Tomorrow is Weedless Wednesday.
If there芒鈧劉s a smoker in your circle of acquaintances who has been thinking about quitting, now is as good a time as any to offer support and encouragement.
But don芒鈧劉t nag. Nagging doesn芒鈧劉t make it easier. And anything that doesn芒鈧劉t make kicking the tobacco habit is a waste of time at best, and more likely is counterproductive.
Stopping smoking is hard.
I can remember the day I stopped like it was yesterday 芒鈧�� it was at 2:30 in the afternoon on Feb. 4, 1976. I had six cigarettes left in my pack, and I threw them in the garbage can in the corner of the agricultural students lounge at UBC.
(Note to prospective quitters 芒鈧�� I had tried quitting a number of times before, always beginning with finishing the last cigarette in my current pack, and failed every time, until at the advice of my father, who had stopped after many attempts years earlier, I sealed the deal by actually throwing some away.)
A buddy of mine pulled the discarded pack out of the trash and asked, 芒鈧揇o you mind if I have these?芒鈧�
芒鈧揋o ahead,芒鈧� I said, 芒鈧搃f you don芒鈧劉t mind dying of cancer.芒鈧�
芒鈧揂nyone can quit smoking,芒鈧� he said. 芒鈧揑t takes a man to face cancer.芒鈧�
We both laughed.
I芒鈧劉ve fallen out of touch with him, and I have often wondered if cancer 芒鈧�� or any of the other manifold deaths that smoking can visit on its victims 芒鈧�� ever got around to testing his manliness.
I was lucky. I had a special incentive to make it permanent this time.
In addition to my dad reminding me that smoking is not just a personal health choice, but a choice that impacts everyone around you who will join your suffering a horrible death, I had a girlfriend who threatened to leave me if I didn芒鈧劉t quit smoking芒鈧� and then dumped me two weeks after I threw away those six butts.
I decided I芒鈧劉d be damned before I was going to give her the satisfaction of seeing me with my lips on a cigarette that I had thrown away for her.
If that doesn芒鈧劉t make any sense to you, it doesn芒鈧劉t matter. The point is, I was angry enough that it helped me through the first few weeks of intense craving 芒鈧�� until the breath I hadn芒鈧劉t realized I芒鈧劉d lost started showing hints of recovery and I started feeling healthy enough that I was able to force myself to believe that the benefits of quitting outweighed the desire 芒鈧�� the absolute need 芒鈧�� for another puff.
You might have noticed that my account alternates between 芒鈧搎uitting芒鈧� and 芒鈧搒topping.芒鈧� That芒鈧劉s because you will try to quit, but you can never do more than stop.
I don芒鈧劉t know if my addiction was 芒鈧�� is 芒鈧�� stronger than that of most other cigarette smokers, but the intense craving for another cigarette stayed with me for months, perhaps a year, before it settled into something milder.
Whenever the aroma of a particularly well cured cigarette wafted my way, it was all I could do to keep from falling off the wagon. That stayed with me for years. In fact, it still can hit me 芒鈧�� nearly 39 years later 芒鈧�� although now maybe only one or twice a year.
At least the nightmares ended a long time ago. For years after I stopped smoking, every eve of the anniversary brought me the same nightmare: I had mindlessly accepted someone芒鈧劉s offer of a cigarette before I realized what I was doing芒鈧� then I芒鈧劉d wake up in a cold sweat, sniffing the air for evidence of my soul-breaking transgression.
And then relief: it was just a dream!
If you know someone who芒鈧劉s trying to quit, they need your support: nothing holier than thou, just a friend芒鈧劉s encouragement.
