People Who Tried To Stop Smoking

People Who Had Reasons To Quit Smoking

I remember when my best friend finally came to grips with why he wasn't going to give up the smoking habit, he simply wasn't ready. He had tried off and on for years to quit smoking but always came back to it.

I think he had the most success when he quit cold turkey, but he never quite made it. By the time he passed away, he had cut back drastically. He was doing it for his daughters and I think those girls are what finally had lit his fire, if you'll pardon the expression, for give up the smoking habit.

Being able to breathe without being winded and not having that gravel throat sound when you talk sound like pretty good health reasons not to smoke to me. Not to mention getting rid of that dreaded "smoker's cough.

There's this guy who took a hit on his inhaler for his asthma right before he went out to smoke. Another couple gave up the smoking habit when they realized that they spent more on cigarettes than they were getting back in taxes.

Another guy I know won't quit smoking just because he enjoys the habit. A friend of mine said giving up smoking was easy, it was getting over the habit that was hard. This makes sense when you think about it, after all once you are past the chemical addiction part, there's still the routine that's been ingrained into your body.

Not being addicted to tobacco myself, I can't relate to some of the things that people go through. I also have trouble with some of the psychological aspects of smoking.

But I know it's hard to do. I've stood by many a friend who gave up the smoking habit, or tried to anyway. Some made it, some didn't.

Ever hear of a closet smoker? I don't mean someone who smokes in a closet, I mean someone who tries to hide it. My grandmother was one for a while. She lived alone and didn't need to hide it, but she did. She tried to pretend she had something she needed to do out in the garage whenever we were over for a visit. Eventually she stopped pretending, which was fine by us, we never had given her a hard time about it so there wasn't really a reason to hide it.

I never did understand second hand smoke. I know what it is, but since smoking is kind of like being right in the blast zone so to speak, I don't get how second hand smoke is supposed to be more dangerous.

Obviously I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination. I'm grateful that I've never picked up the habit. Giving up cigarettes is one of the best things you can do for your body and for others, even if I don't understand the biochemistry behind it.