Imagine..

You sitting down on a very relaxing and comfortable wooden lounge chair on a balcony in a house underneath a moonlit sky. The cool ocean breeze passing through every now and then, and the sound of the water gushing to the shore. Having just enough light to provide a subtle mellow mood, and only the ocean, the coastline road, and the starry skyline in your view. Simplicity. Steady.

That’s the feeling of Marlboro Blacks, purely and completely steady.

But Don (a good friend of mine) had a point: Marlboro Blacks are good, but it isn’t really fulfilling. Such is the reason why you would always want or crave for one more stick.

Now imagine this..

You riding a horse on a country/hillside scene, feeling the wind blow through your hair and all over your body – just a moment of pure adrenaline, bliss, and freedom. And when you finally get home, you sit down in your comfortably cushioned dining chair and look at the table where there is a nice, juicy, medium-rare cooked piece of steak with a little butter on top that’s melting because of the heat of the meat. With a side dish of mashed potatoes, vegetables, and the like. And then you dig in. To the full flavor. Fulfillment.

That’s the feeling of Marlboro Reds, full flavored and fulfilling.

Moreoften than not, one or two sticks of Reds, and you’re good. It may not be necessarily that steady (due to its full flavor being a bit too heavy), but it definitely will be fulfilling enough for you to stop with one or two sticks.

It’s a weird analogy.

But lately I’ve been feeling like I’ve been taking life ala Marlboro Blacks, in fact maybe a bit too much. I’ve been taking it in a lax state, just doing some things that need to be done, and that’s about it. I let everything else roll on it’s own. Whilst to an extent keeping calm and relaxed. The problem is that by doing so, I tend to feel that during some days, or most days, it’s just not that fulfilling. Although I know I shouldn’t be complaining that it’s a steady way of living, it’s just that sometimes at the end of the day, I ask myself – “Were you fulfilled today?”. And moreoften than not, there seems to be always something that’s missing. There are just a few more things which I could have done or something that would have made me completely fulfilled today, although because of my Marlboro Blacks way of living, I overlooked them. Sometimes I think though, that this may be a way for me to rest myself from all the stress and Reds that’s been going through my way for the past days, weeks, months, or years (it’s really an indefinite time duration), but damn sometimes there are just some things that you miss, bits and pieces that make the day better and life all the more fulfilling.

The other night I had a revelation, to start thinking about how I can balance the two. And I came up with a list of things that I have to do within the week – I gave myself that deadline. “Crunch time, no day but today, so step up.” That was basically it. It’s not enough, but it’s a start.

I still have half the list to do for the week, and I have a crazy weekend ahead of me. So hopefully this is the start of “The Good Life – ala Kanye West” (I’m good!), and sometime in the future I’ll get to balance the two.

To a happy and fulfilling yet steady way of living.

Shot. Smoke. Solve.