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 makeup is likely molded. You’re the product of society that you’re raised in. This decides the clothes you wear, the houses you live in, your basic lifestyle, and the views you have about government and politics. Your subconscious mind is a powerful influence in your life. Matters of fact, and not opinions delude your way of thinking. If you do not think this is possible, consider the notion that world was flat before Columbus set sail. If I tried to persuade you today the world was flat, you would never believe me. Now I ask, have you ever been in space to see the earth as a round ball? Have you ever sailed or flown around the world? How do you know you’re not traveling in a circle above a flat surface?
Advertising agencies know the powers of suggestion on the subconscious mind. The cigarette agencies fill billboards with large advertisements of smoking you see each day as you drive your car. Each time you pick up a magazine the advertising for cigarettes is throughout the book you read. Have you ever looked at one of these advertisements and felt they were a waste of money? They do not influence or persuade you to buy cigarettes. You are wrong. These advertisements do just that. They influence you to smoke and buy their products. Your subconscious mind sees these advertisements and stores the information in your brain.
From your earliest years, your subconscious mind is bombarded daily with information about how cigarettes relax you and give you a feeling of confidence. Cigarettes give you courage in your life and the most precious item in the world is a cigarette. Do you feel like this is exaggerating the cigarette? What do you see in cartoons, films or plays where the theme involves a person dying? Just before they’re executed, they’re often given their last cigarette. The major impact of television does not register on your conscious mind, but on your subconscious mind. Each time you see this scenario on the television, your subconscious mind registers the information. Your subconscious mind tells you the most precious item on earth is a cigarette. Your subconscious mind also tells you that your dying thought will be to smoke a cigarette.
Do you think that anything has changed recently? The answer is no. Nothing has changed. Each day your children see advertisements and smoking on television shows, which brainwashes them. Prime time television still shows actors puffing away on cigarettes. You still see cigarettes linked to the jet set and sporting events. Now cigarette companies often still portray couples in bed after sex smoking cigarettes. The cigarette companies are still advertising their products, but in a subtle way.
The government and health departments have launched campaigns to scare you into stopping smoking. The health warning is now so prevalent, it is hard for you to avoid it. What keeps you smoking is the fear you have associated with the glossy gold pack of cigarettes. You refuse to accept the statistics that smoking cripples your health. You fight back these warnings like my Uncle Joe, who lived till he was 89 and had smoked since he was 13. Everyone has or knows an Uncle Joe in their lives. But consider that Uncle Joe could have lived till he was 102 if he never smoked one day in his life.
Do you realize that nicotine is a drug and over 60 percent of the world’s population becomes hooked on this drug? Most of you who become hooked on nicotine spend the rest of your life paying for this drug. All of your spare money goes to buy cigarettes. Consider the hundreds of thousands people whose lives become ruined each year from cigarettes. Nicotine is the number 1 killer in the world today. You regard ice, heroin, and cocaine addiction as problem drug addictions. But you do not regard nicotine as a problem drug addiction. You think that smoking is an acceptable social habit. Governments are taking strong measures to restrict smokers from smoking in public places. Cigarettes aren’t considered an illegal drug, but are legal and sold in almost every store.
To stop the brainwashing, you have to build up a resistance. Consider the scenario of buying a used car: The car dealer is trying to convince you to buy this car. You sit there and listen to all he has to say. You nod your head politely but do not believe a word. You can see through the salesperson and understand he just wants to sell you this car. Now take a look at the pack of cigarettes you hold in your hand. Look behind the glossy packet and see the filth and poison you are holding. See the cut glass ashtray for what it is. See the dirty inside the ashtray and smell the stink it leaves behind if not emptied. Look at that fancy gold lighter you carry around in your pocket. Feel the heat and how it can burn when lit. Look at your clothes and see the burns and the stains on your hand from using that gold lighter. See what it is? It is a tool used to brainwash you to buy more cigarettes and fancy lighters. Stop and ask yourself these questions:
- Why are you doing this?
- Why are you smoking?
- Do you need to smoke?
You know the answer to these questions. You know the truth. The obvious answer is: No, you do not need to smoke. Then why do you continue? The answer is: Once you’re addicted to nicotine, the brainwashing increases. Your subconscious mind understands the nicotine monster needs to be fed. You block all else from your mind and do not want to see smoking for what it is. You are afraid to stop smoking and it is fear that keeps you smoking. You have a fear of being empty and insecure once you stop smoking. This fear is not real, and you cannot stop this feeling because of the brainwashing. The brainwashing started in your youth and now reinforced by your own addiction. The most powerful brainwashing comes from our friends, colleagues, and relatives.
Consider why you smoke and what keeps you smoking. It is the other people around you who smoke. If you escape the terrible addiction, you feel like you are missing out when they smoke. When you first started to smoke, you worked hard on becoming hooked. You never once understood what you were missing. As you walk down the street and see another smoker you’re reassured there is something to smoking. You know he has the secret because he smokes. You see ex-smokers at a party hang around people who smoke. He feels safe because he has not smoked in over 2 years. He feels like he can now have one cigarette and this will not harm him. But after that one cigarette he wants another and soon will buy his own cigarettes again. The reason he wanted that cigarette was not because he’s addicted to the nicotine, but because he never overcame the brainwashing.
We have to overcome that brainwashing to understand that smoking is a drug and an addiction and will kill you. You have to understand, it is not the nonsmoker who’s deprived, but it is you who’s deprived of:
- Health
- Energy
- Wealth
- Peace of mind
- Confidence
- Courage
- Self-respect
- Happiness
- Freedom
What have you gained from these sacrifices? Nothing at all, except for an illusion of trying to get back some peace in your life. The nonsmoker lives each day with tranquillity, confidence and peace in their lives surrounding the issue of smoking. They are not confused about the lethal addiction of nicotine in their body. They do not live each day hooked on a dirty habit, while intentionally poisoning their own body. You have to reverse the brainwashing in your life in order to stop smoking for good and see what smoking for what it is.