Are Cigars and Whiskey Bad for You? The Daft Sage Speaks

Photo by Mathew Schwartz on Unsplash

Well since you are asking, maybe they are bad for you. Or maybe they aren't! Let me get right to the point here in terms a private could understand.

Using tobacco can cause cancer, often in your mouth or lungs. Tobacco can also damage your heart. Alcohol can also cause cancer in your mouth, throat, and ruin your liver.

This is true!

So why do you do it Daft Sage, if it can hurt you?

The only guarantee we have in life is that it is going to end.

"No one gets out of this life alive"

Plain Talk

Listen, you have to make the decision for yourself whether you will smoke and drink alcohol. Hell, there a lot of things in life that have the potential of getting out of hand and ultimately harming you, but you must choose to do them or not.

Before you make that choice however, know that these things (smoking, drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, eating, working out, social media, pornography, drinking Diet Coke) are neither good nor bad. 

Depending on how a person uses them, they could potentially be beneficial or harmful. 

The activities by themselves are neutral. They are not inherently bad. It is we who define whether they are harmful or beneficial by how we use them. 

In other words, do we use them, or do they use us?

Usually when something is harmful, it is because we have lost control, we do it to much, too often, and can't stop until it harms us. 

Let me ask you, in the situation of an addict, what is more harmful? Is it the thing that the individual does or is it the individual's lack of self control? I argue the latter. 

Now this is my own philosophy on life. 

I think that smoking a cigar once a week while sipping on a bourbon is perfectly fine.

Understanding Cultural Norms and Escaping their Mental Traps

Culture always dictates whether something is good or bad, (right or wrong) but that doesn't make it so. Cultures are greatly effected by religious and philosophical belief systems. But that doesn't mean any of it is true. 

It is up to us to use our brains, to reason, and to not take blindly the edicts and beliefs given to use by the masses.

Once I was asked, "Daft Sage, do you believe in God?" I responded, "Who's God?"

They replied with silence and confusion. They couldn't comprehend what I meant so sheltered their life had been as if they were raised in a bubble.

How many Gods exist in our world today? And how much of their teachings is the same? How much differs? 

If suicide is frowned upon in the Christian faith, but accepted and understood in another, who then is right and who is wrong?

We think we're significant when in reality we're just a small part of a larger system of life. 

In the end, it is our judgement that determines if something is good or bad. So be careful how you judge! Our judgement leads us to happiness, or pain, or worry, or depression. 

Be careful how you judge. 

Daft Sage's Final Words

Hopefully, I haven't confused you will my philosophical ramblings thus far. Just know, that I constantly try and keep it to a minimum. Be thankful for everything that I leave out. ;)

In the end, smoking tobacco and alcohol can harm your body, especially if done too often.  You should take your own health into account and make the decision for yourself. 

Our inability to stop ourselves from continuing bad behaviors is more harmful to our bodies and minds than the actions themselves. 

Remember to use your ability to reason and make the decision yourself. Without employing reason, we are no different than an animal.