Good morning Non-smokers

[lo_kate]

reprinted WITH permission...he has authorized ANYONE to reprint, so help your self folks!

MY CIGARETTE, MY FRIEND?

How do you feel about a friend who has to go everywhere with you? Not only does he tag along all the time, but since he is so offensive and vulgar, you become unwelcome when with him. He has a peculiar odor that sticks to you wherever you go. Others think both of you stink.

He controls you totally. When he says jump, you jump. Sometimes in the middle of a blizzard or storm, he wants you to come to the store and pick him up. You would give your spouse hell if he or she did that to you all the time, but you can’t argue with your friend. Sometimes, when you are out at a movie or play he says he wants you to go stand in the lobby with him and miss important scenes. Sine he calls all the shots in your life, you go.

Your friend doesn’t like your choice of clothing either. Instead of politely telling you that you have lousy taste, he burns little holes in these items so you will want to throw them out. Sometimes, he tires of the furniture and gets rid of it too. Occasionally, he gets really nasty and decides the whole house must go.

He gets pretty expensive to support. Not only is his knack of property destruction costly, but you must pay to keep him with you. In fact, he will cost you thousands of dollars over your lifetime. And you can count on one thing; he will never pay you a penny in return.

Often at picnics you watch others playing vigorous activities and having lots of fun doing them. But your friend won’t let you. He doesn’t believe in physical activity. In his opinion, you are too old to have that kind of fun. So he kind of sits on your chest and makes it difficult for you to breathe. Now you don’t want to go off and play with other people when you can’t breathe, do you?

Your friend does not believe in being healthy. He is really repulsed by the thought of you living a long and productive life. So every chance he gets he makes you sick. He helps you catch colds and flu. Not just by running out in the middle of the lousy weather to pick him up at the store. He is more creative than that. He carries thousands of poisons with him, which he constantly blows in your face. When you inhale some of them, they wipe out cilia in your lungs, which would have helped you prevent these diseases.

But colds and flu are just his form of child’s play. He especially likes diseases that slowly cripple you – like emphysema. He considers this disease great. Once he gets you to have this, you will give up all your other friends, family, career goals, activities – everything. You will just sit home and caress him, telling him what a great friend he is while you desperately gasp for air.

Eventually your friend tires of you. He decides he no longer wishes to have your company. Instead of letting you go your separate ways, he decides to kill you. He has a wonderful arsenal of weapons behind him. In fact, he has been plotting your death since the day you met him. He picked all the top killers in society and did everything in his power to ensure you would get one of them. He overworked your heart and lungs. He clogged up the arteries to your heart, brain and every other part of your body. In case you were too strong to succumb to this, he constantly exposed you to cancer causing agents. He knew he would get you sooner or later.

Well, this is the story of your “friend”, your cigarette. No real friend would do all this to you. Cigarettes are the worst possible enemies you ever had. They are expensive, addictive, socially unacceptable, and deadly. Consider all this and NEVER TAKE ANOTHER PUFF!

www.joelspitzer.com http://www.whyquit.com/joel/selfhelp.htm

[Jenn5]

How nice to find this post this morning.

congrats to all on the quitting smoking, man I know how tough it can be.

I quit smoking June 1, felt great about it, and was doing fine until mid August, got stressed and fell off the wagon.
I am back on the wagon today, put the patch on and am ready to go.
I know I can do it. Reading all your posts helped me a lot today and reminded myself why I quit. Many many reasons why it is good to quit.

Thanks

[ginger57]

5 days for me

[LadyJ]

Congratulation on the 5 smoke free days Ginger!! The first week was the hardest for me. I can't believe it has been over a month for me.

Keep on quitting!! You are doing GREAT!

Jeannie

[leeser24]

great article! How true it is.
Hey, I made it to 1M, 3W, 6D - I'm almost at 2 months - wowee, how cool am I! This actually feels pretty darn good - much better than the smoking ever did. Everyone who is just starting their quits - hang in there. It's worth it, the sense of accomplishment is a huge high in itself.

[aim in Fla*working]

do you guys post about weight loss or gain re: quiting?

[Jenn5]

Congrats to everyone who is quitting or has quit

I just put the patch on and am determined to quit today.
I know I am in for a rough week but keep reminding myself why I am quitting.

[Jenn5]

Hi to all
Hope the quitting is going well.

Day 3 for me, the cravings are starting to lessen a bit. I find I have to keep myself busy when the cravings hit.
I am going to make reminder notes for myself that if I ever think of falling off the wagon again that they will remind me how yucky withdrawal is and not worth starting again

Gook luck everyone

[LadyJ]

1 Month and 3 Weeks for me......I won't lie to you, it is still hard. It gets easier everyday.......but somedays, geez, it is hard. I have made up my mind to quit, and I will never smoke another one of those damn cancer sticks again. I still take it one day at at time.

Keep on quitting!! Those things will kill ya! I can breathe easier, I know I smell better. I can put expensive perfume on, and know that it smells good........not overwhelmed by stinky tobacco smoke.

Keep the Quit!!

[leeser24]

do you guys post about weight loss or gain re: quiting?

I think we've all bemoaned the slowing of our diet goals - but as far as I know, no one has really solved the problem except to stick to induction during the early stages of the quit and be more vigilant, and exercise too of course. The temptation to eat can be almost overwhelming when you begin quitting - and I guess long into the quit.

hang in there everyone. don't give up!

My stats:
D 79
saved: $355.00
cigs not smoked 1588 (holy @$#$)
life saved: 5D 11 hours