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.
