Synergy 2004

The fact is many hundreds of thousands of people are completely addicted to smoking. Many of them are fighting the battle with this powerful addiction.  But, the question many are asking is “how do I quit smoking?“ There are lots of reasons to stop smoking, but the most important one is to do it for your self.

What is wrong with quitting for others?

Many people trying to quit smoking are doing so in order to make others happy.  They try to quit so their spouse will quit nagging.  They try to stop because their job frowns upon smoking.  They try to put out the cigarette because society has made smoking unacceptable.  They try to quit because their kids look at them with big, puppy dog eyes and plead with them to stop.  While it is great to have family and friends around you who care and who want to see you stay around awhile longer than you will if you continue smoking, the only reason that will truly motivate you is if you quit for yourself.

Sure, pleasing those around you may get you to start on the road toward recovery from nicotine addiction.  You might tell yourself, “I’m doing it for my kids. I don’t want them to see me go through cancer.”  Or, you might think, “If I quit smoking, my spouse might finally just leave me alone about it.”  While these thoughts may get you initially motivated to quit smoking, they won’t help you sustain a cigarette free life.  In fact, quitting for others might just help you make excuses to start back up again.  For example, you might quit for your spouse, and then when you have a disagreement about something, you might say, “I’ll show him (or her).”  Next thing you know, you’re lighting up.  You may not think you would do that, but we do strange things when we’re upset – even destroy our own bodies.

Why You Should Quit for Yourself

There are plenty of reasons you should quit for yourself.  A couple of them even do tie into quitting for others, but with a slightly different slant.  For example, you might quit because of your kids, but not for them.  By this I mean that you might want to quit so you can enjoy spending more years with them, rather than because you don’t want to see them get hurt by your early death.  This may sound selfish, but you have to think about yourself when you are trying to quit.  You have to convince yourself there are many reasons to quit that will benefit you personally.

Of course, there is the obvious health benefits involved with quitting.  If you quit, you put years back onto your life.  This is because you have now effectively reduced your chances of developing high blood pressure, heart disease, throat cancer, lung cancer, and emphysema.  You have also lessened your likelihood of having a heart attack and of developing gum disease and ulcers, just to name a few.

If you aren’t feeling too concerned about the inside of your body, consider the outside.  Smoking makes your finger and teeth yellow, not to mention the bad smell.  Of course, you probably don’t realize just how bad it smells because your sense of taste and smell has both been dulled by smoking!  Fortunately, quitting will help bring back these small joys of life.

In addition, smoking makes your skin wrinkle faster, particularly on your face.  Not only that, the notion that smoking makes a person look “cool” has been gone for a long time.  In fact, the majority of people are less attracted to people who smoke than the other way around.

Of course, there are also the financial rewards of quitting smoking.  Most smokers will save literally thousands of dollars every year by simply quitting smoking.  Just imagine all of the things you can do for you if you quit.  Perhaps you have seen some new outfits or shoes you would like to buy at the end of a year of successfully not smoking.  Maybe you can purchase a new entertainment center, or buy that new transmission for your project car.  Perhaps you can take that vacation you have always wanted to take.  If you managed to win the battle against this addiction and answer the question “How Do I Quit Smoking?”, go ahead and spoil yourself – you deserve it!  Consider it a celebration of saving your own life.