The Great American Smoke-Out

Today is the American Lung Association's annual Great American Smoke-out. When I was a teenager, a smoke-out was something completely different... but that's another story. 

I don't have too much to say on this subject that I haven't already written in my post: How to Quit Smoking Overnight, but because last year I almost considered participating in the well-meaning event and just couldn't bring myself to do it, I thought that it was worth a few minutes of my lunch hour to put together a few paragraphs.

I was a real idiot in that I didn't start smoking until I was 25-years old. It was just a game to me and the stupid carny tricks I did turned into a pack-a-day habit for 16 or 17 years. In those years, I tried more than several times and methods to quit, but never lasted any more than two to three weeks. One of my more successful attempts, however, was the Great American Smoke-out of 1998. The reason I had some success that year was not only that I had peer support, but the peers participating with me where mainly women-- there is that part of a guy that wants to impress the chicks and an even bigger part that doesn't want to be beat by one.

Most of my more successful attempts at smoking cessation involved women. My wife doesn't smoke and when we met I, first, tried to not light up around her. On our first date, I searched, unsuccessfully for a place to sneak off and get one in. Later, I told her I would quit but, after about six-hours with me and my mood swings she searched through all of my stuff until she found a stale pack and made me made me give up quitting that day.

Yes, I know it is hard because I have been there and I am not the kind of person that is going to preach about it or condemn you for killing yourself but I will say this-- you should quit and even more important, if you don't smoke don't start. 

The American Lung Association says if you can not smoke for one day-- you should be able to not smoke for one week and if you can make it a week-- a month should be a breeze and so on. I don't agree because I haven't had a cigarette in 357 days and I still want one. There are lots of plans and information and groups out there to help you kick the habit but, for any of them to be successful, it all boils down to you not wanting to die prematurely more than you want that one cigarette. That is the basis of my theory on How to Quit Smoking Overnight.

Sure, I had a extraordinary circumstance that scared the living stuff out of me but if you can keep that one thought in your head every single time that you want to light up I think it can work for you too. 

Read this. Buy T-shirts. Peace.