Teens and smoking into adulthood

PEER PRESSURE:

Most teens probably think its cool to smoke. They may hang out with a crowd where others smoke and they let themselves be ‘talked into it.’ By smoking they stand out from the crowd and somehow think themselves special. Actually, in recent years I truly believe that smokers are looked upon more as ‘losers’ than anything else. The years are long gone when smoking was seen as sophisticated and suave.

REBELLION:

Those same teens might also smoke for another reason. Like many of us adults did in our formative years, they may do whatever their parents don’t approve of just to make a statement. Just to prove their independence. Somehow, parents have to find a way of educating their children about the the very real dangers of smoking. It could well be the single most important thing you do for them.

LONG TERM RESULT:

Unfortunately, many teens who smoke will find it difficult to quit. Once the tobacco takes hold of you, it will not give in easily to half-hearted attempts to ‘kick’ the habit. If not confronted early, smoking will continue on into adulthood unabated and ultimately can result in any number of serious illnesses and death.

WHAT WILL MAKE A PERSON QUIT?

I was one of those teens who began smoking in the school years and carried the habit on into adulthood.

I truly believe that in order to quit a person has to want something more than the satisfaction smoking gives them. I tried to quit many times without success. It was not until I decided that I wanted to take up running that I was able to beat my smoking habit. I just knew that the marathon I so badly wanted to run would just never happen as long as smoking controlled my life.

After 12 years of smoking, I quit because there was something I wanted more. Once the decision to quit was made, it took me one month until I smoked my last cigarette. Each week in that month, I smoked less and less until I was down to what I believed were the 3 cigarettes per day that I really enjoyed. It wasn’t long before I realized that I didn’t need any at all, so I finally smoked my last cigarette. That was over 30 years ago. The urge to smoke never truly left for probably another year after that last cigarette. That is just how insidious the habit is. It just hates to let go, but stick to your decision to quit and eventually you will win.

If you never found a reason strong enough to quit, how about just staying alive? How about coming to the realization that by quitting you can easily be extending your life by many, many years. At the very least you can be avoiding months of hospital time that could well come as a result of your smoking habit.

Besides. Cigarette smoking is sure getting to be an expensive habit. Just think. Quit smoking and in just one year you could go on a fabulous holiday with the money you save. That should be inspiration enough for anyone.