Quitting Smoking.

When I was in college I started smoking. My grandparents and my mother all smoked as did most of my relatives. I had a great uncle who showed me $100 in his wallet (pretty big money at that time) and told me that if I went through high school with out smoking he would give me the money. He died before he could fulfill the promise but that really was not my incentive for not smoking. Besides, I think I remember sneaking butts from my mother's ash tray and trying them.

Weeds rolled up in a piece of old paper did not a good substitute make for a cigarette when I was experimenting in about the fifth grade. My grandfather smoked cigars (nasty things). He started because he was a veterinarian and the smoke smell covered up the smells of the animals he would be working on. (Sometime I should tell you about watching him post-mortem a hog) He did not like it when I started smoking and for a long time I just smoked at school and would sneak cigarettes around when I was at home. I don't remember my first cigarette nor do I remember my last one... but I smoked a lot of them in-between. I also smoked cigars and a pipe and something else (once).

But this post is not about smoking it is about quitting smoking. I joined a church where you did not smoke. I had to be "free from the use of tobacco and alcohol" and so I had to quit. At that time I was probably smoking three packs a day. Lots of them. but I quit and this is the method I used.

I took a carton of cigarettes and put them in the freezer (that way I knew I could have them whenever I needed) I took a baggie and filled it with butts and ashes. Then when I felt the desire for a cigarette I took out the baggie and inhaled the perfume of dead butts and ashes. It did not take long until the only thing I had left was the habit of reaching for them at the usual moments (right after a meal or with a drink) - That soon left also.

I left the church for a few years and started smoking again. One morning I woke up coughing and hacking and hating it so I got another baggie and used the same method. Within three days all desire for a cigarette was gone (except that it never really goes away. You just learn to sublimate and live with it)

Do I recommend quitting? You bet! And I recommend going "cold turkey" - tapering off won't really do it. Although my cousin used to smoke only 1/2 the year and then she wouldn't for the other half.

Smoking is a nasty, dirty habit. And it kills your lungs. My mother was a smoker for years and years. She finally went to the doctor because of shortness of breath. She was smoking one right after the other at that time and the doctor told her that she had COPD and would have to quit smoking. She wanted to know how and I told her that she would quit so that her grandson (my nephew) could grow up having a memory of her. She hated quitting and took comfort in the "carton in the refrigerator" which was there until we moved and then I did not move it. She was ticked with me for the rest of her life because of that. No matter she still quit and lived long enough so that Jon remembers "Ruthie."

I have gotten to the point in my life that I can't stand the smell of smoke. When I check out a book from the library I can tell if a smoker has had it in their home and I return the book. I used to be able to tell if a student had someone at home who smoked and I still do not like the smell of tobacco on friends. But that is my problem. If people want to smoke they can. In Iowa they can't do it just anywhere and that is fine with me.

My sister never took up smoking but she lives with a smoker now and you can tell when she comes home. I guess she is used to it because she grew up with two smokers in the house. But I really do wish everyone would quit. We can blame smoking on the Native Americans and Christopher Columbus who took the nasty stuff back to Europe... But what does that matter? I guess it really doesn't - None-the-less I could pick up a cigarette and start again at any time and could get back up to three packs a day in no time flat. But I won't. And I hope you won't either. Happy Saturday folks, Thanks for stopping by. Hugs, j