What made you start,and can it help you quit?

[MaddiesDad]

I know my reason was immature and quite childlike but I started smoking to spite my dear old (2 pack a day-2 heart attacks) DAD. I also saw him disolve into a very sick and much aged man which helped me quit.Thoughts of him smoking made me angry...we had all asked him to please quit... I recall as I grew up eating dinner with a Dad smoking at the table...my thoughts to pay him back.


I won't be the same Dad.

 

[remy4653]

I began in High School because everyone else was doing it. It was one of the dumbest things I have ever done, but I have recently made the comittment to stop.

My reason for quitting is my children. I want to see them grow and if I continue on the downward spiral, that may not happen.

 

[Evie1980]

I quit as part of the peer pressure thing as well as my older brother and sister smoked and I wanted to be close with them now.

I guess the truth is now we all live seperate lives. I am in Korea and they are back at home in Australia. My sister no longer smokes but my brother still does. I now know that a measure of good friend is not the habits that we share or things that we have in common but the love and forgiveness we extend to each other.

God bless, Evie
PS I had my last smoke 7 months and 23 days ago (or there abouts)

 

[MaddiesDad]

Cool,I imagine my situation is a rare one.Carry on people.

 

[vja4Him]

I quit as part of the peer pressure thing as well as my older brother and sister smoked and I wanted to be close with them now.

I guess the truth is now we all live seperate lives. I am in Korea and they are back at home in Australia. My sister no longer smokes but my brother still does. I now know that a measure of good friend is not the habits that we share or things that we have in common but the love and forgiveness we extend to each other.

God bless, Evie
PS I had my last smoke 7 months and 23 days ago (or there abouts)

I started smoking at the age of 14 because some of my friends were smoking and I thought that it would make me cool and accepted. My grandfather smoked and he was the only real positive male figure in my life (my parents divorced when I was 11 and my uncle was busy studying in college for his PhD.

I quit smoking about one year after I accepted Jesus. So, I quit about 26 years ago. I was at Oregon for Jesus in the summer of 1980, sneaking out to find a place to smoke where nobody would see me. I knew that smoking was hurting my body and that God wanted me to quit.

When I would go back to the worship and Bible teaching, I felt so convicted that I needed to quit. One time when I was hiding in the woods down by the creek, I decided I was done -- threw my pack of cigarettes away, and quit for good. Praise God.

It's strange, when I became a Christian I quit drugs and alcohol (the Lord miraculously took the drugs and alcohol away), and didn't struggle too much, no withdrawl, although I did relapse several times, but cigarettes were much more difficult for me to quit than drugs and alcohol.

That's my story .....

** Make God your first choice, instead of your last option

*** NovemberBlog ***

 

[faithfulchild]

I started because it was COOL...However today is day 8 for me without a smoke. Praise the Lord!

 

[white dove]

I started smoking cigarettes when I was in high school (never smoked pot, though...ever). At the time, my brother smoked and I thought he, along with smoking, was cool beans. I wanted to be like him in some ways, laid-back, unconcerned with things that were tossed his way. It was yet another thing for me to connect with him on. Aaand, to be quite honest, I also hated my voice. I thought that by smoking, it would not only further forge a pact with my brother, but it would also help me shed that annoying "three cats fighting" sound resonating from my voicebox.


I decided to stop smoking "for good" twice in my life. The first time, it was simply me looking down at my pack and being so disgusted, the mere thought of me inhaling any of that made my throat hurt. It ceased in doing anything for me. Second time I decided to quit after a brief stint of cigarillos (after YEARS of being smoke-free) was when I woke up one night coughing something crazy. It was a terrible coughing fit....I couldn't even breathe, I was gasping for air. And all I could think about was how I didn't want to die alone in my kitchen with the refrigerator door open because I needed some water. I didn't want anyone to find me like that. I didn't want to die gasping for air.



Needless to say, I still can't stand my voice and the most important things I share with my brother have nothing to do with cigarettes or thinking certain things are "cool"...except for Spongebob. Man, he's cool.

 

[MaddiesDad]

It is amazing what we thought cool in youth.Lessons learned here.

 

[bgpun24]

I started because my older brother was doing it and I wanted to be just like him. Definitely regret that choice every day

 

[Evie1980]

I guess a lot of us look to male role models and copy what they did at one time or another. It seems sad that we managed to pick up the bad habits rather than the good! Oh well - it's my decision now and I am one year down and praying that God will keep me away from that path for good.

 

[gloryseven]

I dont smoke, but I pray for all those who cant quit. I worked in a health food store for 3 years and alot of people came in asking for a way to stop. I researched, but I found that cigarette smoking is 10X as addictive as cocaine, so were talking Major addiction problem.
Also, one book said to suck on vanilla beans(the vanilla sticks), that it reduces desire for the cigarettes, and I did order some and sold some in the store. I think vanilla sticks can be found at major grocery stores. Thats all Ive got, I hear on commercials, that the gum, patch and cigarette filters should all be used together as a way to withdraw. Thank you Lord, help these people to quit, in any way that they can quit. Amen.
Also, FH-my friend. bless you in your attempt to quit, day 7, great. keep up the good work. amen.

 

[restlesslilly]

I started last August because it works better to calm me down than my anxiety meds did.

I won't quit now cause I don't want to yet. But I hope to soon.

 

[dollface88]

I started for a dumb reason. My two best friends in High School were smokers, and I wanted to join them! I had JUST turned 18 and was able to buy my own pack, so I did, and I'm having a really tough time putting down the pack. Any suggestions on how to kick this nasty habbit?

 

[aca_rev55]

I started because I... started. I don't really care, so I guess I won't be stopping for a while. Hmm.

 

[phoebe573]

I kicked the habit.. a little over 1 1/2 yrs smoke free.

I started because my best friend thought it would be cool to sneak one of her mom's cigarettes out of her purse, so we could go out into the woods, hide, and smoke that awful cancer stick. We started smoking very early and kept smoking because it was the cool thing to do.

About 1 1/2 yrs ago I got very sick and I was hospitalized for a little while because of it and the reason that made me quit was that the Dr. said it was partly because I smoke. I have never ever felt that sick in my entire live, and I couldn't stand associating the used to be good feel cigarette with the awful sickness that I felt during that time... I was done, so was my boyfriend ...he quit with me. We're still together and both smoke free.
I hope you guys can find a good personal reason to quit. Once you found a good enough reason that is stuck with you day and night (it might take a little scare) half the battle is done because every time you crave a cigarette you remind yourself automatically of whatever it is that doesn't make you smoke.

Good luck!

 

[Idicious]

I started after highschool, I've had a bit of a bumpy time inbetween some jobs after I had to stop studying journalism, ranging from straat pavers to tree farms, etc. Some of that work is so impossibly boring, you start looking for something to keep your mind occupied and smoking was ofcourse an easy way out of the problem.
Since then I tried quiting at the start of this year and it went well for a month but then progressively worse, gues I've been at it for some 2 years now.

 

[Tamlee32]

I started when I was 24, and my marriage was falling apart. I was going through so much stress and others told me that smoking helped to take away stress. Well, it has been eight years now and I regret it, I want to quit and pray about it all the time.

 

[SystematicDestruction]

I started last year, after my wife died. Everything fell apart and I needed something to lean on. (That's also why I started drinking.)

 

[LuminousFive]

So my first cigarette was at the tender age of 9. My friend (who's father later married my mother so... now he's my step-brother) told me that he had a pack of cigarettes and he was going to go into the woods behind the church and smoke one... he offered one to me and I (the kind of child who frequently got harassed by other kids) so badly wanted to be accepted that I agreed. I took my first puff and without inhaling the smoke exhaled at which point I was told I was doing it wrong. On my second puff I inhaled and felt the smoke enter my lungs... I don't remember if I liked it or not, but I know that he and I finished that cigarette. Afterwards I didn't smoke again... until I was 12. My best-friends parents smoked and he would steal their smokes and we would sneak them in the ditch beside my house. From that point on I smoked.

Earlier this year I joined the army. When I shipped off to basic training I was forced to quit smoking. I went 9 weeks without a cigarette. I felt great. I was in fantastic shape, able to run 2 miles in less than 13 minutes, and my food tasted better than ever. I think that I honestly started smoking again because I was curious, honestly I had forgotten what it was like.

I really want to quit again, it is negatively affecting my job and my relationship with my fiance... any suggestions for how to use my story for my benefit?

-John

 

[eyesmile]

I started smoking because my Dad smoked and he was a strong role model for me, a genuine cowboy ranch & rodeo etc.
Over the years many times I realized I should quit because it stole my health and strength. Came close to stopping for good a few times and felt much stronger. Strong enough to handle a cigarettes again, nicotine is a sneaky drug .
Did real well smoking a pipe for a while so if any one is set on smoking for the calming effect a good brier pipe and decent tobacco like Prince Albert is far more calming and far less harmful than cigarettes short term.

Lord . . . help us all wake up and ignore poisonous distractions.