I picked up a pack of used cigarettes and well written on it is, “Tobacco contains more than 70 substances known to cause cancer.”

Out of curiosity, I went into data mining of the tobacco market. Below are two major stats I got:

Statista estimates the global tobacco market’s revenue is well over $900 billion USD and projects it to cross $1 trillion in the coming year.

WHO says there are over 1.3 billion tobacco users despite knowing the risks.

This data exposes the most terrifying flaw in human design. That raw knowledge is powerless when it competes with the promise of immediate pleasure.

And before you judge tobacco users, be aware this is applicable to human experiences.

You can spend your entire lives worshiping at the altar of information. Yet, you will do what you want to do.

It is unwise to think education is the ultimate shield when the intellect is a weak negotiator, if the body wants to feel good.

I have read about brilliant founders who destroyed their businesses and disciplined leaders who sabotaged their own legacies. These people were not ignorant of the consequences. They knew what the fallout would be.

Yet they chose the momentary pleasure over the cold reality of the ash.

We often forget that logic only governs the mind, but emotions command the bone.

If you rely on your intellect to protect you from the things that will destroy you, you will almost always lose the negotiation to your own appetites. You cannot out-think a craving.

Because when the pressure of life becomes heavy, we do not reach for a spreadsheet or a list of statistics to cope. We reach for whatever offers the fastest relief, disregarding the consequences of our actions.

I am watching a man across the street exhale a long cloud of gray smoke into the air. He looks at peace, even as he burns.

“For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” — Romans 7:15

Warmly,

Oluboba Ayodeji