More thoughts of an ex-smoker

As mentioned in the previous blog, I was a smoker when my father-in-law passed away after a long battle with lung cancer in 1986. I started smoking at about 14 years of age because, like a lot of people, I thought it would make me look "grown up". And like most people, what started as an attempt to "look cool" became a increasingly demanding life controlling habit. Everything took second place to my nicotine habit. The first thing I wanted when I awoke in the morning was not a moment of reflection of the good things in my life, my family, my friends, a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe. It was not a time of thankfulness for the very breath of life but instead a impulsive need for that first cigarette of the day. I remember after our first son was born, as we were bringing him home from the hospital driving across Lake Pontchartrain on the Causeway (a 25 mile bridge in Southern Louisiana) having to pull into an emergency parking area and stand outside the car to smoke. This blog couldn't contain all the examples I could list of life having to wait while I have a cigarette. Nor does it need to because if you're reading this its probably because you are searching for some help to quit smoking. You know what its like. You're there where I used to be. That's why I am writing this BLOG. I've been there. I know how hard it is to quit smoking. I know from personal experience and observation that many of the methods that are out there are a waste of time and money. My dad died of lung cancer in 1995. He was diagnosed about a year before that and tried his hardest to quit smoking. He used patches to supply his body with the nicotine it craved, and ended up needing the double dose provided by wearing a patch and smoking at the same time. I talked to people who were convinced that they could quit by tapering off. They would argue that by tapering off they were reducing their need for nicotine slowly and that eventually they would be able to quit smoking completely. Let me tell you why I know that will not work. I quit smoking for about a year in 1983. It was difficult but I did it. I was free of the constant cravings. One day, at work, I decided to reward myself for a job well done with a cigarette, just for the "heck of it." I bummed a smoke from a co-worker. On my way home I had to stop at a convenience store and buy a pack of cigarettes. By smoking that one cigarette, after a year of not smoking, I renewed the cravings as if I had been smoking all along. Now if that happened after a year of not smoking, how can it be possible to reduce your cravings by gradually tapering off. IT WON'T WORK. Every time you light up, if its been an hour, or a day, or a week, or a year you start over from the beginning. So if you struggle to not smoke for a day and you are one day closer to being rid of the cravings forever, but you give in, you have wasted the time and effort spent. You struggled an entire day for nothing because by giving in you have started over. And substitute methods of providing nicotine to your body just keep the dependence going. Would it happen now that I have been smoke free for eighteen years? I'm not about to find out. You couldn't pay me to light up now that I know how wonderful it is to be free of the slavery of the nicotine habit and how hard it is to quit smoking. I am writing this BLOG to help you do what I have done - Quit Smoking Forever. I recently found a method that I believe will make the quitting much easier. The EasyQuit System uses Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT, a system developed in the 1960's by Professor Aaron Beck. It is used to change the way we think about what we do and why we do it. And it's easy to follow because it breaks down an overwhelming problem - like smoking - into small easily solvable parts. Click on this link or go to http://www.havhopehealth.com/ to learn more. If you have questions or comment email me at havhopeworldwide@gmail.com.

Thoughts from an ex-smoker

I am writing this blog because as an ex-smoker I understand the usual hardships associated with quitting smoking, i.e. the edginess, the intense cravings, the weight gain, etc. I also know firsthand the joy of being released from the nicotine tarnished prison. I'm convinced that only someone who has experienced the consequences of smoking (the shortness of breath, the yellow stained fingers and teeth, the smell of smoke in your clothes, car, and home, the dependence on a steady supply of cancer sticks regardless the cost) can fully appreciate the freedom from these consequences that quitting smoking brings.

I was a smoker when my wife's dad died of lung cancer at the age of 55. I had been an ex-smoker for only a few years when my dad died of lung cancer at the age of 64. I wish I knew then what I know now. Though I'd read the warnings on the cigarette pack many times, I didn't fully comprehend the effects of smoking and the benefits of quitting. I wish I'd invested the time in trying to convince both of these great men in my life that though it was difficult, quitting smoking was possible and would be of great benefit to their health and life. I cannot go back in time and change their fate but I hope that through this BLOG I can convince you, smoker, to quit. Do it for you and do it for those that love you.

I know firsthand that quitting smoking "cold turkey" is hard, and I will share some insights as to why tapering off and gums and patches do not (IMHO) work in future posts. The great news I want to share with you today is that the usual hardships of quitting smoking that I went through 18 years ago when I quit smoking are not necessary today because of the EasyQuit System. You can purchase the EasyQuit System and other products to improve your health and general well being by visiting my website at http://www.havhopehealth.com/. If you have any questions please feel free to email me at mailto:HavHopeWorldwide@gmail.com.