I've probably told this story a hundred times before, and anytime someone asks me, 'What was your greatest lesson? It’s the first story that comes to mind.
So, I was about 16 and I went to meet a small business owner for the first time as I was supposed to start working with him managing his social media pages and that was 9 years ago so there weren't much people providing that service as now, probably also he didn't know I was this young but I acted super professional, and it wasn't my first time doing business so he gave me the adequate respect even though he was like 45 years old or something.
While we were talking, one thing I couldn't ignore was how many cigarettes he smokes. like I'm not exaggerating, but the moment he puts out the cigarette, his hand automatically moves to the pack of cigarettes to light a new one, for at least an hour non-stop he did that. He finished the first pack and was halfway through the second and I said something like: "excuse me, I know it's none of my business, but this way you're not smoking, you're taking revenge on yourself, you're killing yourself!"
He gasped, and looked at me with a regretful face and said: "you know son, I never smoked till I was this old, when I was in high school, I always made fun of my friends who smoked, and I said how are you guys wasting your money and destroying your health, and what's even the benefit? why would you do so? In college I also made fun of my smoking colleagues and said the same thing, and even in the army where everyone smokes even the non-smokers, I didn't smoke. and here I am, as you can see! and I learned that when God keeps you away from something, it’s God’s grace, not your favor.
So, I immediately got the lesson as it was crystal clear, don't make fun of people for a bad habit that they have, and know that if God keeps you away from something bad, that's not because you're great; it's through the grace of god.
Ironically enough, I came to a point in my life where I did exactly what this man used to do; I was smoking around 20 cigarettes in less than 8 hours, and I couldn't just stop. Everyone around me noticed how bad I smoke, even my friends who are also smokers they said: "that's unbelievable, whenever I look at you, you're smoking a cigarette!"
I still struggle with quitting this worst habit I've picked up, and I often think about this man. You know, it's super easy to point out other people and judge them because they've been tested with something you haven't. It's so easy to point out someone who struggles with heroine addiction for instance and say: "look, this person lacks will power" and start preaching like we're perfect. But, it's much more difficult to point out oneself's flaws and fix them.