~~Every time you light up, you are saying your life is not worth living.~~ Unknown
Smoking kills. I'm guessing that's why we all want to quit, right? The illnesses, diseases, and cancers attributed to smoking are scary and life threatening. So, logically, we know we have to quit if we want to live.
It isn't the addiction that kills you, it is the chemicals within the addicted substance. It's the arsenic, acetone, formaldehyde, ammonia, turpentine, and the other over 3993 chemicals found in cigarettes. At least 81 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer.
Still we smoke on. Addicted. Our brains are wired to keep that addiction active. It will search out reasons, it will blatantly lie, it will try to force you to believe you cannot live without smoking.
And we know this. And we smoke. We accept the rationales that we 'can't' quit. We reason away our health. We justify away our freedom.
These cancers and illnesses and diseases are not going to gently whisper "Get ready because you are going to be sick soon...." That diagnosis will take you off guard. It will come suddenly and without warning and all at once your whole entire life changes forever. And you wish you could go back and do things differently. And you regret that quit you lost. And all those chances you had to make things different.
But we smoke because we don't like the discomfort of quitting. The going through the day without a cigarette in hand. The dealing with feelings you never had to deal with before. The handling life's challenges you never had to handle before. The cravings. The longings. The changes.
I so wish I could get you to understand that quitting doesn't hurt you. That while you may feel like quitting is agony, at the same time your body is singing as it works 24/7 to repair the damage you have done to it. That every moment you do NOT smoke is another moment you are gaining some health, some freedom, some light at the end of an addiction tunnel.
I want to be gentle with you. I want to comfort you and say it will be ok. I want to be perky and sweet and say it will work out. But I understand what smoking is doing to you. And nothing about smoking is good. Nothing!!! All the damage it is doing it is doing under the cover of addiction. It's killing you but you feel better while it happens. Crazy, isn't it?
I know there are often hidden issues that appear when you quit. Depression, anxiety, weight gain, insomnia.....
But with professional help, these issues can be dealt with. The only way to deal with smoking related illnesses is to quit. That needs to be your priority. Because even with professional help, the only way out is through. Smokers have to quit.
Every time you light up, you are saying that your life isn't worth living. Remind yourself of that with each and every cigarette and maybe that will help you to quit. Tell yourself you are choosing to smoke, not needing to. Tell yourself that you are risking a stroke, a heart attack, cancer. Make smoking so despicable you won't enjoy that cigarette. With each and every puff, remind yourself that smoking means death.
I know this is harsh. This isn't my usual post. But I truly, truly want you to live.
Sheri
