Breathe Happy

The waves roar as they crash the sharp jagged rocks below the cliff. As you stand on a bright Sunday morning in a porch facing the ocean, you listen as the seagulls squawk away. You think about what they're saying and imagine them having a conversation.

Breathe freely,

We are full of glee, 

We live life.

So should you. Time to go and see–

Breathe happy

Squawk, squawk!

You smile and wave at them as if they were your flying feathery friends greeting you good morning. They squawk more in reply. 

You sit down, and all is at peace. There are no problems, no qualms, nobody to trigger those smoking inducing scenarios. The nearest cigarettes would be 50 kilometers away. Most of all, you can stay as long as you like.  

To me, the ideal cigarette/smoking rehabilitation center would look like heaven. It would be a nice white house on a cliff, spacious accommodations, plenty of room to roam, with a nice and pleasant staff, good food, hearty and relaxing music, plenty of fresh air from the ocean, and a ton of relaxing activities that take your mind off the rigors of life. 

I'm not entirely sure if such a place exists, so do indulge me as I fantasize that I could be able to go in a place as such as this. In the mornings, I'd have a bevy of green tea to choose from. The server would smile as she sets the table placements in front. I would smile and say, 

"Hey good morning Casey, how are your kids doing?" 

She would then smile and say quite joyfully "They're having a great time. Junior's practicing his swing and Julie's getting ready for her piano recital."  

"That's wonderful! Wow! I look forward to it. Will she be performing here?"

"Yes she will, she told me that she's going to play the classics." and with that she pours some lemonade on a tall clear glass. "Alright, I'll be back with your breakfast." She smiles again. 

While waiting, I see two fellow cigarette patients, an elderly gentleman and a woman in her forties. They approach my table and I stand to greet them. "Hey, how are you two? Do join me! Do join me! Yesterday's exercises were awesome weren't they? Jason is a really good motivator." 

Matching my genuine joy in seeing them, we regale the previous night's rehabilitation and motivational activities with a true zest for living.

Breakfast arrives and I excuse myself for my boorish manners, "Umm, bacon, with perfectly toasted bread, sunny side up egg, butter, some cream cheese and an option to choose orange marmalade." The winds momentarily raise the sheet of white cloth as we all smile at the notion of the wind taking our breakfasts away. 

The lady, whose name is Rachel, then queries quite seriously, "Dan, how was the glass room?" 

The elderly gent beside, then shifts a bit at the serious question. I reply in a nonchalant and matter of fact way, "Well, it was full of glass walls. The bed was a little bit stiff though." 

The Glass Room

Designed by a well-known psychiatrist and architect, the glass room is the heavenly equivalent of solitary confinement. Though not a room in the truest sense of the word, it is a large space in the middle of the house, on the second floor, with no ceiling or roof above it. A Zen garden decorates the inside with a single white bed placed in the center. On the Northern side, you could find the lavatory and shower room covered with bamboo fencing and routinely maintained by one of the facility stewards. The Southern side is where you can eat and replenish yourself while inside. It is a place of reflection, tranquility, openness, transparency, hope and ultimately, control. 

Patients in the facility schedule their stays in the glass room. The longest that anybody has stayed inside is a full week. 

Designed in such a way to prevent the most serious of nicotine-induced urges, it is for all intents and purposes, an extremely glorified jail cell for those who can no longer control their smoking habits. Once you schedule your stay, you can only go out when you have attained that sense of normalcy and control. That schedule, of course, is co-created by your facility guide. You can only go out once the schedule has expired. 

"It was okay. I was able to finish reading Book 1 of the Game of Thrones." I replied. "A bit cold at night, but the fresh air helped me a lot. It still needs a lot of improvements, but I imagine that I'll probably build one for my own house when I check out."

Rachel nods then smiles. She hasn't tried it yet since she was a newcomer, having only stayed for a week in the facility. 

The gentleman then stands up and excuses himself, "Well, I'm off to do some hoops, care to join me Danny?" 

"That'd be great." I say enthusiastically, "Nothing better to keep the blood agile." 

—

Creative Commons Image via Wikimedia Commons

Now here's some good news to brighten your day, the CDC has recently released a report detailing that the average American adult is less likely to smoke. It's down to 18% from 19% and considering the huge numbers involved in this trend, the change is very significant. 

If you count that, assuming that the adult population of the US is somewhere in the area of 239,516,412 people. 18% of that is 43,112,954. While 19% is 45,508,118. 

In short, you have 2,395,164 people who are no longer smoking in 2013.

Hooray!

While statisticians, health advocates and policy makers are probably jumping up and down with joy, the only downside to this good news is that nobody really knows why. The data is there, but pinpointing where the most effect comes from through statistical correlation is not definite.

To be sure, and from the standpoint of an ordinary individual, I'd say that it has to be the multi-pronged approach to the problem. 

Among the things that are cited that may have contributed to this decline are the following:

• Less TV and movie characters are smoking in shows
• A 1998 ban on commercials in entertainment may also have figured prominently
• Increased tax rates on tobacco, correlates with less teenage tobacco consumption
• Negative advertising portraying gory images related to smoking related illnesses by the CDC also helped
• Increased education drives

The change may redound to some real world statistics as cigarette smoking and the illnesses that comes along with it is the number one leading cause of preventable deaths. How much? 

Well, let's just say that 1 out of 5 people who die in the United States, died from something related to those darn Marlboros, Winstons, Camels, Philip Morris and such. (Source: CDC) Wow.

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You have got to see this if you love statistics, numbers and bar graphs! CDC State Map Statistics

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One of the more interesting tidbits I found in that website is that in Alabama, the ethnicity of people who are more likely to smoke are the Native Americans. 

So what does this really mean for me?

It means that there is hope. For most people, smoking is not just a habit, it's a social phenomenon. The government however, sees smoking and smoking related illnesses as a budgetary black hole. The more people smoke, the more people get sick, the more that those tax dollars allocated for health, get drained for something that could be prevented.

Imagine, how much better healthcare would be if there were no smokers! That's right, we're talking about billions of dollars in savings! To be precise $96 billion dollars go towards healthcare costs related to smoking. (Source: CDC)

18% is still a big number, but we're getting there.

If this trend goes on, let's cross our fingers and hope to see a future, 18 years from now, where there would be 0% smokers. 

But ultimately, that change would always start with you, me – us.

Creative commons Image via Flickr

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!

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.

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.