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Smoking today is quite literally a cancer of our society. It not only harmfully affects smokers themselves, but with the topic of second hand smoke brewing nowadays, we know for a fact that smokers endanger the health of their friends and family around them whenever they choose to light up as well.

Almost every smoker I know tells me that they would like to quit. Many have tried and failed, most have just ignored the need to quit since they are not facing any immediate life threatening ailments. Unfortunately, smoking is a widely available legalized drug that just kills you slower than other more harmful street drugs do. It staggers my mind how the government, those elected to protect our best interests, would allow such a wounding substance to be commonly used in today’s health conscious society. Could it be because these cigarettes are an extremely tax-friendly profit-producing substance that is well liked by giant retailers and the government alike?

Smoking is one of those real life tragedies that you don’t realize until it’s often too late. It’s like drinking and driving. Everyone knows you shouldn’t do it, but somehow you fool yourself into thinking you can handle it or you won’t be affected by it. So, you hop behind the wheel and drive off. At this point you may or may not make it home without an accident, but if you drink and drive as many times as you light up a cigarette, eventually you will get in to an accident. At this point, getting behind the wheel doesn’t seem like such a good idea in the first place and all this mess could have been avoided had you done the right thing in the first place – TOO LATE! Every time you light up a cigarette you are risking your own health and those around you. It will just be a matter of time until you are forced to realize you’ve done irreparable damage and you and your loved ones are forced to suffer the consequences – AGAIN TOO LATE! If you can fathom the detriment drinking and driving can cause leading you to avoid it, why can’t you fathom the ill fate smoking can cause and quit?Here is a simple way to tell if you should quit smoking. Ask yourself the following questions and answer them honestly:

1. Can I quit smoking?
   • This question sounds simple enough, right? Most smokers I know answer “yes I can quit smoking if I really wanted to.” If you believe anything along the lines of this then you have to ask yourself the next obvious follow up question: What would it take for you to really want to? Only if you can quantify that, can you truly answer the first question otherwise you are just making excuses and have basically said you cannot quit smoking at all. The real unfortunate thing about this is that most people do not or can not quantify what it would take for them to quit smoking until it is too late to make much of a difference. Maybe you’ve possibly ended a good relationship with a partner who does not agree with your addiction, or you have damaged your health to a point where there is no recovery. To make a real difference you have to quit now and today before any damage is done..
2. With the total amount of money I spend on cigarettes per month, is there something else I want to buy that I could have instead? How about the total amount within a year? How about the total amount inclusive since I started smoking?
   • You’d be amazed at how expensive smoking is over the years. And it is not getting any cheaper. The amount you spend can accumulate into the thousands or tens of thousands by the time you add it all up depending on how long you’ve been smoking for. If you really want to save money, stop this useless habit. Not only will you save on the purchases of this expensive substance, you will save in health care you may require later..
3. Would I recommend picking up smoking as a habit to my own kids, nieces, nephews or grandchildren?
   • Here is a good test to put your conscience to the test. The answer to this question can generally tell you how much you know about the actual problems smoking can cause. I would never hand a loaded gun over to my kids. I would never tell them drugs are okay. I would never tell them it is okay to drink and drive. What makes these things okay for you to do as an adult yourself? Nothing really. If it’s not something you can in good conscience recommend your loved ones to do, then it probably is not something you should be doing either. The fact that you are still doing it relays the message that it is okay for them to do it as well. Is that incentive for you to quit? If you are not concerned enough about your own health and future, maybe the health and future of your loved ones will be sufficient reason..
4. If were diagnosed with lung cancer or some other kind of smoking related fatal disease resulting in an early death, what would you leave behind and who would really suffer the consequences?
   • I apologize for the bluntness of this question, but this is a very likely reality of smoking so it is definitely an outcome you must consider, if not for yourself, then again for your loved ones you may leave behind. Such a life departure is not something most people wish to think about, but would you rather think about it now and avoid it or ignore the facts and suffer the consequences later. Ignorance is NOT bliss when it comes to smoking and often it is your loved ones who must endure the consequences of your decisions. Also, smoking ailments may not take your life instantly, it could be a long drawn out process where your loved ones are forced to watch you suffer and take care of you while you wither away. Sorry again for the bluntness, but death is a real part of life. Just because you don’t think about it doesn’t mean it won’t come. But, if you can quit now, at least you can avoid the cruel outcome smoking penalizes you with..
5. If I could change the past, would I have started smoking in the first place?
   • Here is your chance to consider the consequences before it is TOO LATE! Based on how healthy you are now, what you know about the diseases associated with long term smoking and the understanding of what it really costs to support this habit, would you have started if you had the same choice over again? If you find yourself answering “no”, then that is a good thing. You may not be able to really change anything that has happened in the past (don’t we all wish we could), but if you know it was the wrong decision to go with back then, why would you continue on the wrong path now. Learn from your mistakes and correct yourself while you have the chance to..
6. Which is stronger – my will power or my addiction?
   • This one is actually a rhetorical question. If you are still smoking and have yet to quit then your addiction has already won over your will power.

 

Not convinced enough to stop smoking? Here are a few more reasons to stop:

1. As cool as smoking may make you feel, you really are no better than a lowly drug addict shooting up in a back alley every time you light a cigarette. It is society’s fault (or maybe the tax hungry governments) that smoking is deemed somewhat acceptable. It is still a harmfully addictive substance, just like street drugs are – smoking just kills you slower.
2. Long term smoking may stain your teeth and fingers. Not a pretty sight or attractive feature.
3. Smokers are not aware of this because they have become desensitized to the odor of cigarette smoke, but non-smokers often gasp for air when standing next to a smoker. Pay careful attention to your surroundings and you may see painful grimaces on the faces of people next to you or folks covering their noses as you stand near them. Do you really want to be the person who repels a crowd of people every time you enter a room?
4. Lung cancer and other negative ailments result directly from smoking. This is indisputable, yet the addiction is often so great and the rate of deteriorating health is just slow enough that most people foolishly believe (or persuade themselves) they are immune to this somehow.
5. Second hand smoke can be harmful to your loved ones. The same kind of ailments can develop for people who ingest second hand smoke as smokers themselves.
6. Most forest fires are started by careless and clueless smokers flicking their cigarettes out of their vehicle windows.

The team here at PricelessSavings.com challenges you to stop smoking for at least 1 month. What do you win? Well, you win your self respect back and the respect of us and those around you if you can continue to stop smoking for the rest of your would be healthier life! You’ve got nothing to lose except an expensive, health deteriorating, family robbing addiction.

Hopefully, you have been inspired to quit smoking by this article. If the notion of quitting your smoking habit remains in your mind after you’ve finished reading this article, then that is half the battle. But, sometimes the craving is so strong that we soon lose focus of the goal and revert back to our old wrongful ways, so here are a few common methods used frequently to help stop smoking:

1. Cold turkey – This is the iron fist, no looking back, I control my own life way approach to quitting. If you can do it this way then you are better than 95% of people who have tied this and failed. It’s not easy, but neither is swallowing the consequences lead to by puffing away your life.
2. The patch – This is a band aid like product that releases chemicals into your body to slowly wean you off the addictive nicotine substance in cigarettes. If cold turkey sounds too difficult or too much like an unsatisfying meal to you, then this tiered approach may be for you. It helps you carve your habit by slowly guiding you to the finish line.
3. Nicotine gum – This is similar approach to the patch, except it comes in an oral form. Sometimes, this approach works better than the patch as having something in your mouth other than a cigarette seems to make you miss the addiction less. Probably because it has become a subconscious habit itself to always having something like a cigarette in your mouth. Chewing on a piece of nicotine gum may alleviate this subconscious urge and allow you to fight the drug addiction more exclusively.
4. Hypnosis – This is mental manipulation or the power of suggestion to reduce or remove the habit of smoking. I don’t know how well this works, but if you don’t have the will power to do it yourself, maybe it is time to let someone else implant that will power in you.
5. Join a support group – the group support (or sometimes better known as peer pressure) approach in which a group of individuals with the same goal help each other in times of need. Sometimes this does not have to be an official support group. It can be a group of friends or family members watching out for each other and making sure no one falls short of the common goal.