Smoking as a distraction from moving on in life

I recently came across an ad for a tobacco cessation aid that made me think about smoking in relationship to distraction.

The ad depicted a man sitting on a dock, thinking about having a cigarette. In the meantime, a shark jumped out of the water and began biting his arm. This distraction was not strong enough to take the man's thoughts away from lighting up, until he put the nicotine replacement into his mouth and was then able to refocus on what was happening in the present moment.

Many of you can relate to this idea of being so consumed with wanting a cigarette that you lose sight of everything else. Part of this is related to the chemical addiction and withdrawal, but I'm wondering about another purpose this fixation might serve. In what ways do you allow the cigarette itself to distract you from the things in life that you don't want to look at? When you are fixated on your addiction, what else is being neglected?

We all have things we want to avoid in life, and we build fantastic stories to circumvent confrontation. Yet if we were to face these things, how might we grow to be better individuals? Distraction can be a form of self-sabotage. We keep ourselves running around and distracted, so we don't have to look at the things that nag us to grow and change. Between smoking itself and thinking about smoking (or quitting) you can keep yourself occupied for hours, days, weeks, months and years. But in that time, what gets lost?

I think that in reality we want to experience life on a deeper level, but are somehow frightened of what will happen if we stop long enough to really feel what's there. We might discover a pain that wants to be healed. Or, on the other hand, we may have to face just how magnificent we really are and see the potential we could expand into. But those things are intimidating and would require actual change. Smoking and using discount cigarettes like Pall Mall as a way to keep distracted is a sure way to maintain your personal status quo.

For you, what is the shark that is hanging on your arm, begging you to face it in order to move forward in life ... while you're distracted with finding your next puff?