Smokers Blues

The one thing that you can't do is tell a smoker why smoking is bad for them. They've heard it all. Sometimes something does come along to shock them, but it only is a Band-Aid solution, because they will continue to smoke. Just look at the affect that the NEW anti-smoking commercials are having on people you know who smoke. It may shock and disgust them showing people whose lives were affected, but smokers will only complain to a friend while they smoke a cigarette!

I can find many tips on quitting, but I'm sure smokers have tried them all. They probably tried the drugs. They also probably tried the patch, the gum, the acupuncture, the cold turkey, need I say more? If they quit, then it was worth it. If not, then you are going to hear me talk about smoking a lot!

Smoking WILL have an impact on your health, one way or another. It doesn't matter if you smoke 1 on occasion or more than 1 pack a day. Down the road you will pay the piper. The whole entire secret to quitting is really a simple one. YOU MUST WANT TO QUIT. Yes the addiction is much stronger than one's will, but unless you WANT to quit, you are already being defeated.

Once you want to quit, you will start a war to beat this addiction. War means you will fight battles. Just because you lose a battle doesn't mean you have to let smoking win the war. KEEP TRYING!

In order for one to WANT to quit, they must choose to do so. Pressure from others, such as loved ones, doctors and non-smokers, will eventually make the smoker doomed to failure. Many smokers will now try to hide it from others.

Although I'll touch on smoking again(and again and again), let me give you some tips that may make it easier.

First and foremost, the biggest mistake you can make to quit smoking is setting a date. Setting dates will only prove that you are doomed to fail. The big one is New Years, where resolutions fail rather quickly. I quit mid-February, when my doctor told me I had bladder cancer. He said I either quit smoking or I will die. I quit cold turkey in 1998 and never smoked again. I was smoking 3 packs of cigarette a day at the time, and I had wanted to quit but couldn't do it.

Lets do the economics, in other words, I'm going to pick your pocket. When I quit, a pack of cigarettes was$2.50 for my brand. If I was still alive today, my habit would cost $30 a day!

Sure smokers always say that once the price goes up they are going to quit, but lo and behold, those people continue to smoke. Nicotine is the most addictive drug of all, and the producers know how to fix the dosage to make you addicted. If not, they would cease to exist, but business is good$$$$$$$!

At $30 a day that would be $210 a week, which is more than half my paycheck. In a year that is $10950. Add to this your health care costs. If you see a doctor more than 3 times a year(including your physical) your ailments are more than likely from your cigarettes. Yes cigarettes and the smokers are skyrocketing health costs for the rest of us.

Another big mistake smokers make when they try to quit is they announce it to everybody. Although people may wish you well, they all await your failure to announce that they knew you couldn't do it. This is another reason why one must WANT to quit. Determination is your only weapon to beat addiction. Will power is what will feed your determination.

If you WANT to quit, there may not be an immediate solution like mine. People will try and fail. The best way to quit is to explore and see what will work for you. If you fail, my advice is to immediately continue to find a solution. Perhaps cold turkey may work, perhaps you need gum, patches, medication, counseling, etc., just don't keep smoking after a failure and try again tomorrow rather than next week!

It takes 10 years to actually break free of nicotine. I had quit for a number of years from time-to-time in my smoking history. The funny thing is that if I smoked one pack when I quit, I would start slow(the first one) and not only reach one pack a day within a month, but a pack and a half within three months!

Enlighten yourself about nicotine addiction. In other words, know your enemy that poses as your best friend. Nicotine makes you its puppet, and controls you. This is why I have seen too many dying people continue to smoke their cancer sticks. They are on chemotherapy and continue to smoke. When they die, their smoking buddies blame the chemo for their deaths!

Smokers come up with too many excuses to protect their habit. They become connivers as they look for ways to smoke where smoking is restricted, such as airports. They actually believe it is their right to smoke. The rude awakening is coming since smoking areas are being limited and fines will be enforced. Yet another hole in the pocket.

Smoking...you can bet I have a lot to say and some of the things I say will sound like a broken record!