When we were children, my mom and dad each smoked three packs of cigarettes a day. I don't know if that's how I got hooked on them, or if that's even possible.
Then when my sister and I were teenagers we starting smoking...I guess to look cool for our boyfriends who smoked. I continued to smoke until I was 30; my sister was the smart one and quit not long after she started. Then when I turned 30 I started feeling the effects of smoking. I was huffing and puffing just walking up a dozen or so steps to the front door of our house. That is when I knew it was time to quit. I was way too young to be that out of breath just climbing some stairs.
Here Are Some Things I have Learned in my 68 years about smoking...
Smoking ages your skin. Smoking pulls the oxygen from your skin, and you will get wrinkles long before people who don't smoke. I had a friend who smoked for many years of her life, and at 50 years old she looked at least 10 or more years older than her age! That was distressing to her, but it was too late to undo the damage.
Smoking stains the walls in your home and your furniture. And I imagine it permeates the material on your furniture, too. When we painted our living room, we had to wash the walls down first because my husband and I both smoked, and yellow junk (old tar and nicotine) ran down the walls. It was disgusting. And that was the crud we were putting into our lungs. That made me want to quit right then.
Smoking makes your hair, clothes, car, house, and breath stink. It's not very pleasant for your loved ones when they
are near you.
Smoking stains your teeth and fingers yellow - not very attractive.
Smoking costs a fortune. Figure out what you could save if you did not smoke, and then plan what you and your family could do with that money. You will not only be adding years to your life, but you will be healthier to enjoy whatever you decide to spend all that money on!
Check your family history for cancer, asthma, and emphysema BEFORE you start smoking. Do not be stupid like I was and find out AFTER I had smoked for 15 years. That's when I found out that most of my family members had a history of lung problems - emphysema, asthma, and lung cancer. But the after-affects from smoking do not usually show up until many years down the road when it's too late to undo the damage.
I had relatives who smoked all their lives and suffered through surgeries, radiation, chemotherapy, and still died painful deaths from lung cancer.
My grandpa got emphysema from heavy smoking all his life, and he would take a step and have to gasp for air. He said if he were a famous person, he would tell everyone not to smoke so they do not suffer like he did. He suffered terribly.
My sister's husband died of bladder cancer, and he smoked his whole life. He suffered terribly, and died a horrible, painful death. His doctors told him that the bladder cancer was caused by his smoking for many years of his life.
My mom's friend was a chain-smoker (smoking one cigarette after another), and she would gasp for air just trying to talk. She used to turn blue, and had to have an oxygen tank in her dining room for use when her breathing became too labored. Emphysema eventually killed her, but she never gave up smoking.
Do not believe anyone who says that cigarettes are not addictive. Look at the millions of people who have tried all kinds of ways, but just cannot quit.
Learn from someone who knows. The best way to quit is to not start. Smoking is so addictive that even 28 years after having quit, I still used to get a craving for them when I was stressed! As the Pennsylvania Dutch saying goes, "Too soon old, and too late smart!" Thank the Good Lord that I no longer crave cigarettes, but I sure do wish I had all the money back that I spent on them!
And if you are already addicted, the best way to quit is to just ask yourself every time you go to reach for a cigarette, "Do I really want to do that to my body?" Or do you want to live longer for your family and for yourself?
Here is what God says about our Christian bodies being the dwelling place of the Holy Ghost who indwells all believers after they commit their lives to Jesus Christ.
1 Corinthians
6:19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?
6:20 For ye are bought with a price [Jesus Christ's sinless blood]: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
Perhaps you can find some substitute for a cigarette - a good one is sugar free gum (that way you don't rot your teeth). That was one of my favorite substitutes when I quit. And sugar free gum comes in different flavors so you can mix it up. 😊
And if you are a Christian, pray to Jesus Christ when you get that urge to smoke, and ask him for the strength to resist the temptation to smoke.
Psalm 28:7
The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.
1 Corinthians 10:13
There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.