An appeal to smokers, please stop
Samuel Bilibit's post inspired me to write this one. Well, I have to give credit where credit is due. But I also make this blog motivated by nothing else but sheer concern for you and your well-being.
I know you smokers think smoking relieves your stress, is good with coffee, is already a hard habit to break, is great after *beep*, projects a lot of sex appeal, yada, yada, yada. I know a lot of your reasons. We used to live with a smoker. You can think of a thousand and one reasons why continue smoking.
I can only think of a few to quit.
1. Don't complain that times are hard because you can still afford a puff or two.
Our retired driver once told me a story that made him quit.
Once, times were hard and they were barely surviving. One of his children asked him for 25 centavos to buy some snacks because he was hungry. He said he had no money. But almost at the same time, he habitually and mechanically bought one stick (then also worth 25 cents) and began to smoke it. The sheer magnitude of his realization came down on him and his conscience. So much that he threw the stick away after only one puff and vowed never again to smoke.
I know you smokers think smoking relieves your stress, is good with coffee, is already a hard habit to break, is great after *beep*, projects a lot of sex appeal, yada, yada, yada. I know a lot of your reasons. We used to live with a smoker. You can think of a thousand and one reasons why continue smoking.
I can only think of a few to quit.
1. Don't complain that times are hard because you can still afford a puff or two.
Our retired driver once told me a story that made him quit.
Once, times were hard and they were barely surviving. One of his children asked him for 25 centavos to buy some snacks because he was hungry. He said he had no money. But almost at the same time, he habitually and mechanically bought one stick (then also worth 25 cents) and began to smoke it. The sheer magnitude of his realization came down on him and his conscience. So much that he threw the stick away after only one puff and vowed never again to smoke.
2. Smoking kills.
Yeah, you all know this. Smoking causes cancer. I could show you graphic images here but I'm squeamish too. Just let your fingers (on the keyboard) do the walking...if you want.
A doctor-guest in my dad's radio program on alternative living (I'll plug it on some future blog because it's beside the point), pointed out that when you are diagnozed with lung cancer, don't attempt to treat it because it'll just be a waste of money. It cannot be cured.
We recently lost a cousin (and a dear friend of my father's since they were the same age. Yes, we are a big clan, but again I digress) to lung cancer. And from what I have seen, dying of cancer is not a good way to die.
We also lost a good teacher more than a few years ago (no, not the one I blogged about recently, but another priest, Fr. Jess Lucas, S.J., the only teacher that gave me a grade of 100...in RELIGION! May he rest in peace...) to lung cancer. From second hand smoke. Yes, our dear teacher was a non-smoker but was in the company of quite a few during his lifetime.
So it's bad enough that you are killing yourself. Technically, you are killing the people around you, as well.
There you have it. Only two reasons. I hope they're enough.
So to all you smokers (my friends, relatives, officemates, and you, Sam) please stop. Please.
A doctor-guest in my dad's radio program on alternative living (I'll plug it on some future blog because it's beside the point), pointed out that when you are diagnozed with lung cancer, don't attempt to treat it because it'll just be a waste of money. It cannot be cured.
We recently lost a cousin (and a dear friend of my father's since they were the same age. Yes, we are a big clan, but again I digress) to lung cancer. And from what I have seen, dying of cancer is not a good way to die.
We also lost a good teacher more than a few years ago (no, not the one I blogged about recently, but another priest, Fr. Jess Lucas, S.J., the only teacher that gave me a grade of 100...in RELIGION! May he rest in peace...) to lung cancer. From second hand smoke. Yes, our dear teacher was a non-smoker but was in the company of quite a few during his lifetime.
So it's bad enough that you are killing yourself. Technically, you are killing the people around you, as well.
There you have it. Only two reasons. I hope they're enough.
So to all you smokers (my friends, relatives, officemates, and you, Sam) please stop. Please.
transcription by Punzi @ 6:41 AM
9 Objection(s):
Ok, while I'm not necessarily disputing this article, and in fact I am in the process of quitting myself (haven't smoked in more than a week by my last count), having been from both sides of the fence, being a non-smoker for 27 years and a smoker for 5, maybe I can offer some insight into the "mysteries" and "allure" of smoking....
- Yes, smoking causes cancer. I cousin of my mine my have been diagnosed with possible lung cancer, but with smoking more than a pack a day for more than four decades, it isn't a surprise anymore. Strangely enough though, a officemate's father passed away from lung cancer a few years ago...and he had never smoked a stick in his life. Weird.
- Smoking, while being a totally disgusting habit, has its "uses" baga. It helps in "male bonding," you know, when groups of insecure males gather around puffing away and pretend that they're in control of everything...:-)
- Hey, its just something you do when there's nothing to do. And in government, most of the time there really isn't anything to do. :-)
- If you're a loner and you like to brood over life...somehow smoking makes you seem "more philosophical"...hahahaha...hey, the old American Indians did it, and they saw all sorts of visions...or was that grass? :-)
- If you're a "trafficker" of information, smoking with someone tends to make them more glib and candid. I've seen this personally. Parang inamin ko na rin na tsismoso ako...:-)
Oh, I've gone on long enough. Suffice it to say, I'm quitting pa rin. Been there, done that, tama na siguro yun. My only exception to quitting smoking is when a beautiful woman would ask me to join her....(okay, that probably means I'm quitting for good) :-)
Cheers.
true, smoking kills. my aunt suffer the same fate as a second-hand smoker from her amigas during mahjongs.
just like liquor drinking, it's hard to prevent such vice. we will just stop when we realize the effects or when something bad happened to you.
just like me, when i had bronchitis due to smoking...
and so i quit. a lesson learned.
im vehemently against smoking too. it's a disgusting habit. turns your lungs black, your fingers black, your lips black, and the lives of people around you and your own much much shorter.
however if a person really wants to smoke it's not my place to make him stop -- unless it's around me, because my smoking around me he's potentially hurting me too.
oh, and sex appeal? punzi, no girl wants a smoker. really. yuck.
nice post. hopefully, some of those who read this actually take your advice. ;)
Now I know what happened to Fr. Lucas. He was my teacher too.
Hey Paul!
My regards to you, Mrs. Unlawyer and your family...
I'm happy to have discovered your blog. ...I was once a smoker too and believe me, no matter what people say about smoking, walang effect yon, I was deaf to everything until I was hospitalized. I then quit cold turkey. That was 10 years ago. Until today, I suffer from dry cough.
Flisha,
You forgot to mention, "your teeth yellow..."
And probably to a smoker girl, a smoking guy oozes with sex appeal.
Cheers!
hey, thanks for the plug...and the reminders, too.i'll take your advise seriously...di ka lang pala lawyer, guru pa nang healthy lifestyle. :)
No. The guru on alternative lifestyle is my father, not me. More on that in some future blog.
I do have, however, a personal campaign against smoking.
regards.
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