By: Talia Gamble

If you’ve been smoking for any length of time, and let’s be honest, most of us have. You know that we all have our triggers, or things that make us want to smoke. Below you will find the most common of triggers and what you can do to avoid and deal with them.

Motorin': Nearly every smoker I have ever known tends to smoke like a freight train while driving or riding in a car. I’m not sure why this is the most common area to light up, but it is. It could have something to do with boredom or the monotony of holding a steering wheel for the duration of your drive, however there are some things you can do to temper this problem.

1. Try chewing some gum, this will keep your mouth busy and also has the added benefit of cleaning your teeth.  

2. Try listening to a book on tape, this will keep your mind off of smoking and also help stave off the boredom associated with driving.

Snarf City: I don’t know about you, but this is one of my worst triggers. There is something about finishing a meal that makes me want to light up as soon as my dishes are in the sink. This may be the hardest and probably the last of your daily cigarettes you will succeed in giving up. If you need something to signify the meal is over, try having a peppermint and then using a toothpick. This is a double whammy, tricking your brain into feeling as though you’ve smoked and also busying your mouth and hands.

Good Morning Sunshine: My morning a cup of coffee and a cigarette are how I greet the day, and if my research serves me well, I’m not alone. However, there is something you can do to change this, replace your coffee with tea or hot chocolate. The change up will help with the cravings. You will learn to associate the tea or hot chocolate with a different morning routine. It may even stop the cravings the first time you try it. What have you got to lose?

Cocktail Hour: I am notorious for going through a pack in a few hours when I’m drinking with friends. There is just something about group conversation and alcohol that makes me want to smoke like crazy. If I’m not mistaken, I would probably be what’s commonly referred to as a “social smoker.” This one is tough, because those around you will probably be smoking as well. The best advice I can offer you is to use a nicotine replacement therapy such as the patch or the gum when you go out. The patch is probably your best bet if you don’t want the gum flavor in your mouth while you’re drinking, and you certainly don’t want to accidentally swallow nicotine gum. Let me tell you darlings, the stomach ache is NOT something you want to experience. Like ever.

Get Your Freak On: Ahh, there’s nothing like that blissed out feeling you get in post sex haze. You start to reach for a smoke and….Okay, this one is probably the hardest conundrum to solve, but the best thing I’ve run across in my travels are e-cigarettes. These are nifty little mechanical cigarettes that allow you the nicotine without the all of the chemicals. You can buy them in just about any flavor and strength to satisfy even the pickiest of smokers. While there are those who would discourage these as a quitting aide, I have found them to be wonderful when you’re in a bind and about to scratch out your eyeballs from nicotine withdrawl.

There are many things you can do to avoid, control, and live with your triggers. The main thing you want to remember is not to get discouraged if your first few attempts at quitting are unsuccessful. It takes the average smoker four to five attempts before getting off of the things for good and those who are heavy smokers take even longer. Just remember to be good to yourself and do the things that work for YOU. It doesn’t matter what anyone else says or thinks, if standing on your head and yodeling reduces the urge to smoke for you, DO IT. Keep at it and you’ll be living a smoke free life before you know it!

Why did you start smoking for the first time? This is such a common question. To understand why you started to smoke, you first must understand the powerful effects of the subconscious mind.

You think you are an intelligent, dominant person that can control your own path in life. This is difficult considering, 99 percent of your (more…)

We all have our individual reasons for doing things. We do them our way and that makes us happy

People smoke because they like to. Usually they start smoking early in their lives. When enjoyment and the ego are more in play. Before they have families and responsibilities that might move up on their priority list. Self extravagance moves down.

So now they are in mid life or older. They have smoked for twenty-thirty years. Their health is starting to eb because of the smoking. Perhaps their doctors have even told them they have the beginning stages of COPD or other body organs are involved.

Nine out of ten cases of lung cancer is caused by smoking. 500,000 people are dying each year from enphazema and cancer. Second hand smoke is a killer.

Those are stark realities. Smoking breaks down the elastin in the skin and causes wrinkles.

So now we have serious illness coming our way and looking old on the outside. In ten years years a person will spend $15,000.00 or more depending on how many packs you smoke a week. Ouch!

Are you thinking of a strategy that might help you to quit for good? Think about it. There are many positive opportunities. Exercise, yoga, swimming, chewing on gum, reaching for a good book. The list goes on and on. But if you can find a positive and helpful alternative to smoking then you are half way there. Each time you eleminate one cigarette from your day you are sucessful.

And stop stuffing away feelings. Many people who smoke are either lonely, angry, hungry or tired. The cigarette helps to curb the appetite and gives us a boost too. But it doesn't last. It is not realistic to utilize a cigaretter instead of staring these issues in the face at some point.

So these are the things you need to give serious thought. We only go through this life ONE time and we want to make it last, and in as healthy a condition as we possibly can. So why let the propaganda of sellers of poison get in the way of a happy, healthy life? Let's not.

"Meet my old man", is a phrase I only hear in Hollywood movies. Translated word for word into Filipino, it should sound like, "Eto, matandang lalaki ko." - which has a weird meaning, is quite awkward and disrespectful in our culture. That's why the appropriate translation is "Eto po ang aking ama." (more…)

Arsenic kills if you swallow it. Tobacco kills if you inhale it.

Cough! Cough! Are you inhaling your last breath

Remember, if you're smoking, you can pack up your health.  If you're not smoking, you are backing up your health. Smokers are now funneled into a zoo-like partition from the rest of society. But still, they continue with it. People get addicted to tobacco products because they contain nicotine, which is again an addictive substance.

Smoking is one of the worst things that you can do to your body. When you started smoking for the first time, (often just to look cool), you likely went into coughing it. You know why? Because your body was warning you to stop now, because you were feeding it with poisons. The lucky ones, who understood the warning, stopped it there and then. But others continued with it. They are not getting the point that they are forcing their body to inhale poison. They don’t even realize the harm they are causing to their bodies.

Nicotine resembles a catalyst. It keeps your mind confused on the real problem here: brainwashing. The chemical addiction of cigarettes can be easy to cope with. But brainwashing is tough to cope with. You are brainwashed to an extent when you are addicted to big tobacco. You find yourself attracted to the colorful advertisements to some degree, but you are not able to see that each and every packet of cigarettes has a little quote always written on it’s packet: “Smoking is harmful for your health.”

Cigarette are a most harmful substance, and inhaling that substance could lead directly to your last breath. Why begin the countdown to the end of your precious life? Why didn't you follow the "Be smart. Don't start," advice?

A bunch of words can’t always change young minds.  Its tough to achieve it all alone. You may need different types of supports, may be through counseling or a prescribing medication. “Please keep smoking, our planet is overcrowded.” Don’t let such sayings come true. It’s all in your hands. 

To stop smoking:

1. DELAY the FIRST
2. DEFER the SECOND
3. DESIST the THIRD
4. AVOID the FOURTH
5. PAUSE the FIFTH
6. SKIP the SIXTH
7. POSTPONE the SEVENTH
8. FLING-AWAY the EIGHTH
9. EVADE the NINTH. (And now put a big stop before the tenth.)
10. Say Goodbye to smoking and tobacco.

Do smokers really take our warnings seriously given the plethora of platitudes flooding our daily language, the media, or our Facebook! It seems that there is always someone out there seeking to make a smart remark, but very few people care! (more…)

I smoked as a teen. It was more an act of rebellion than anything else, but I liked it as a social device, as well. If you saw a cute guy, you could always ask him for a light to break the tension. You could smoke with your friends, too.

When my grandfather was diagnosed with lung cancer, I decided to quit. He was a pack a day smoker for most of his 80 years and I knew I could easily end up just like him. And so I dropped the cigarettes.

The problem is that I have a very addictive personality. If you give me one smoke, I’ll take the pack. It’s one of the issues that has also led to weight problems for me. So, when I decided to give up smoking, I knew there was no way I was going to make it if I tried to gradually work down to zero. Going cold turkey was the only way to go for me. It was certainly not easy, but it was necessary.

At the age of 21, I tossed my last pack in the garbage, fought my desire to pull it right back out and finish it up, and I walked away. The first few days were the worst. I was jittery and constantly reaching for the smokes that weren’t there anymore.

I stayed far away from my smoking friends and I basically holed up in my room when I wasn’t at work. It wasn’t fun, but in the end, I got through it. The desire to smoke didn’t go away though, for a long time. Even now, nearly 20 years later, I still want to smoke sometimes! The trick is to make the decision each minute of each day. “I’m not going to smoke.”

Distraction helped a lot, too. I spent a lot of time reading or watching TV to keep my mind off things. However, since I quit cold turkey, I’ve had one cigarette in nearly all those 20 years. Not too bad, I think! I can proudly say that my children will not be subjected to second hand smoke and that makes it all very worth it.

Most everyone knows that smokers live shorter lives, an average of 8 years shorter. But have you ever thought about how much time smoking takes up during your life? We live in a "time is money" culture. Not that that's how it should be, but people often put that kind of value on time...and wish they had more of it. A smoker might not even realize how much valuable time is taken up by this habit.

There's the mental energy and time wasted by thinking about when you'll be able to take a break, or step outside, or go for a drive, to have that smoke. There's the time spent worrying about the harm it's doing to you (and possibly to others you love). There's the time spent driving to the convenience store to buy smokes, or driving around to find a place to buy them, or thinking about where to buy them. Time wasted making sure one has matches, lighters, and cigs, and maybe something to drink with it or something to ash in.

Then there's the time wasted by the smoker that the non-smoker doesn't even have to worry about, such as the extra time it takes to heal from a cold or recover from an illness, because smokers take longer to get well after being ill, not to mention the extra time it takes to catch up at work because of being sick longer. There's more time spent at doctor's visits talking about smoking problems, and more time spent going to doctors due to more illness, and that's just when facing run-of-the-mill illnesses, we're not even talking yet about the time spent dealing with serious illnesses that can occur after years of heavy smoking such as cancer, emphysema, or loss of limbs, for example. There's also the extra time the smoker needs to sleep, to make up for the poor sleep s/he gets, since smoking affects sleep negatively.

There's the time spent cleaning up from the habit--cleaning ash trays, throwing away empty packs, more house cleaning if you actually look at the fact of the gray film and odor that smoking leaves on the walls, furniture, and every object in the home if smoking occurs inside.

Finally, there's the time spent actually smoking. It all adds up to a big fat waste of time. Your life is too precious, and time on this Earth too short and special, to waste one more moment of it on this addictive drug. Take the first step, do whatever you can, or keep doing what you are doing, to free yourself from the clutches of this time-sucking addiction.

Three days ago:  

So I was on this plane taking me from Dakar to Istanbul, an 11 hour flight, cramped in a unbelievably small seat. I was flanked by two stern -looking middle aged guys. How in the world is my time going to go by?.. I had stomach cramps all afternoon just before getting on the plane. No doubt,  it was in anticipation of this trip. It was the anxiety of someone who was going to be confined, deprived... Stress, stress, stress, cramps, cramps, cramps. All afternoon, it was the same symptoms any addict would have before involuntary rehab. (more…)

The first time I smoked, I was a rebel, angry and stupid. 

Whew, it felt weird writing that first sentence, but yes, it's true.

I smoked not because of peer pressure, but maybe because of a little bit of subliminal marketing from television ads. Okay, it was a lot. I don't blame my dad even though he was a chain smoker. He often smoked two to three packs of Phillip Morris a day. (May he rest in peace). For all that has been said and done, I made that dumb decision myself. 

Mostly, what brought me to that moment, to that decision, was a mixture of runaway emotions that are quite normal for rebellious and hormone infused teenagers. I was a curious, confused and hormone laden boy monkey. 

When I think about it today, I recall that moment of planning, of figuring out where to buy, how much they cost, where to smoke, and what brand. In hindsight these were pretty, pretty stupid and trivial matters, since I was caught!

Now, that was not part of the plan!

The brand that I chose was Philip Morris, the green menthol ones which are longer than Marlboros and quite cheaper. Why? Because I saw them a lot at home. I thought to myself: I'm going to start with something familiar. Besides, they were affordable at 20 pesos for a pack of 20. This was in the late 90s, so that was about 50 US cents a pack! The thought of stealing from my father's cigarette pack also crossed my mind, but I knew I'd get caught.

The first problem to overcome was where to buy them. We lived in a middle class subdivision in the Philippines and I was quite naive. (Okay, very naive.) I was thinking quite falsely and innocently

• "What if the storekeep calls my parents right after I buy?"
• "What if I go to jail for buying?"

So I came up with the insidious idea to say, "Somebody asked me to buy it for them" 

In my mind, I was reciting to myself an imaginary dialogue with my targeted store. 

• Me: "I'd like to buy some cigarettes please," quite casually.
• Storekeep: "May I see your license to buy cigarettes." said the storekeep quite sternly.
• Me: Quite cooly "Oh, I don't have any, somebody just asked me to buy it for them."

As naive as the dialogue now sounds, that was my way of thinking about it then. 

To my surprise, it was actually easier. 

Nobody cared what you bought. Nobody asked any questions. None. 

So right after school, I bought a pack quite easily and also bought a lighter. Now the trick was to smoke when my parents were out of the house. That day, all of my plans seemed to be working out all right. Dad was not yet home, mom was shopping. So, I climbed on top of our water tank, which was as high as the roof of our two story house. 

The view was awesome.

It was like playing with Google Earth for the first time. I saw nearby cities and houses and neighbors' houses I hadn't yet met. I felt the power of the wind move my body gently. It was like a gentle nudge from an invisible force.

I am afraid of heights. Climbing that tower felt exciting and exhilirating. The throbbing in my chest felt stronger. Bright yellow and red imaginary exclamation points were popping up everytime I moved my arms or legs. It was a new, unknown and exciting feeling. 

After I soaked all of the new sensory inputs in, I sat down and got the cigarettes. 

You see, as stupid as I may have been at the time, at least I had the sense to think that smoke flies outwards and upwards. If I stayed on top of the water tank, I somehow felt that nobody would smell it at all. 

So I did this several times, timing whenever my parents were out. 

Finally, I got caught. 

Yes, the smoke does flow upward and outward, but the smell stuck to my clothes! As soon as my mother caught me,  she told me to go down the water tank, like, "Danny !%!%! Go down the water tank!"

A new type of exciting feeling came over me, but this time, it wasn't awe or that feeling of danger. It was fear!

"So, you want to smoke? Do you even have a job?" (I was a teenager)

No.

"This is what we give you money for?"

No. Sorry. 

"Give me your pack of cigarettes."

I don't have any. I lied.

"What do you take me for, they're in your pockets. See, it's bulging!"

Sorry. Here. 

"Now you want to be a big man?"

No.

"Here smoke them all at the same time!"

I shook my head.

Then my mom, tore all up the cigarettes like they were pieces of paper. 

Brown and white pieces scattered on the floor just beneath the base of the water tower. At the time, I was thinking, "What a waste." 

"Clean them up."

I did.