One of my sales guys told me the other day that he was on Day 5 of quitting smoking. After two bouts with cancer and constant sickness, he finally decided to take his smoking seriously. The other day he was talking about how mentally draining it was weighing on him- the habit of the mechanics of smoking (he just wanted to have a cigarette in his mouth) and not the actual material in the cigarette- he felt drawn to smoke again. He explained how he needed to get rid of everything that brought that habit to existence. One of those triggers was his antique marble ash tray he had since he was 19 which he always kept polished and in good shape. So he decided to throw it away- what are the things we need to throw away in order to make us better and break the habits that bring us to "cancer and constant sickness"?
For him, there were other things that he needed to change, but I believe that marble ash tray symbolized his struggle. He said it was very hard to throw away, and for us, we probably recognize "materials" we should "throw away" . We seem to put ideas into our head of objects or people that we think are momentus and will bring value to our life, but on the other hand, bring cancer to our life. In certain past situations, I seem to place myself in environments that I believe I can change and bring good to them, yet ultimately, it is that environment that changes me.
For my coworker, he thought he could beat cancer, get healthy, enjoy his life without changing the things his doctor told him to do- to quit smoking, drinking, eating healthier- because he thought those things had value. But, he then realized with the help of others, in order to cure diseases you need to change exactly what are causing those diseases, both physically and mentally.
Was there a time where you had to throw away the marble ash tray?
If not, keep this analogy in mind, when you come across a similar situation with yourself or somebody else.
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