoke anymore myself, I don't discourage them from smoking. No amount of cajoling, shouting or discouraging will cause the smoker to quit...and even if it is a detestable habit, if you do all that it'll just increase his longing to smoke. It's like if I want to vote for Congress and then you put a gun to my head and say, you must vote for Congress - even if I would've voted for them anyway, I would not want to vote for Congress. It's the same way with the smoker. It's best left to the individual to realise what he should do with his life.
I have a theory that people start smoking for various reasons...but mostly people take up the stick to feel comfortable with their inferiorities, insecurities and general tensions. The same was with me. At the time I started smoking, I had been wallowing in a great deal of self pity. I was extremely depressed with the way I saw myself, and felt greatly isolated from others. The only thing which provided me some sort of comfort from this was the cigarette. Smoking provided me a release, however temporary, from the thousand different things about the world and about myself that were playing on my mind. And since it did give me that sense of release, I kept smoking...which caused an addiction to the tobacco. I later realised that it's never good to be reliant on something for your mental peace...it's always better to attain it without the help of substances, which create a false sort of mental peace.
It needed a great deal of will power and determination to quit smoking. Contrary to what some think, I had resolved to quit a lot earlier than I actually did...later events just strengthened my resolve to not smoke.
I managed to kick the habit...and I've gone a very long time, smoke-free. I must confess that it wasn't easy, laying off something I've been dependant on...but I managed it. Since that time, I've had a couple of cigarettes occasionally, but now I find the taste of the smoke abhorrent, and the few times I've taken drags, I immediately felt like spitting because I no longer liked it.
That said, I find that smoker-bashing has become a fashion, and those who do smoke get a lot of grief from others because of their habit. Since I've been through the phase of smoking, I know how the smoker feels, and what kind of a release they get from smoking...which is what causes their addiction. That is why I sympathise with the smoker, and although I don't smoke anymore myself, I don't discourage them from smoking. No amount of cajoling, shouting or discouraging will cause the smoker to quit...and even if it is a detestable habit, if you do all that it'll just increase his longing to smoke. It's like if I want to vote for Congress and then you put a gun to my head and say, you must vote for Congress - even if I would've voted for them anyway, I would not want to vote for Congress. It's the same way with the smoker. It's best left to the individual to realise what he should do with his life.
posted by Mr. Santos at 9:06 PM
1 Comments:
great that you kicked the habit. i'm only addicted to one thing, reading. I have withdrawal symptoms if i'm taken away from books for more than a day. And it's just as dangerous as smoking, so don't snicker.i walk into potholes and fall down stairs all the time.
liked the post.
Post a Comment
<< Home