How about this excuse - I am smoking because I am stressed
The smokers lounge is filled with guys who are really pissed with something/someone, who simply enjoy doing it, or who are really really pissed (yeah! Unconsciously and perpetually pissed). Shouting out loud: guys who drink and smoke are ashamed of what they do (unless they enjoy doing it).
It is a no-brainer that smoking is injurious to health and that one should not smoke, but at that very moment (the one in which the smoker is really really pissed) hurting oneself feels good. Let’s talk philosophy, smoking is a short-term gain and a long-term loss. But the long-term effects are very uncertain, that is, you never know if it’s really going to bite you later in life (“hope” is a good thing and it makes sense to see yourself as that “one” guy who will be forgiven (by his tired old lungs) for smoking)…but unlike the long-term loss, the short-term gain is very certain, and you know what! Humans like certainty and that’s precisely why it makes sense for a smoker to light up a cigarette at that very moment. There is something called stress, you must have experienced it J. Ok then! when people are stressed, they find ways to release that stress. Unfortunately, what’s refreshing or what’s relaxing at all times, doesn’t seem that good at the time of stress. You see, smoking helps even a chain smoker (the guy who occasionally breaths fresh air) because smoking isn’t something that the smoker is proud of (he is probably ashamed of smoking at all other times when he isn’t stressed).
It will work out. It is going to be ok. It is going to get better. This is called pitying or sympathizing. Smokers don’t need this, that’s why they try to find a way out themselves. Finally, if you really want someone to NOT smoke, DO NOT stress them out. Smoking due to stress is not an excuse (that smoker’s often use), it is a reality. Period.
PS: I re-read the post; if for some reason you feel that I am trying to defend why smoking is ok…you are wrong about that…first, smokers don’t want me or anyone to justify their act; second, I am only commenting on why a person smokes when he is in stress. So, I am just commenting (not judging).
It is a no-brainer that smoking is injurious to health and that one should not smoke, but at that very moment (the one in which the smoker is really really pissed) hurting oneself feels good. Let’s talk philosophy, smoking is a short-term gain and a long-term loss. But the long-term effects are very uncertain, that is, you never know if it’s really going to bite you later in life (“hope” is a good thing and it makes sense to see yourself as that “one” guy who will be forgiven (by his tired old lungs) for smoking)…but unlike the long-term loss, the short-term gain is very certain, and you know what! Humans like certainty and that’s precisely why it makes sense for a smoker to light up a cigarette at that very moment. There is something called stress, you must have experienced it J. Ok then! when people are stressed, they find ways to release that stress. Unfortunately, what’s refreshing or what’s relaxing at all times, doesn’t seem that good at the time of stress. You see, smoking helps even a chain smoker (the guy who occasionally breaths fresh air) because smoking isn’t something that the smoker is proud of (he is probably ashamed of smoking at all other times when he isn’t stressed).
It will work out. It is going to be ok. It is going to get better. This is called pitying or sympathizing. Smokers don’t need this, that’s why they try to find a way out themselves. Finally, if you really want someone to NOT smoke, DO NOT stress them out. Smoking due to stress is not an excuse (that smoker’s often use), it is a reality. Period.
PS: I re-read the post; if for some reason you feel that I am trying to defend why smoking is ok…you are wrong about that…first, smokers don’t want me or anyone to justify their act; second, I am only commenting on why a person smokes when he is in stress. So, I am just commenting (not judging).
