Smoking Metaphor
Topic: Someone Else Said It
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C L E A R T H I N K I N G from Uncommon Knowledge

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Psychology for success, health and happiness
July 2007
Sent only to subscribers

Teaching Tale: Sailing to freedom

If metaphor is a stand-in for another pattern in life, then we can see people's addictive behaviours as metaphors. So the alcohol may be a metaphor for a friend who is there in time of need to the drinker, the fix may be a stand in for an exciting lover to the junkie and so on. The addictive substance or activity acts as a stand in for what the person really needs in their life - it's always a poor substitute in the end though.

Here's a tale I sometimes tell to smokers who wish to be free.

There was once a man who was lucky enough to be able to retire at a young age. He had a passion for sailing and boat building. Over a period of time he built himself a beautiful sailing boat. It was a work of art. The sails were purest white, the deck gleamed and the cabin and sleeping quarters were most comfortable.

He began to travel the seas. He sailed around wonderful tropical islands and got to know different people in different harbours and ports. One day this man dropped anchor at a particular port and decided to have some fun. He went into a bar and fell into conversation with some local men who seemed like great fun. They drank together and laughed and seemed to get on marvellously. Then one of the men, after hearing about his boat, suggested that they could all work together. They could come and live on the boat and be paid as crew members. They could do all the work and the owner could pay their wages and just relax. What
fun that would be! The man readily agreed and the next morning - somewhat hung over - they all set sail together.

And so life continued and all seemed great at first. But, bit by bit, the man began to notice that his boat didn't quite look the same any more. In fact, these men (whom he was paying to be there) were sloppy and grubby. The sails started to look a little shredded
and grey, and seemed not catch the air the way they used to. The deck always seemed to be dirty and smelled bad, and other parts of the boat seemed to be rusting at an alarming rate. What's more, he no longer found the men to be enjoyable company. And in fact
they had started to order him around, telling him when he should eat and sleep, and always wanting more money.

Eventually he decided enough was enough - he wanted his beautiful boat back the way it was and the way it should be. He called them together and politely told them that he no longer wanted them around, pointing to the disrepair of his boat. But they just sneered at him and refused to go! He suddenly began to fear he had a mutiny on his hands. Were they going to take over and destroy the whole boat? He felt he had lost control of his life at this point, and really did not know what to do.

But bit by bit and little by little a cunning plan started to grow in the back of his mind.

One day he called his by now more or less 'captors' together and said: "You know, there's a certain port I know not too far from here that has a really thriving night life. The pleasures of that place are
indescribable; let's all go there and have a wonderful time!" The parasitical men were excited by this prospect - after all, is self-indulgent pleasure not the sole purpose of living? So they set their course for this delightful place.

Eventually, with the boat even more tattered and threadbare, they sailed into the harbour of this lively community, full of distractions and delights. The men in their greed for a good time almost threw
themselves out of the boat in their haste to sample the delights of the sea port. In their haste they didn't notice that the owner had stayed on board. As soon as they were out of sight, he upped anchor and steered his boat to open waters, thrilled with his
successful offloading of those poisonous charmers who had so threatened his well-being.

And astoundingly, with very little work on his part, as he sailed out into the fresh clear air of the open seas, he noticed that the sails were white once more and caught the air powerfully as they used to, driving his boat forward, while his deck and cabin gleamed and
shone. As he sailed onwards with high heart, he thought with satisfaction how wonderfully his boat would now survive the years and travels ahead as those destructive men became an increasingly distant memory.

How this man found true companions to genuinely help him on his voyages is, of course, another story...


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