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There 4 life Lessons I learn from a burning cigarette stick. It taught me that human life comes in 4 stages — the burned, the burning, the unburned, and the burned-out.
A smoker wants nothing from a cigarette other than the smoke. The smoker tries as much as possible to engage the burning smoke into the mouth as it burns. Life burns out just like a burning cigarette. Immediately we are born into this life, the time begins to tick for us and just like the lighted cigarette, we burn gradually.
I am not a smoker. I am not a supporter of smoking. I just want to draw an analogy of stages of human existence on earth using a burning cigarette stick. Once a cigarette has been lighted, it begins to serve its purpose which is supplying nicotine and chemical addictive substances to the user.
Cigarette begins to burn immediately it is lighted. Life begins to exhaust immediately we are born into the earth. At that moment, the first stage which is the childhood stage has begun to count for the human. Take a look at the four stages a lighted cigarette stick passes. We shall compare them to the four stages of human lives and draw lessons from it.
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Stage 1 — The Burned
Cigarette stick does not burn on its own unless it is lighted. It will be lighted by a smoker if it is needed. The moment it is lighted, it begins to burn and serve its purpose. The first lesson to draw here is that no life exists by accident. Every life exists because it is needed and there is a purpose to serve. The moment life exists, it has been lighted just the cigarette stick.
The burned part of a cigarette is the used part of the cigarette stick. It only leaves the memory of ashes. That part of the cigarette is gone. It is no longer useful to the smoker.
This is applicable to humans’ existence. The moment we are born into the world, that is, the moment we are lighted, life begins to burn. We burn from the cradle to childhood, to teenage, to adulthood, and to old age.
The burned aspect of our lives is the stages we have passed in life. They belong to our yesterdays. Our yesterday leaves the memory of ashes just for remembrance.
I was lighted many years ago and I am now an adult. My childhood and adolescent stages have been burned. They are now like ashes, they are just memories of the burned years.
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Stage 2 — The Burning
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The burning part of a lighted cigarette represents the glittering man’s present moment. This part of the cigarette stick is the most active part of the cigarette at the moment. If it goes off, the user will have to look for a way to reignite it.
There is always a burning stage in the life of every human. The burning part of the cigarette stick represents the current active stage of a man or a woman. Some will burn in the desired manner and serve their environment. Others may quench but look for ways to ignite their lives.
This stage of life is actually where everything happens or is happening. Live bubbles at the burning stage. But some will burn more than another.
The burning stage of cigarette can be deceptive. It is always taking the users unaware. So also it is in the burning stage of humans, this stage in man’s life can be deceptive too. We are always carried away by what we see. We forget that the present bubbling stage will someday become burned and become like the ashes of yesterday.
I have learned from the burning cigarette that life burns out and dims. The burning does not last forever.
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Stage 3 — The Unburned
A cigarette stick is on and burning because there is still an unburned part of it. This part is the reason why the user is still holding the stick.
In life lessons, this part can be said to represent the future, the unfinished business. This part is the reason why we are still pushing it. I am not a smoker but I know that when you are eating your favorite meal, there is a joy when you know there is a remnant.
This unburned part of the cigarette makes the smoker still holds to the stick. The same thing is applicable to life. We keep going when we know there is tomorrow and we go with greater hope and anticipation when we know that tomorrow is bright.
It is important to note here too that the unburned part of the cigarette is the last hope of the smoker. That is after this stage, there is nothing left. We learn here that life is going to finish one day.
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The Burned-out
Photo by Elizaveta Kozorezova from Pexels
This is the chaff stage of the lighted cigarette stick. Originally, cigarette comprises of the white wrap which contains tobacco and chemical addictives, the orange part which is a filter or filter tip, and paper wrapping. Like I said earlier, what a smoker wants from cigarette stick is just smoke and that smoke contains in the white paper wrapping.
Everything that is left is chaff, the filter tip, and the paper wrapping. I have learned that this is our old age stage. At this stage, the best in us has been drawn out. We are no longer useful. We will sit and look on until the day when we will be thrown away.
I use the word “thrown away” to portray the reality of life and death. When shall be burned out, we will end in the grave.
“Teach us how short our life is, so that we may become wise.”
This is a reality. Life can be seen in four stages. Some have just been lighted and passed their first burned stage. Some are in their burning stages. Others are going into their unburned stage while some have burned out and thrown away.
Life is a great lesson. Anything can be used to teach it. I just draw one from a lighted cigarette stick.
The Reality
It is very important to note here that stages of humans life are in the real sense not static like that of lighted cigarette stick. There are people who are destined to end their life journey at the first stage. Some may go off suddenly in their burning stages. The lucky ones will live out the whole stages.
