Smoking is often looked down upon, and so are the people who light up. There are a lot of reasons for criticism of tobacco and cigarettes, some of them very good ones. But what people should keep in their minds at all times is that just because someone is a smoker doesn’t mean that they’re a lesser person. The message needs to be heard that smoking isn’t necessarily a defect of character. Here are seven big reasons people who smoke are not necessarily “bad.”
1. We were influenced by something to start smoking.
No ones comes out of the womb immediately wanting a cigarette. Something along the way convinces people that a pack of smokes is going to be good to them, despite the overwhelming research and education that points to the contrary. Sometimes advertising will convince smokers to start their habits, convincing on usually a subconscious level that smoking will make life better in some way. Or maybe it was plain old peer pressure. A friend that is going to lower his opinion of you if you decide not to light up a cigarette is a depressingly strong incentive to start the bad habit
2. We usually have a sympathetic reason for why we’re smoking.
There’s generally a reason why people are smoking, even if it isn’t always clear. Obviously addiction is one of them, but you can go a lot deeper than that, because that addiction can be due to a number of factors. Some individuals are smoking, for example, because they’re too sad to risk trying to quit and make their lives more difficult, or because the addiction disease runs in their family. Whatever the reason may be, it tends to be a pretty valid one for smokers to continue a habit that is looked down upon by so many people. If you get to know a smoker before judging them you’ll probably understand their side of things.
3. We aren’t proud of smoking.
Very few smokers take pride in being smokers. After a while, smoking is a habit that many people wish they could stop but can’t, or at least can’t without some serious hardship. Even most of the people that put on a tough face and say there proud of their habit tend have a lot of inner turmoil about a habit that is expensive and risking their very livelihood.
4. We don’t want to be disappointing the people in our lives by smoking.
Most smokers fully understanding how disapproving their friends and family are of their smoking, and aren’t at all happy about it. They’re not bad people because they’re letting the people they love down because, usually, they’re letting themselves down, too. What friends and family have to do is be there for the smokers and support them when they try to quit.
5. We often consider others when we’re smoking.
A lot of smokers are actually very considerate, not smoking indoors or somewhere else inappropriate and making sure they’re not near non-smokers so that they don’t inhale any second-hand smoke. There are even articles online specifically about smoking etiquette. Just because a rude person blew smoke too close in your face one time doesn’t mean that all smokers don’t care about the people around them.
6. We aren’t our addictions.
There’s a lot of shame associated with being addicted to something. It’s an ugly part of other people, society as a whole and ourselves that looks down upon people who drink too much, use hardcore drugs or, yes, smoke. But what people close to smokers should remember is that, though they might be overly dependent on smoking, they are also so much more than that. Plus, think about how inspirational it will be when they do overcome their addictions!
7. We’re not the only ones with bad habits.
As Matthew 7:3 says, don’t look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye. None of us are perfect, so stop pretending that you don’t have things you should change about yourself, too.
Featured photo credit: Camden smokers 2/Joel Goldstein via flickr.com
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