Thirty-odd years ago I used to smoke a pack of 20/day. I did not like the idea that I was not free. Basically I was a slave to a burning stick of tobacco, and I tried to stop many times - unsuccessfully. I was praying one day while driving my car and the idea came into my head that I surely had the "freedom" to smoke one cigarette less each day.
I started by putting out my cigarettes when the tobacco portion got to the same length as the filter - I was told the last part is the worst for cancer. I also made a rule: no smokes before breakfast. I had read that was really bad for you. Then I rationed my cigarettes across morning, afternoon and evening, putting the day's supply into a Mills tin. Then I cut out one per day. When I got down to about 8 I doubled them again but put a pencil mark halfway down and extinguished the cigarette when it burnt down to the pencil mark. Somebody told me to break the association between smoking and drinking, even tea or coffee, so I waited 15 minutes after drinking before having a smoke.
I must confess that it was all rather easy looking back.
Reasons to stop? Some reasons of my own and some that I have heard from others:
Better sex,
better tasting food,
no tobacco breath when kissing,
breathing better during exercise,
lower risk of cancer and heart disease,
lower insurance premiums,
no smell of stale tobacco hanging around you, your furniture, your curtains, your carpets.
Living longer to see your grandchildren...
One more thing... Calculate what you can save in a year and what you can buy with that !
