Toxic beware

[Abby]

My quit is awesome ! 

I never would have said that in the beginning .  I had no choice but to quit . It wasn't because I wanted to . I tried to quit many times before this quit , but this time I knew I had to quit if I wanted to live. 

I feel so very proud of all the younger folks who are more turned off by smoking now than thinking smoking is "cool" or an answer to stress or a fulfillment for avoid or a solution for their problems . 

Are the warnings , awareness and education about addiction making a difference ?  

In my day smoking was advertised on tv by high profile people ;  many of them were idols and role models  . They smoked during stressful scenes , war scenes ; they smoked during party scenes and funeral scenes  . Women  smoked when there were distraught, alone and in emotional crises  ; men in the high stakes gambling or drinking scenes or the old country and western shoot out . Smoking was everywhere in the public and all who smoked were completely unknowledgable about what we would now come to know 30 years later . 

Each commercial was followed by an advertisement selling and promoting their brand. The best were hired to write the best luring script in an attempt to inspire the young , the vulnerable , the cool , the broken hearted and EVERYONE  including you and me to be their future LIFELONG-clients .  The power of words they used were toxic words in a fancy cellophane package that sounded good ,  looked good,  smelled good,  tasted good , and we were the target. 

Little did we know at that time that in the future-smoking would cause mass death and destruction . Something  that seemed so harmless continues to do that  . 

The warning is in the packaging folks . Let me ask you .  Could a spoiled mouldy 3 year old chocolate cake you know has been sitting in your deepfreeze be brought out,  then topped with freshly appealing delectable icing decorated beautifully be worth a risk even though you know underneath that icing is a three year old mouldy cake ?   Ya I wouldn't eat it either . Not even the icing .That cake is toxic . Garbage . 

Inhaling anything but fresh air is the only thing I want in my lungs now .  Nothing else is worth the risk to me . Nothing ! 

Quit smoking  if you have not , for the rest of us , let's keep it up. 

Smoking is an inside job, and it's been killing us from the inside out for years . It's time to stop. 

I like the taste I have with this freedom and the feel good moments I have with this freedom . I take seconds and thirds of that . 

 

 

 

[Nancy]

Well said, Abby!!

[Doreensfree]

Wonderful post Abby...inspirational.... X

[JB 883]

I still wonder though just WHY anyone picks up the habit. Cannot blame our peers, parents, the TV etc... My own excuse though is life was really stressful at the time. No matter how many packs I smoked though my problems did not vanish.

We all foolishly started smoking in our respective times. Even before the warnings, surgeon general announcements etc... wouldn't people have figured out that just maybe this smoking bit is harmful when weird things happen like -

Breath rattling at times, especially at night. Start coughing when trying to laugh. Morning mouth gets more disgusting than it normally would be. House/car/clothes start to stink. The fact that something is glowing red hot a mere few inches from your face and emitting smoke? Yeah THAT must be safe and healthy. When we first start, the first time we try to inhale the smoky nast, our lungs flinch in the same manner that muscles involuntarily flinch in pain. Yet the doctors on TV said it was safe to smoke. I was not around back then but seen some youtube videos. I can imagine ads being crammed down people throats the same way cell phones and social media are today.

Interesting thing though today they are trying to act like vaping and e-cigs are some good safe alternative. AND people are buying into it. Of course vape companies make it look sexy or they diss tobacco and smoking. First time I heard about vaping, my knee-jerk thought was, "Well, breathing water vapor, THAT is pointless." Let us hope that kids do not fall for it.

Makes you wonder then what other gimmicks people will fall for? People are dumb. I was dumb. One motivator to stop smoking is think, "I am too good for this. This just is not me".

Edited November 18, 2017 by Jetblack

[Abby]

8 hours ago, Jetblack said:

Breath rattling at times, especially at night. Start coughing when trying to laugh. Morning mouth gets more disgusting than it normally would be. House/car/clothes start to stink. The fact that something is glowing red hot a mere few inches from your face and emitting smoke? Yeah THAT must be safe and healthy. When we first start, the first time we try to inhale the smoky nast, our lungs flinch in the same manner that muscles involuntarily flinch in pain. Yet the doctors on TV said it was safe to smoke. I was not around back then but seen some youtube videos. I can imagine ads being crammed down people throats the same way cell phones and social media are today.

Once I was hooked on cigarettes  all good sense went out the door and denial set in . Things like " I had lots of time to quit "were things I told myself . I believed those paid drs words because I was an addict and they were words I wanted to hear and the excuse I needed to keep smoking . When filter tips came out I was convinced  they were safer too  ... why . again .... .because I was an addict. ..

Did  I really think they were safer ... deep down .... no .  But I was so flipping scared . What if I succeeded . Wow ! No more smoking. How would I live my life without a cig . 

Its been an amazing journey . One I will never regret . I doubt others here regret their decision too .

Was quitting easy? Was it hard ? Nope ..

Was it worth it .... oh ya! 

I believed so many lies and made up so many lies as an addict ....  it was crazy stinkin thinkin !  I believed  less nicotine was safer , less tar was safer .....all to protect my addiction . I don't lie to defend addiction any more . Today I live in truth . 

 I believed I was trying to quit  for years until I realized trying was getting me no where . I waited until it was almost too late ...  I knew I would have to change my thinking . I would have to do whatever it would take to get the job done .....and ..... that's what I did . 

Now... what has come of all that struggle and hard work  ?  I don't worry anymore about the consequences of my addiction .  I have done  the best possible thing I can do . I don't feel guilty . I love being able to breathe , to live  and I am proud because hard work paid off . 

Did I make a mistake smoking .. yes .... does it mean I am off scott free from cancer ? who knows ; but I am dang proud to be an ex smoker .  That in itself has been worth it.  

You mention some really good reasons for not going back to smoking. It's good to remember the ugly part of smoking. 

Congratulations on your quits everyone. . No matter  how you have chosen to do it let's keep it simple .  Let's keep it consistent , let's keep it forever .

Not one puff .  Not one puff ever . No more shackles ! 

 

[JB 883]

I wonder about that part too of " does quitting now mean I am off scott free from cancer or smoke related disease ?" That is my main residual problem of having been a smoker for 15 years.

No one gets out of here alive. Even if smoke related disease DO creep in long after someone has quit, it would HAVE to be to a lesser degree or at least onset later than if we never had quit. Of course there are folks who have never smoked a puff NOR been around smokers a day in their lives who get lung cancer or whatever. One never knows.

Even if health risk remains unchanged for some who quit, there is less damage to our wallets when we quit. Plus all the other undeniable and readily evident benefits of quitting like no longer smelling bad or inconvenient stuff like "needing a cigarette but cannot smoke anytime soon". No more inconvenient trips to the gas station.

Some who refuse to quit say things like "You gotta die of something". This is fact. What else is fact though is it sucks massively come time to pay the piper. Mine might be a weird reason to quit BUT - I decided finally I didn't want to "pay the piper" any more nor sooner than I already may have to. 40 something isn't an age to think, "I gotta die sometime of something". Screw that, i want to live. I do not want to give any pleasure to those who cannot stand me by kicking off any sooner than I have to.

[Doreensfree]

I took my first puff in 1961..at the young tender age of eleven...

I hung around with older kids, and wanted to be !!! Just like them !!!!

By twelve I was a addict...

What does a eleven year old care about ???....health related illnesses..... Not alot....

Smoking back then was made to look so cool...

Even when I had my two babies in the seventies....it was OK to smoke on the ward...after all we deserved a smoke didn't we ?????

Abby is right the tobacco companies always come up with better and safer ways for us to get your little fix..( sigh )..

It wasn't till all the health warnings started ,that my brain started to think..maybe I should stop doing this...

By this time I was well and truly hooked ,I tried to quit hundreds of times ,always to fail...

So how come this quit was different??

My smoking days were brought to a grand halt..I was at risk of amputation...

Education...knowledge....joining these fine folks...who believed in me....

So at the wonderful age of 62..I quit...for ever....have i dodged the bullet....I don't know....all I know is...

I'm smoke free...and will spend what time I have left ...FREE.....

[bakon]

I thought it was cool. Then I was stuck. 

Now I am cool.

[Stewie]

I just went to the night at the age of 18 with some older folks that smoked and before i noticed i was borrowing some smokes here and there. I bought my first pack shortly after and i was a 1 pack a day smoker not much after. I think it was an age thing, peer pressure thing thingy. Its done though, i wont be putting those horrible toxins in my lungs again no thank you!!

[Boo]

On 11/18/2017 at 3:24 PM, Jetblack said:

I still wonder though just WHY anyone picks up the habit. Cannot blame our peers, parents, the TV etc... My own excuse though is life was really stressful at the time. No matter how many packs I smoked though my problems did not vanish.

Hindsight is 20/20.  We started smoking when we were young and thought of ourselves as invincible.  No one plans on becoming an addict.  Poor decisions snowball and before you know it, you fall right into the trap.

The good news is: once you stop doubting yourself and end the self-destructive thought patterns, freedom can be attained instantly.

14 hours ago, Jetblack said:

I wonder about that part too of " does quitting now mean I am off scott free from cancer or smoke related disease ?" That is my main residual problem of having been a smoker for 15 years.

There are few guarantees in regards to how long any of us will live.  Quitting smoking improves the quality of your life the minute you ash out that last one.  I don't have a clue how long I'll be kicking around, but with twenty-months of freedom under my belt I've already enjoyed more benefits from quitting than I ever imagined on that fateful day I committed to NOPE.

[bakon]

Just for some info

Tittydude and booger will never be cool.

Joe is Fonzie cool.

[JB 883]

Isn't his name MrTitwank? What kind of a boob messes up that name?

Edited November 20, 2017 by Jetblack

[Boo]

18 hours ago, bakon said:

Just for some info

Tittydude and booger will never be cool.

My only real concern is that Bakon's stupidity may be contagious.