October 31, 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

~ Happy Halloween ~

btw: 69 Smoke free weeks!

Boy, I Could Use A Smoke!

Everyone knows Smoking just goes better with some things more than than others.

Like our morning cup of joe, beer or any alcohol really, the bath-room break, lunch break, ohhhhh ..... After our Thanksgiving meal! Oh heck, I could really go on, couldn't I? Bet you can think of plenty of your own.

What's high on the list though is stressful situations. Like those times at work when you get frustrated and just say: "Man, I need a smoke", then run out side.

Stress, frustration, depression, anxiety ........ These are way more powerful 'triggers' for me. I can have a few beers or even enjoy my morning coffee without craving a smoke, but anxiety is the toughest time of all.

I swear I can smell a lit cigarette from a block away. Sometimes I think it would be easy to walk up to someone and ask to 'bum' a cigarette. Smokers are the best ... Even at $10 a pack most smokers will comply.

I've been severely tempted this week. Stress and anxiety; sitting idle at an intersection, a faint whiff of cigarette smoke comes through my window .... Oh Heavens, was I tempted.

I prevailed over my own weakness's however, I really would have like to have 'just one' but I did not. To paraphrase Jimmy McMillan:

The Cost Is Too Damn High!!!!!!!!!

Sixty Eight Weeks ~

Yes, it's true ... 68 weeks, 475 days of not smoking. The minutes, days, weeks, months, just keep mounting up.

I have not forgotten the minute by minute of anxiety I suffered in the first few days, weeks, and even the first three months really.

I have always said I wanted to be a non-smoker, NOT an anti-smoker ... but I have to be honest here, I've become hyper sensitive to the stale smell of cigarette smoke in people's clothes. I wonder now how I lived like that for thirty years. And worse ... how I made my family endure it also.

Life is so different now than it was when I started smoking though. When I started I could ride my bike to the Vicker's Station and buy a pack for .50 cents. Seriously. And smoking was everywhere, inside and out. I guess we all just got used to it.

Today however, (not to say I never miss it because there are often times I do) but as for now, I'm enjoying the fresh air.

One Month From Today ~

The Great American Smokeout is an annual day set aside to encourage smokers to go 24 hours without smoking a cigarette. It is held annually on the third Thursday in November.

The most recent event was held on Thursday, November 19, 2009, and the next will be Thursday, November 18, 2010.

The American Cancer Society, or ACS, sponsors the annual event and provides assistance and resources to help smokers use the Smokeout as an opportunity to quit smoking for good.

On its website, the American Cancer Society offers promotional supplies for the Smokeout, including posters, stickers, t-shirt transfers and tent cards to help promote the day. Local resources are also published on the website to help smokers who want to quit find assistance in their neighborhood.

Local ACS offices are located in most of the United States and can give direction on how to promote a non-smoking environment at work as well as how to support friends and family members who are trying to quit smoking.

Great American Smokeout History
The idea for the Great American Smokeout was born in 1971 when Massachusetts resident Arthur P. Mullaney encouraged people to not buy cigarettes on one day and donate the unspent money to a local high school.

It gained ground in 1974 when a Minnesota newspaper editor led the effort to have a statewide Don’t Smoke Day. The movement spread to California in 1976 when the state chapter of the American Cancer Society held the event with almost 1 million smokers participating. The Great American Smokeout began to be held nationally in 1977.

Despite the widespread success of the national no-smoking day, however, the ACS says that more effort is needed to spread the message. On its website, the nonprofit group says that in 2005, 23 percent of high school students were smokers.

Quoting studies that show that high school students who smoke tend to continue smoking through adulthood, the ACS goes on to say that the Smokeout serves as “a powerful media platform to help further (their) work”.

Careless Smoking in Kansas Leads to Fire~

Just one more good reason to Quit Smoking!

A small fire in an Overland Park, Kansas apartment basement was blamed on careless smoking

Overland Park and Lenexa, Kansas fire crews responded to a call before midnight a the Louisburg Square Apartments in Overland Park. Crews extinguished the fire quickly. There were no injuries, and all residents were able to return to their apartments.

According to the Overland Park Fire Department, investigators believe a carelessly discarded cigarette burned through a bedroom floor and into the apartment basement. One of the residents in the damaged apartment told investigators that he awoke in another room, smelled smoke and found a fire in the bedroom where his wife was sleeping.

The fire department recommends smokers to smoke outside if at all possible, completely extinguish cigarettes in sand or water before discarding and never smoke when tired or drowsy.

Rejuvenating Lung Cells ~

Lung cancer normally takes many years to develop. Incidence tends to peaks between the ages of 55 and 65 years. The changes in the lung however can begin almost as soon as a person is exposed to carcinogenic chemicals.

Soon after exposure begins, a few abnormal cells may appear in the lining of the bronchi (the main breathing tubes). Gradually as you continue your exposure to these substances, more abnormal cells appear. Some will become cancerous and tumour forming.

If you stop smoking however, the risk of lung cancer decreases. Year on year, abnormal cells are replaced by normal cells. After ten years, the risk drops to a level that is one-third to one-half of the risk for people who continue to smoke. Quitting smoking greatly reduces the risk of developing other smoking-related diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, emphysema and chronic bronchitis but there are many more benefits to quitting smoking.

Sixty-Six Weeks and Counting ~

I know I haven't written in a while ...

I have to be honest, I'm running out of things to write about.

I've been completely smoke free for Sixty-Six weeks now ... 462 Days today! No cigarettes, no cigars, no pipe tobacco, no chewing tobacco, no cheating what-so-ever.

That doesn't mean I don't think about it though. I actually do, some days more than others. Sometimes when I'm having tightness in breathing I think about the years I've wasted smoking cigarettes and doing irreparable damage to myself.

Other times, like most recently, when the whether is really nice, I think I might enjoy sitting outside with a soda during the day or an adult beverage in the early evening and indulging in a drink and a smoke ... Yes, there are times when I miss it still.

But -- just so you know, if you have yet to quit smoking or have quit and are still struggling with cravings ... These 'pleasant thoughts' I might have on occasion do not rise to the level of a 'craving'!

Fear not of your worried it will never get easier, it does. And it doesn't take sixty-six weeks to do so!