Ask ten smokers why they smoke and most of them will tell you “I don’t know” or “I just find it enjoyable”. In order to successfully quit smoking, you first want to know the real reason(s) why you continue to light up despite its nasty effects on your health.
The old-fashioned concept that smoking is ‘pleasurable’ does not really exist. What is so pleasurable about killing yourself? What’s enjoyable about inhaling toxic fumes that are too suffocating? Nothing. If you are a smoker, you may not be aware of the following reasons why you couldn’t quit your habit:
1) You want to get sick. We don’t need a rocket scientist to know that smoking kills. Cigarette smoking is one of the major causes of life-threatening diseases in the world. You probably are continuing to smoke because you want to see yourself in the near future tied to hospital bed, with all the oxygen tanks, tubes and other devices attached to your body.
2) You don’t love your family. Because if you do, you should not be smoking in the first place. If you are like most smokers, you puff even inside your home, in your car, and everywhere else even if your family – spouse and children – are around. The thing is that secondhand smoke has been widely linked to respiratory problems and other chronic illnesses among non-smokers. If you love your family, you won’t do anything that could harm them, will you?
3) You hate yourself. What do you call a person who allows his or body to get contaminated with carcinogenic and highly dangerous compounds? Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals that promote aging, DNA damage, and cell death.
4) You lack self control. It’s true that there are some things in life that you don’t have control of, such as your genetic makeup. It is not your fault if your genes are predisposed to health problems. But among the many things that you have control of are your habits. YOU have the power to quit and stop smoking for good.
5) You’re opposing your nature. Your body is not designed for cigarette smoking. It is not meant to absorb toxic chemicals. It is not meant to be ruined. Therefore, you oppose your nature every time you puff.
6) You have lots of money. You know that smoking is expensive. And just in case you don’t, here is a simple calculation based on the average cost per pack which is $5.50: if you smoke a pack once a day, in 30 days (1 month), you spend a total of $165. In one year, that’s $1,980. If you have been smoking for 30 years, by now you would have spent $59,400 already! That’s just the direct cost of smoking. The indirect costs include your health bills if you contract a disease, the added rate on your health insurance premium, the reduced value of your home, car and properties due to exposure to cigarette smoke, and so on.
7) You’re not afraid of cancer. Cigarette smoking is the number one cause of lung cancer, and a major risk factor for other forms of cancer, like cervical, breast, prostate, mouth and oral cancer, among others. The thought of developing this dire disease is probably not frightening you at all.
8) You don’t want to have children. Whether you’re a male or a female, smoking does have terrible effects on your reproductive health. Research has shown that cigarette smoking is harmful to a woman’s ovaries, and could result to the accelerated loss of eggs and early menopausal. In men, cigarette smoking is known to cause impotence, erectile dysfunction, and low sperm count and quality.
9) You don’t respect yourself. We are all endowed with a very special gift – the gift of life and health. But our health is a finite resource (so as our life). Smoking means you don’t give importance to your gift of health.
10) You have been brainwashed. You don’t smoke because you like it. The popular beliefs that cigarettes taste good and are pleasurable are nothing but marketing hypes that tobacco manufacturers have instilled in our minds.
When you stop smoking today, be reminded that you don’t have anything to give up. Rather, you have so many good things to regain. These include your health, self-respect, money, self-love, family, and happiness.
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