Last week, my friend was very anxious. He was about to be promoted in 4 years’ time and was still not confident he would through. In that stress, I could sense fear, loss of hope and struggle to cope with it. He washed out a couple of times, but was back soon. He smoked twice as many cigarettes he usually smoked on a regular day.
Every time his boss would call, his heart thumped and sank down fearing that his promotion might be at stake. So he would smoke even harder to manage with his anxiety. There was a lot of change in his behavior. He would get angry quickly, burst out on his children without reasons and have regular fights with his wife.
This made me think, was he the person I really know? A promotion changed his behavior and actions to a large extent. He could not control his thoughts, emotions, actions or even the number of puffs he took.
Friends, this is the case with many of us today. Financial pressures and responsibilities of a family, creates a lot of stress in the minds of an individual. One might get sick or go down into depression if not realized and corrected on time.
Studies have shown that people smoke more to relieve their stress. That implies that more stress would cause more smoking which again implies increased expenditure, more diseases due to smoking, and adverse impact on family’s health due to second-hand-smoke thereby leading to increased medical bills. This leads to limited savings and again increases the stress levels due to financial burden and then the cycle continues.
Can’t the chain be broken? We know the adverse effects of smoking and the stress it causes in the family. Then why can’t we control our own cravings? Why can’t we be determined and be our own masters and control our brain the way we want? Are we so fragile in this most comfortable era that we do not even want to rule ourselves and be driven by a petty and trivial thing called cigarette?
I have often heard smokers say that the cravings are so strong that they cannot manage it. The after effects, the so called “withdrawal symptoms” are so worse that they cannot cope with it. But let me tell that your cravings are not stronger than your thoughts and determination. If you decide tenaciously to be stress free, then you will be and the entire universe will help you.
All you have to do is take back your control from the hands of cigarette and give it to yourself and drive your actions as per your will. I’m sure that all of you can become your own masters and be your own “Remote Control”. Don’t lose it. Because once the control is lost beyond repair, the damage will be severe and irreversible. Life is no video game that can give you multiple lives if you make a mistake and die in the game. So think smartly and act firmly and vigilantly.
