While watching the movie, A Beautiful Mind, there was an interesting exchange between a fellow named Martin who was interviewing Professor John Nash to see if he might be an embarrassment were he to be awarded a Nobel Prize due to his documented life of mental issues which included a full-time cast of imaginary characters. When asked about the possibility of becoming an embarrassment, John responded, “I’m still crazy”, then he added an important thought regarding his never-ending struggle to separate imaginary individuals from reality.
“They are
my past. Everyone is haunted by their past.”
We all
have issues that would be embarrassing were they to be brought out on the
public stage. I suppose it would make a huge difference if that public stage
were broadcast to a worldwide audience as would be the case with accepting a
Nobel Prize.
Nash then
clarified his ability to fit in with society, despite his ongoing mental issues.
“I’ve
gotten used to ignoring them, and I think, as a result, they’ve kind of given
up on me. I think that’s what it’s like with all our dreams and our nightmares,
Martin. We’ve got to keep feeding them for them to stay alive.”
That one
line could be applied to most of the bad habits we might have picked up over
the years. It doesn’t eliminate bad
habits; however, it does place it into an isolation room, a place where bad habits
are less likely to be a daily challenge.
I remember
back in the mid-1970s being told by a doctor that because of having a collapsed
lung (Spontaneous pneumothorax) I had to quit smoking cigarettes. That was a bad habit I’d had for years, and I’d
tried quitting without success. Being
faced with a rather bleak future, were I to continue smoking, it was much
easier to place the urge to smoke in an isolation room way back in my mind
where it could be ignored.
I took up
chewing tobacco as an alternative, dipping Skoal was a natural extension of my
newest bad habit. Being crude and not
really caring about what anyone thought of my bad habit was an unexpected bonus. If you wanted someone unpleasant to leave,
just spit and without much fanfare the individual would find an excuse to
leave.
Then in
1978, when I was about to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
the missionaries teaching me of various rules and customs informed me about the
“Word of Wisdom” as found in the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 89. Turns out tobacco products were not to be
used for smoking or chewing.
Some folks
would have had a problem deciding how to proceed. Would they continue using tobacco products
and ignore the newly discovered admonition to abstain or would they accept
reality, join the Church and live in such a way as to be in accordance with the
will of the Lord?
The young
missionaries were a bit surprised when I reached into the refrigerator for a
newly purchased roll of Skoal that I’d purchased the day before. Upon handing the Skoal over to them I
explained that I’d just quit and for them to do me a favor and dispose of it
for me. I later found that they’d tossed
the Skoal over the edge of a bridge into the bayou below while on their way
home.
As far as
my former bad habits regarding smoking or dipping Skoal, “I’ve gotten used to
ignoring them, and I think, as a result, they’ve kind of given up on me.”
