Marijuana.com

Board1

I sometimes find myself thinking, "What would my life be like if I never smoked, and what would I be like as a person?" Would I be smarter, dumber, less creative, happier, sadder, more athletic, etc etc. Would my personality, and way of thinking be different too? In a better way, or worse way?

These questions always bother me, because its basically a 50/50 dilema, and it's too late to go back and see how different things would have actually been.

Smoking seemed to give me better perception and understanding of everything, which is good. But in a negative way, with better understanding and perception, all the evils come into focus, and the realization that life is not perfect, and there are many bad things all around us. It seems that marijuana use has made me more of a "glass is half empty, rather than half full" kinda guy.

You know that saying, "ignorance is bliss". It is true for certain people. You may live a very happy life, but walk around in a daze, not knowing the truths of life. Or you may understand life better and constantly think about it in different aspects, but you may be less of a happy person knowing these things. Marijuana could contribute greatly to this I believe.

I basically started smoking at the age of 15. Not a chronic smoker, but not a "once in a blue moon smoker" either. Before this, I was just a happy, care free kid who loved everything. But gradually over the couple years, I seemed to become less happy in general, and started thinking about things I never really used to think about. Like people judging me, my family relationship, school, friends, and other stuff. I'm 18 now, so I'm still a youngster in the long run of life. I've never been really depressed, or never have been diagnosed with any problems. Dont get me wrong, I am a happy guy, and I love my life, but when I think about my younger days a few years back, nothing will compare to those days. So basically what I'm asking is, do you think marijuana caused or contributed to the change in thoughts and everything, or do you think it was mainly just because I was growing up, gaining more intelligence, maturing mentally, and losing that care free childhood attitude I once had.

Thanks

 

oneluv4boognish

Hon it sounds to me like you're realizing that you're growing up. It sucks to finally realize that you're not a kid anymore. But it's really not about the weed if you're not smoking 24/7. It's about you...it's not a bad thing or anything. Maybe just search inward and ask yourself if you think you'd be a better person if you didn't smoke it. If you think you would, quit. If not...keep on keepin on. I know for me that for a long time i was smoking too damn much. It turned me into someone other than myself. It took away my desire to enjoy being a mother...to enjoy everything. I know i started at 14...3 months before i was 15. It really screwed me up then...probably screwed me up until i hit my early 20s. Once you get a grip with being a grown up and you use it responsibly like a grown up...i don't see anything wrong with it. I'm sure everyone has different opinions on this one...but what matters in the end is what YOU think. Trust yourself...it's all you can do.

JussBL4ZE

stop worryin about the "what if's" and start focusing on what is.


good luck.

Niko_G

I sufferer the same problem.

Cassius

That's one of the reason I don't encourage or condone teenagers smoking. You're still growing up at that point and it can sure be confusing figuring out if the changes are just growing up or the weed, right?

I think it's just growing up in this case that you're talking about. Weed may make you grow up a bit faster, because it has a way of making you look at your life as a whole, from a third-person perspective, and you see stuff in the big picture that you didn't notice before. So you come to terms with yourself quicker, and with life quicker.

But especially when you were talking about how you miss your younger days, when you were carefree and was just living life.... we all miss those days. Ah, to be young and ignorant again, with no responsibility. That's just life. Welcome to the real world. Sucks, don't it? =P

The good news is, along with growing up comes the ability to change your own situation. Your life is whatever you make out of it, you have the freedom to choose not only your actions, but also your REACTIONS. You can make yourself into whatever kind of person you want to be. All it takes is a little determination.

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Richi

Well put Cassius, I must say, and those are some quite intriguing questions brought up by Board1.

Yes, it is too late and too bad that we cannot go back in time to see what life would have been like if something were different. We also cannot visit the future to gain knowledge on what would be the best way to live our life now. All we have is the present.

For me, it has made me a “more of a glass is half full” kind of guy, but this all depends on the person. In the same way, anything else, drug or not, could change the way you look at life. It could have much to do with the weed, but not solely because of the weed.

Oneluv, I started smoking at almost the exact same time as you, is your birthday in March too? But as everyone realizes one day, we tend to miss those care-free days of our lives. We grow up, and that’s inevitable, but there are many positives to look at too. When you were a kid, you could light one up and enjoy it as a kid. Now, you need to figure out how to light it up and enjoy it as an adult. As you change, your use of marijuana must change too. Not in a negative way, but in a different way. But if you still feel it is bringing out the negatives in life, maybe it’s time for a little break. See life for what it is without it, then maybe you’ll get yet another perspective on things.

Osirix

Yah I had this about 6 months ago.. I'm starting to come to terms with it. I ask my friends about it etc, and seems they havn't even grown up yet.

Staticfire

Im a few months shy of 18 and I didnt start smoking untill around october/november of 2005, and I feel like I went through all the same **** your talking about, but I didnt smoke when it happened, so Im sure its growing up. I use to be this care free kid...and then my whole life changed. Highschool is really somthing that changes you as a person.

Now as I await my graduation in a matter of months I screwed up durring high school I never took it very seriously, never got involved in school clubs, or sports, or any of that stuff. And I somewhat regret it. I keep thinking what would my life be like if I took things more seriously and what if I had done this.

I guess the reason this happens is because you look at your life from where you stand now and pick out each and every little flaw you see with it. You constantly think about things that could have made your life more perfect. I rember when freshmen year of highschool I looked back at middle school and thought it was the greatest time of my life.

4 years later I now I look back at freshmen year and think of it the same way.

And in some ways I miss the days when people could go out and have fun without drugs or alcohol. It bothers me that the majority of my friends feel without drugs and alcohol theres no way to have a good time.

If I say lets go see a movie. Everyones like yeah lets go get really high and then see the movie. Why cant we enjoy a movie sober anymore? We use to.

Little things like this bother me.

Before cars, sex, drugs, and alcohol I feel life was more simple...and in some ways better.

But on the other hand many great things in my life have come as result to cars, sex, drugs, and alcohol...but who really knows?

Just live life the best you can and thats all you can really do.

TheNewGuy

I'd personally rather know the truths of life and have to deal with it then be ignorant and happy.

Anyways, I also had this, its real simple. When you're a kid, you're kinda looking at the world from "within" it. Like when you're a kid you feel like you're in the world, looking out from it. When you hit somewhere around 18-20, all of a sudden theres no more security, no more "hey, if theres a problem, the adults/government/etc will take care of it, its not my concern". You start looking "at" the world. All of a sudden those problems are something that actually does concern you, and you have to deal with it, not all the other people.

See, when you're a kid, your childhood memories aren't childhood memories, thier "what happened last week" or "what happened last year". When you get out of highschool, you start thinking "holy crap, that was like 8 years ago" when you remember your childhood. Instead of "hey, remember last year when we went to Disney World?" its now "Jesus, its been 10 years since I went to Disney World". You start thinking of those memories as something that happened way in the past, not just something that happened recently, and that gets you thinking about other stuff too. You get into a college, you have to pay for a car, you have to pay rent, etc, all of a sudden life isn't just day in day out hanging out with friends, and you have to start worrying about all the little things. You start questioning who you are, where you're going in life, how you'll get there, and when you look back at your old memories when everything was happy and easy, its like watching the memories on a TV.

A common thing I hear young MJ users say is that they feel like they're watching the world from behind a pane of glass, or watching the world like its on tv, not like you're a part of it. Again, its the same kinda thing. Instead of the old days when you were young and carefree, now you have to really see what the world is, because when you were a kid you didn't have responsibilities that made you question what the world was. You just didn't give a crap because you were too busy enjoying every day as it came.

Point is, its not the pot unless you smoke 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and you are literally never your normal sober self. Its just what happens to any sane person as they get older.

__________________
"Anyway, no drug, not even alcohol, causes the fundamental ills of society. If we're looking for the source of our troubles, we shouldn't test people for drugs, we should test them for stupidity, ignorance, greed and love of power." ~P.J. O'Rourke

walstmonky

The actual quote from Mr Gray was "Where ignorance is bliss, 'tis folly to be wise"

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