Terrie’s blog got me to thinking. (https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/blogs/Terrie_Quit-blog/2016/07/25/copd-heat-humidity-etccommitmen...)
I smoked for over 35 years. I was not unaware of the dangers, but refused to accept that any one of them would happen to me. Well, maybe, WAY down the line, when I was REAL old. (And then you’re gonna die of SOMETHING anyway, right?!) But even then my addicted mind said “It’s not going to happen to me...” not really. After all, I exercised and ate right... those positives certainly o’erweighed the nasty things that might happen to OTHER people. Ah the naivete’. The addicted, excuse-riddled mind.
God knows there’s been enough information expressed in all media about the negative effects of smoking for a zillions years now. I knew the dangers back in 1969 and I smoked anyway. How many of us have been informed over and over again about the harmful effects of smoking? How many of us continue/d to smoke anyway? WHY?
Because 1) we were addicted, 2) we weren’t educated about the addiction and the methods of overcoming it, and 3) we didn't really "get it" because we weren't involved with the lives of people who have been negatively affected by smoking on a daily basis. Once you get to “know” people and care about them, personally, your eyes become open. That’s why a support community makes such a HUGE difference. This site is a quit smoking site with a plan that can help. But the true beauty of this site is in the support community. THAT, to my mind, is what “changes” the mind. When you connect with your fellow quitters and get to know them and see what they’re going through. THEN you simply can no longer be an ostrich.
How many of us have a family member, co-worker, friend or acquaintance who has had a smoking related disease that either ended up curtailing their life or ending it? Did it have an immediate impact? Enough to cause us to quit on a dime? No. I have read blog upon blog over my 8 years here with people speaking of the fact that a close family member died because of a smoking related disease, but that wasn’t enough to cause them to stop. Denial in the utmost. And years later here they are trying to quit and give honor to those they loved who have passed. If your loved one couldn’t bring you to it at their death, let us - through our ongoing, immediate stories of the effects of this addiction - have the influence necessary for that amazing change in you.
If you’re still playing ostrich, it’s time to get you head out of your.... uh, out of the sand. It’s time to take stock of reality. It’s time to do your homework, set a quit date and get it done. It’s time. Actually - it’s way PAST time - and you know it. What on earth are you waiting for?
