Stop and Light your Cigarette

College was my first time truly being around a bunch of independent peers, and my first look of how others act, feel, and think without the influence from parents, family or teachers. After a few days, and then a few weeks, I noticed trends would occur. For instance, the earlier in the morning, the greater propensity for sweats or even pajamas (bless you hoodie) to be worn. During the cooler but not cold months fleeces would emerge, and most noticeably, "The North Face" made its mark. (I still remember our sociology teacher talking about that one). But one trend I noticed throughout my entire college experience was that of smokers. Smokers always had me more curious than anyone. For one, I never quite grasped the concept of "needing a cigarette." Two, I couldn't understand how, with all the knowledge everyone had received and processed, why anyone would even consider it. But, once I finally got past my dismay, and my constant silent judging mind you, I started noticing smokers, and more specifically, smoking.


Have you seen someone try to walk from point A to point B and light their cigarette? Almost always, universally, the smoker will stop walking in order to get a spark. Every day I would see a smoker walking where they would make full-hearted attempts to light their cigarette while on the move, but what ultimately always happened was the same. He or she would stop walking, put the focus on their lighter, and voila, ignition. Could this have something to do with the fact that a lot of smokers are as athletic as Rosie O'Donnell or are as coordinated as a 3 year old child? Maybe. But that isn't my point.

What really matters here is what happens in between. The smoker has no alternative but to stop with what they are doing and focus solely on their one task. And in my sagacious wisdom I noticed that, by placing full value on our current task we are able to provide a quality outcome and get the most satisfying result. This is the alternative to speeding through our input and producing a negative outcome. While a smoker may eventually get that cigarette lit after walking for a ways' further, by the time it happens, they will be more irritated and have wasted a great deal of their input, which could have been used elsewhere.

Often we are so consumed from one point to the next that we often don't consider what is going on in between. When this happens in life, typically we are just moving too fast. Are there appropriate times to get the quickest result? Sure. But do not be so busy looking for the slam dunk (the best car, most perfect house, best looking woman), that we devalue our current experiences and lose the great things we already have.

This Memorial weekend as we appreciate our soldiers and what they have done, try and appreciate all the other things that you may take for granted. Need some help thinking of some? Here are some topics: Your health. If you are reading this now, then I imagine its decent. Where you live. Does it have a roof and a safe surrounding? That's pretty cool, especially considering how we used to live in caves and hunt for our lives every day of our existence. Your friends and your family. What you will always have is the memories that you have created. The outdoors. Having oxygen and sunshine is pretty cool right? Answer: Yes, always. And as the weather warms up you have an opportunity to be outside on the grill, play lawn games, swim or just sit and watch the stars at night.

As I grow older and wiser, I appreciate more and more every single day and often have to remind myself to not take for granted all of the aforementioned things. It is a day to day thing that we live on the Earth, and we should treat it that way. And if you were wondering, no I do not  want you to start smoking, but if you do, you sure as hell better stop and enjoy the world around you when you stop and smoke your cigarette.