The Reasons I Quit Smoking
March 22, 2009 by Admin
Filed under Stop Smoking General
When I quit smoking, I found out it wasn’t easy. It was a habit of mine that I struggled with for years, but it was a calming habit. The cigarettes were always there for me, even if I had to go to the corner store in the middle of the night to buy more. Before deciding that I wanted to quite smoking, I spent literally thousands of dollars on my bad habit that would have been better spent on my daughter’s college education.
All of my friends and family had quit smoking. As I looked at them, I felt isolated and realized I was the last smoker I knew personally. As a result, I quit smoking too. I saw other smokers pass by me on the sidewalks, but the majority of people I encountered were non-smokers. I felt increasingly more isolated from the world because of my smoking habit. Eventually, I quit smoking, too.
Speaking of uncomfortable, I made honest efforts to stop smoking. I tried to find little ways to compensate for my damaging addiction and avoid making others pay because I couldn’t kick the habit. Truthfully, I liked smoking: I smoked outside, even when it was freezing rain and the wind was brutal. I smoked when my kids wouldn’t see me, so as not to be a poor role model. I even talked to my kids about why smoking was terrible and something they shouldn’t do. Strange how after those speeches, I always needed to have a cigarette.
I quit smoking initially for my kids, not for myself. I still miss the act of smoking and sometimes wish I could have a cigarette. The thought is constantly with me, that just one wouldn’t hurt and that longing to inhale. When I pass someone on the street who has a lit cigarette, I envy that person, even though he’s going to kill himself and die before me because he smokes and I don’t.
That’s the reason I quit smoking: I don’t want to die and leave my kids without a mother. It may be too late. My lungs may already harbor cancerous cells that are slowly growing, without me even noticing. But I feel better knowing I’m trying to reverse the damage because I don’t want my children to watch me get so sick that my hair falls out and I’m covered with tubes. I have a friend who has cancer, and she looks like that. I quit smoking because her kids, two and six, don’t understand why their mother is too sick to play or too tired to read a story.
Everyone’s reasons to stop smoking are different. I quit smoking for my kids. You may have your own reasons to quit smoking. If you do, write them down. Carry those reasons with you for the rest of your life and stop smoking now. There are ways to quit smoking that are almost effortless, even though you may struggle with a strong craving or two on occasion. Your doctor can provide plenty of advice on ways to quit smoking. You could get in touch with a stop smoking forum and find people going through similar struggles to quit smoking. It’s better than dying before having a chance at living.
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