I was inspired by a little line in Eckhart Tolle's book entitled, A New Earth. Tolle said, "Whatever you fight, you strengthen, and what you resist, persists." It holds true when you think of all the declarations of war that have strengthened the enemies; the war on drugs, on poverty, on terrorism, on racism, on crime, on tobacco. . . . These declarations of war all seem to have strengthened the enemy.
A close relative has been considering giving up smoking for many years. Recently, I noticed that she isn't lighting up a cigarette every time she gets out of the car, or before she gets back into her car and so I asked, "Have you stopped smoking?" Her answer surprised me, "I haven't smoked for a while but I can't say that I've given it up."
So, I'm thinking that she hasn't declared war on smoking and so, in her mind, if she feels like
smoking, she'll buy cigarettes again and smoke. She certainly doesn't give the impression that
she's fighting a battle that can only be won or lost; rather, she's taken charge of her life so that
she can be healthy for her family members suffering with Huntington's disease.
Sister Elaine Cole, CSJ