Smoking and smokers, let's talk about it. (off topic)

[ghostrider]

I was a smoker for many many years and from a very young age. I started off smoking tailor made (filtered cigarettes) and smoked about 3 a day as a youngster.
This progressed to about 10 a day, then 20. This was when cigarettes were relatively cheap and advertised.
Into my early 20's I started to realise just how unfit I was. I would also wake up on a morning as if someone had both fists around my lungs. I used to cough and cough like an old bulldozer starting up, yet still lit a cigarette up to help me on with it.

As time went on, cigarettes were becoming expensive and sort of a bit weak for total enjoyment, so I started smoking Golden Virginia hand made roll up cigarettes, with no filters.
I loved them and eventually would not smoke a tailor made cigarette, except if I was caught short and was gasping for one, as we would say.

Mid to late 20's I was basically coughing like an old man who smoked, plus in winter months - outside - I could hardly take a large breath and would cough and splutter, plus I could hardly talk without wheezing and coughing.
The silly part is, it became so normal for me that I actually accepted it for many many years, as just being a smokers cough, which in a way, is what it was.

As smoking became more expensive and even the hand rolling tobacco became more expensive, due to the Government pricing many people out of buying them, it turned people into paying for the cheap (dodgy) brands from overseas. Basically tobacco and cigarettes that weren't what you call, strictly quality controlled. I'm sure you all know what I mean.


To be continued......

[ghostrider]

I'd be smoking a cigarette and consciously aware of my son only being 2 feet away from me, on the end of the couch, and out of the corner of my eye, I'd see him wafting my smoke back at me and obviously away from him. I'd apologise and consciously blow my smoke in the opposite direction from him, as well as holding my rolled up cigarette in the hand farthest away from him. How thoughtful, eh?

What made it worse was, I would smoke in the car when they were all in. My wife would tell me off but I'd just wind the window down, citing that I like a smoke when I'm driving. Honestly when I think about it, what a selfish prick I was.

Anyway, the first time I decided to try and stop, as in simply going cold turkey, I lasted 2 weeks, but one week into my cold turkey (and bear in mind this was when smoking was allowed in pubs and clubs), I walked into my local with my new sense of worth and able to breathe better, as well as not coughing, only to walk into a cloud of smoke that rendered me speechless. I could hardly talk because the smoke got right on my chest, where one week earlier, I didn't notice any of it. Well, hardly noticed.

I've been smoke free for a over 3 years now. My family can't believe I'm a smoke free zone. The house is clean smelling. I am clean smelling. My family don't smell of smoke (from me) and the internal paintwork is white - not yellow.
I don't cough anymore. I can take a deep breath and not cough. I can go out in the cold and breathe.
How did I manage to stop smoking?


To be continued....

[ghostrider]

In a very strange way to be perfectly honest.

I had a cough that was constant. Not just a smokers cough; this cough was constant and was wearing me out. I could not smoke a cigarette. I tried to smoke but I could not inhale as it ripped my insides out and made me 10 times worse.
Each day was as bad as the first and each day I tried to have a cigarette; such was my weak will and my attitude of "I will have a smoke."
Each time I tried, I felt ill, so I decided I wouldn't smoke until my cough was better. It lasted for about a month and before I knew it, I'd been a non-smoker for nearly a full month.
Once my cough subsided, I found that my smokers cough went with it, due to my smoke free month.

Now here's the key.
My son once said to me. "dad.... if you had the opportunity to give up smoking would you take it?" I promised him that if ever there was a chance that I could give up without the horrible turmoil that went with it, like a feeling of being robbed of my leisure or irritation in terms of bad temperedness, then I would take it and not look back.

The cough gave me that chance. A chance that I honestly thought would never come. I had the month away from smoking and I had the chance to resume where I left off. I declined and gave my cigarettes away, as well as ashtrays and lighters, plus tobacco tins and so on, to anyone who wanted them.

Every day I awoke from then, I wanted a smoke. It was strong at first but I fought it off, as it only lasted 5 minutes.
What I did get, was an appetite.

To be continued....

[ghostrider]

I was picky at my food before being smoke free and I didn't realise that my skin was a greyish colour. Basically I didn't look too well but not just looking off colour, I didn't realise how down in body I was. I was basically unwell but accepting of it as normal.

I still get the odd, what people can call, craving, but it's more a thought process that lasts 1 minute a few times a week. I combat any thought of it all by simply taking a deep breath. One deep breath is all I need to know that I will never place another cigarette in my mouth again, unless I'm due to die at any time. In which case I'll simply do it because I'd have nothing to lose.

I'm not saying this to discourage people from smoking. I say, do what you want. It's your life but just remember one thing. It is your life but be mindful that your smoke can affect other people's lives, in more than just one way, as in, physically breathing in your smoke but also the mental trauma you are causing to family members who love you and can actually see what harm you're doing to yourself. So be mindful of that, just as you wouldn't be happy sitting in a cafe next to a person who stinks of bum and body sweat, whilst eating your breakfast, or watching a close family member suffering badly due to the effects of long term smoking.

We are all selfish in our own way but we never realise how much until we see it from another point of view.
I can smell a smoker outside who might be 50 feet away and I can also smell it strongly on people's clothing. I never ever could do that.

My experience of long term smoking and my refusal to listen to reason from people concerned about my health and also my half hearted attempts to not smoke in front of my family inside the house or in the car is one of many things I wish I could have changed from the start...but....better late than never.

To be continued....

[ghostrider]

We hear all kinds of stories from all kinds of people as to why they can't or won't give up.
We hear as many stories, complete with visual effects from anti smoking campaigners, whatever their motive and not all as legitimate as they appear, as far as I'm concerned...but anyway.

The thing is; stopping smoking isn't just about being a health thing these days. Stopping smoking is something that many people are doing because they are simply priced right out of buying them.
It's a valid reason to stop and it appears that the government cares about your health enough to actually price people out...right?

Not really, is it?

To this very day if I take a deep breath and know that I won't smoke again.
I've been through many family traumas since I gave up and some tested my resolve in a massive way, yet I seriously took a few deep breaths and focused on everything but a cigarette.

Never in all my time did I think I had the will power to stop for any length of time but one thing I can say is, time lessens the craving because the craving ends up in your mind and not as a bodily requirement as in the early stages of stopping.

When people used to say to me that the first month is the hardest but once you do it you can go the whole hog...it's true to a large extent.
The major problem with stopping smoking is not giving yourself a reason to stay off them for good..and it has to be a good reason, not just a weak reason of, " I can't afford them so I'll stop."....or " I'll cut down to 10 a day because I can afford that and I can easily manage to stick to 10."
Stuff like that is a waste of time for 99% of addicts.

The biggest route to stopping is to take a look at yourself and how you act with them around people who don't smoke...and trust me you'll never really appreciate the disgust of people around your smell until you become smoke free for long enough to be put into the same place. I kid you not.