Can You Change Habits?
6:31:00 PMKrishna RaoCan you change the habits of people? Why do people drink even after knowing what happens to them? Why do people smoke? Or steal? Or lie?
Everyone knows what happens to heavy smokers and still people don't give up smoking. The cigarette pack shows ugly photographs of lung cancer and the like, yet it doesn't affect these people. The ones who do drunk driving meet with such terrible accidents and even after being aware of the consequences do that. Cirrhosis of liver and other such dangerous diseases are caused by excessive drinking. Yet the alcoholic doesn't leave the bottle.
A kleptomaniac keeps on stealing for a lark every time. Even after getting caught or told not to, the person does the same. They do it without qualms.
A habitual liar can lie through the teeth every time and get away with it. Doesn't their conscience affect them, you may ask? Hardly, since it is now their daily routine. It never affects them since they believe in their own abilities and lies as their profound habits.
So what reasons do these hapless folks give? Enough reasons! Someone gave me the first drink forcibly, I need to forget my past, I have so many tensions, my life sucks, I have been deprived, I need to express, I can think only after I smoke, these rich people have too much and they won't miss the small change, a little lie can never harm anyone, I love you so much and I didn't want to hurt you so I told it, my life is empty, I need to forget the pain and hardships........ These and many more are the list of legitimate reasons given by these people.
Now all those who stand in judgement on these people believe these are useless and silly reasons for doing something so stupid. Their reasoning is skewed and faulty. Yet these people stick to them and abide by it. They may be genuine or not, yet their belief in what they think is so deep that they have accepted it as truth.
They have to drink their tipple otherwise they cannot have a normal life. These smokers have to have a smoke otherwise they may have no answers or their hand will tremble. The kleptomaniacs believe they do it for fun and not to harm anyone. The liars believe what they say is not going to hurt anyone but will cement better relationships. All these people think that what they do is right and the need to do is inbuilt.
The last line is correct. Their innermost nature is built like that. They are made that way. These are embedded tendencies of that person. They are either acquired from past lives or get acquired in this one. It's tough to break out of them for these hapless folks. They are attuned to them so much that they have become their lifestyle.
To overcome these dangerous tendencies requires tremendous practice of abstinence. The path towards the removal of these debilitating diseased tendencies is tough. Practicing continuously with dedication and determination will help. Therapy helps too. Taking help like the alcoholic anonymous groups works sometimes and drugs too. Cigarettes can be given up sooner than you think if these people use discretion and societal influences. Sometimes love works wonders. People who rip off others can never be controlled by cameras or security devices. They devise ways to outwit these instruments. So jail sentences, hefty fines and the like hardly works since they love the thrill it gives them.
And liars are not curable ever. They continue to do so all their life. The lies fructified into grave situations may give them a wake up call once or twice but these people don't change. They will refrain for sometime but not always. The gene works the magic in them. They have to lie to get to their object in life.
So in conclusion,as the saying goes the leopard can never change its spots. Here is my reasoning. The alcohol and cigarettes are external objects which can be eliminated, the hands of a kleptomaniac can be tied up but the mind of a liar is uncontrollable. So people can leave alcohol and cigarettes and others can mind a kleptomaniac but who will mind the mind full of lies???
1 comments
until i was 18, i used to steal money from my house. I hardly got pocket money. But one day, I realized, what am i doing? is it the correct thing to do? And once i got the answers, i never ever stole anything. The need was not inbuilt in my case. it was just to become equal to my friends in terms of money. But i dont see the need to smoke and drink as in built. Because no one comes to this world with those habits. few acquire very early in their life and few very very late, despite knowing it is not good. I guess our psychology changes with time and we get addicted to all wrong things. The main reason which people give when they turn to smoking and drinking is to forget past or lamenting as you have mentioned. But what are the aids we have in our society and how helpful are they to tackle such problems. I guess none, and hence the easy way out is the wrong way. again it boils down to psychological issues.
ReplyDeletethis is my opinion.