Hi! Until february 2018, I was a smoker for 18 years. I started smoking in high school when I was 15 years old. By the time I quitted, I used to smoke more than one box per day. I thought it was impossible to quit it, so many years into the same thing, I couldn’t imagine my life without a cigarette in my hand, and I’m pretty sure it happens the same to you.
I’m from Venezuela, so the main reason I decided to quit smoking was financial. Due to the economical crisis we’re living right now in my country, a box of cigarette is about 1/3 of the minimum salary. I’m not a rich guy, you can imagine it became impossible for me to smoke a minimum salary every three days. But underneath it all the main reason was freedom.
After you quit smoking you realize how much freedom you get in your life. You can go out anytime, anywhere without having the need to spend 10 minutes smoking. You can enjoy a meal without the need to smoke after eating. You can enjoy a movie, music, just hanging with friends or alone, without having to stop your activities in order to smoke. After you experience it, you never want to come back to it.
Another thing is understanding the world we’re living in right now. It is harder everyday to smoke while doing something, at least you are at home. For example, you cannot smoke at a plane, even inside an airport, you can’t either at restaurants, cafes, theaters, cinemas, pools; practically you can’t do it anywhere now. So what’s the point of doing something when you can’t even do it anytime you want?
Another mayor thing after I quitted it was realizing that more than 5 millions of people die annually due to smoking. I’m still young, I’m 33 years old, and I thought, I don’t want to get older and start suffering for smoking. I don’t want to end up with cancer, or with an emphysema; in fact, I was already feeling the effects of cigarettes, I wasn’t able to walk ten blocks without getting tired, when I used to go to the gym I couldn’t manage to stay there more than an hour before getting exhausted.
I did it by myself, no medication, no doctors, just with the conviction I was doing the right thing, and just using my new free time in other activities. I went out, I chatted with friends, I ate when I was hungry; I just learned to enjoy daily life without holding a cigarette. If you think you can’t do it by yourself ask for professional help.
Believe me, the benefits of quitting smoking are amazing… good health, more time to yourself, you save cash, you’re always clean and smelling good… you just feel different, just better. I really recommend you to stop doing it as soon as you can, you’re going to see great changes in your life. If I could do it by myself, I’m pretty sure you can do it too.
Let’s enjoy life without cigarettes!
