Five years. I have been smoking cigarettes for five years now. At first, it started off with one here and there, but then life hit. School has you stressing out? Smoke another one. Relationship problems? Smoke another one. Trying to balance a job, extracurricular activities, and school work? Smoke a pack, or two, or three... I was beginning to dig myself into a hole. Deeper and deeper with every cigarette. Now, five years later I am a full-fledged addict, and seriously worrying about my health.
I wake up hacking up black tar and yellow phlegm every morning and make up a new excuse every day as to why it's happening. It's not just allergies. I am not getting sick. It's the 20 cigarettes I sucked down the previous day, and the other 20 from the day before that, and the 20 more from the day before that. and so on and so forth. It's a never-ending cycle. How do I break that cycle? How can I make myself quit?
I have tried just about everything. Patches gave me a headache. Nicotine gum tastes like bleach. Cold turkey sent me over the edge into withdrawal (Not fun. 10 out of 10 do not recommend.) Thinking about all the money I would save should have been enough ($2,400 per year). Every time I have tried to quit, I always found myself going right back to the gas station to buy another pack. I could never make it work. I kept telling myself that this would be the time that I would quit. That I was ready to quit. That I wanted to make it work. But, I honestly do not think I ever wanted to make it work.
I think it might be too late for me at this point. I enjoy it too much, and I don't have the willpower to make myself quit. (I do have a lot of motivators that want to help me quit though). But, any teenage smokers reading this right now, quit. Do it now. If you are not too far in by now, do yourself a favor, and quit. Take your pack of cigarettes, and flush them. If you do not smoke a pack per day, you can quit. You have to find the motivation to do it. You have to have a solid support system too. Your friends and family do not want to see you lying in a hospital bed choking on the fluids filling your lungs. Save your own life.
Lastly, let's shift back to my situation for a moment longer. I need some help here people of the Internet. How do I make myself quit? How do I get in the right mindset to quit? I have so many people who care about me wanting me to quit. How do I do this for them? How do I do this for myself? I wish it was just as easy as throwing the cigarettes away and never looking back. Nothing is ever that easy. Life is not that easy, but nothing in life that is worth fighting for is ever easy.
