How do I start this off? What I’m going to say here must be carefully put so I must be somewhat delicate. I’m sorry but what I’m going to say here isn’t terribly important, not life altering or especially politically correct. I’m quite sure this may be met by some oposition and people will probably disagree with me wholeheartedly. However I still feel that this is something I want to say out loud, no matter the ill thoughts or voiced concerns that might be received. But before you get too involved let me preface what you read here a little more. As I said previously this is not a life altering or terribly important train of thought. This is just something I was thinking about and wanted to share my position. So if you’re looking for a nugget of truth or an inspiring notation to get you through the day, I have to tell you in advance that you’re probably going to be sorely disappointed at the end. However if you have an extra minute and are interested in my opinion and personal preference then please continue on.

There are certain luxuries in our culture that we know of as poor to our health and some of the time these luxuries are looked down upon by the general population. Take coffee for example, not looked down on but certainly a luxury most en devour to attain on a daily basis seemingly no matter the cost. One will say “this cup of coffee is going to cost at least half of what it’s going to cost for you to eat today but it’s the best there is.” And you will make every effort to receive this cup of ambition every morning on your way to work or after the movies with your friends. Sitting on your front porch on a beautiful morning as the wind blows softly through your neighborhood and you smile  because at the moment life is wonderful, you and your cup of joe. Yes, you will do almost anything for this luxury and right you should. I heard a line from a movie not long ago telling us to “Enjoy the little things.” But none-the-less this luxury is, for all intensive reasons, poor to the condition of physical well being. Coffee is very hard on our bodies. It dehydrates us and pulls calcium from our bones. In many cases individuals develop a strong dependency on caffine but it is, however, good to the condition of our emotional health. I believe we should have little things that we look forward to every now and again that help us relax or prepare for the day. There are many more luxuries much like the one I just mentioned but the one I am interested in and the reason for this verbose narrative is…well…Smoking.  I have a personality not like most. I find I have self restraint in areas where people don’t usually have self restraint. Now please understand I’m not patting myself on the back here, I just downed an entire large chocolate milk shake from Burger king about an hour ago and there are many down sides to this personality trait but for the moment it’s a good thing to not have an addictive personality like some. So as a result of the ability to stop indulging when it’s time to stop indulging (in most cases) I can observe some luxuries that others have deemed too dangerous or too addictive like, well, smoking. Now don’t get all crazy here, I’m not like an avid smoker or anything, I think I’ve bought four packs in my whole life and I’m not necessarily condoning it either but I still enjoy a cigarette every now and again. Today I had one of those days, you know the ones where you wake up and from the get go everything goes very wrong. You all of the sudden receive an unexpected bill that’s past due or your car brakes down and you don’t have enough money in your account to handle all of it, or much much worse. Well that day for me was today. I woke up realizing my car was making a very strange noise and I tried to take it to an auto parts store to see if they could diagnose the problem and they couldn’t. So I went back out to my car and realized there was a leak and I was losing coolant, this is a reoccurring problem for me and any car I have so I immediately become very frustrated. I was then on my way to go to the county clerks office to change a court date I would have the following week and they told me to come back the following day and hopefully someone would be there. So I then went to work where my boss was in a particularly pitiful mood and was very short with me and seemed to be criticizing my every move and me, being that my main form of receiving love is verbal encouragement, lets just say I was ready for this day to be over. After I got off work I went over to a friends house and there on the counter was a pack of marlboro lights, my favorite brand. I asked him for one and he insisted that he had one with me, likewise our other friend decided to join us. As we stood and puffed I expressed very vividly how frustrating my day was and the cigarette did was cigarettes do. I was calm and collected and I wasn’t quite so angry with the circumstances of the day. I noticed the scent doesn’t bother me like it does others, actually I’m quite fond of it. I realized that like many many others I enjoy smoking on occasion. Now please note that I’m very aware that if left unchecked this little indulgence can and will turn into something that controls my life but for the moment it’s simply a luxury for special times. So no matter what your indulgence is whether it be coffee, a drink after work or with friends or just for the hell of it, or possibly a smoke every now and again, enjoy the little things and please smoke responsibly.

Thanks for reading

Brett

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