When you have an addiction you keep your friends down as well: true friends stick by your side, anything you can’t do because of smoking they won’t be doing neither, more than one life is affected when friends accept you for who you are. If they can do that, can’t you accept that you are dragging them around every time you take a drag?

Do you realize that your smoking habit loads you with more responsibilities than a non-smoking individual? Ask yourself this question. Do I want to be responsible for the outcome of my life as well as theirs? Responsibility, is multiplied when you are a smoker, people, generally speaking, tend to function in pairs. We call these pairs “best friends.” There is a forsaken code of conduct that we do whatever our friends are doing, scientifically speaking, we call this influence—and our friends have a lot of it, or shall I say YOU THE SMOKER have a cargo of influence that you’d never think of. Consider this:

My experience: Whenever my friend takes a breathing break at the gym, I don’t want to leave them lonely so I too take breaks even though I am fully charged…

My experience: Whenever I am upset at my computer I call it “stupid, and I slam it” ( bad internet connection). When my wife is writing in her notebook and she gets upset, as if she inherited my traits, she does the exact same thing “insult, then slam” –bad habits due to her being my friend and associating my habits with her own life.

Smokers are under the belief that they need cigarettes. Well, most people are vocal about it, sharing this with none other than their best friends. What we do as smokers is we demonstrate to anyone around us what it is to ‘need’ something. Some of our best friends are family members, or our own children. So what we do is we model the obsession as a stress reliever, we gossip about the fix it presents for the moment. There’s a saying, when you are doing something bad, do it away from children. Because children will perceive this, and feel accustomed to acting the same way towards it or associate it with other things they may encounter—just like our friends. Examples would be: our habits rubbing off on them, and them showing the same ‘need’ for alcohol, cigarettes, or something worse.

*Image courtesy Flickr creative commons.

The idea of acupuncture as a method of quitting smoking both fascinates and horrifies me. I’m relatively terrified of needles yet the idea of curing my habit courtesy of some kind of mystical Chinese medicine quite appeals. There’s quite a debate around (more…)

A recent survey has suggested that e-cigarettes are just as effective as traditional nicotine patches in helping smokers to kick the habit. The research examined the number of people who gave up smoking for more than six months without lapsing. The survey revealed that this was achieved by a slightly greater number of people using e-cigarettes than those who opted for nicotine patches or a dummy e-cigarette which contained no nicotine. (more…)

Now that you have quit smoking you must feel that you have taken your life back. That you are now in control. Here are some things to consider, think about and remember: (more…)

A new study published in nature.com as referenced in the Journal of Neuroscience (jneurosci.org) has recently come out indicating a link between smoking mothers and as the paper puts it “the propensity” of offspring to develop behavior related to over-consumption later on in life. (more…)

In the past, as a smoker, you have often solved everything with a cigarette. Happy, mad, or sad. But now you know the toll this choice has madeon your body and your life. You've made a sound decision to stop but it is not going to be easy. Better to know what is ahead and how to handle it.

Stress: This is mental, physical and emotional strain we feel caused by anxiety or over-work. (more…)

(A Trilogy)

A few weeks ago, I was alarmed at discovering the truth about the ten million jobless youth in the U.S. (a number greater than the population of New York city). Regardless of nationality, ethnicity or religion, being jobless is bound to have grave consequences for every youth's well-being, and/or the life of that person's family. (more…)

Okay, so I'm not totally serious about the title, but maybe I would if I could! (more…)

I’ve been smoking for a long time now. There have been time when I’ve smoked happily without a thought of giving up, times when I’ve vaguely considered giving up, and times when I’ve really, really wanted to quit. (more…)

Another year is ending and the night of the great decisions is slowly approaching. The 31st of December has always been, and will always be the best time to start making plans for the better and brighter future. Without exception, every January, those who smoke are determined to give up on this filthy habit. However, as most of them have failed to go through with this decision countless times, why not take into consideration a slightly different approach? (more…)