This month on TwitterStars.com, I’m publishing a series of guest posts with stories authored by several of my Twitter followers on how they quit smoking. I quit smoking just about a month ago and thought featuring stories from other people about how they quit cigarettes would be a fun project for the blog.

Guest Blog Post by @estanczak

I thought I was invincible. Certain actions had no consequences. Tragedy couldn’t happen to me. Well, up until 3 years ago, I used to think this way.

Yes, it’s an addiction. The nicotine causes adrenaline to be released in to your body each time you inhale, and, at the same time, it increases your blood pressure, respiration, heart rate and keeps your blood sugar levels constantly elevated. Wow, what great effects. And did you know that the calming effect you feel is actually a withdrawal symptom rather than a direct effect of the nicotine? Again. A withdrawal symptom.

I won’t go on spouting out additional statistics because we all know that cigarettes kill. Not to mention if you smoke around those who don’t smoke, they are drastically being harmed.

I quit 6 years ago in the early months of 2003. Even though I only smoked for 6 years, I never thought I could quit. But I did. My inspiration came from my Dad. He quit a few months before me, and had been smoking for 30+ years. So I thought, if he can do it, I can definitely do it.

He quit cold turkey, and I did the same. I kept telling myself the following: If I can go one minute, I can go one more. If I can go one hour, I can go one more. If I can go one day, I can go one more.

The thought process got me through.

Two years later, tragedy strikes.

On August 25, 2005, a doctor who I didn’t know from a hole in the wall came out of an operating room and told us that my Dad in fact had pancreatic cancer, and that there was a 5% chance that he, the man who was (and is) the light of our lives, would live beyond 5 years. Again, I thought we were invisible. This can’t be happening.

Less than a year later, at the age of 59, he passed away. MY DAD.

If you haven’t lost a parent, think of your worst nightmare turning in to reality and multiply it by an infinite number. ABSOLUTE ANGUISH.

The doctors verified that smoking was a cause of the cancer.

And I’ll never forget when I was younger; it was just another day when my Mom was trying to convince my Dad to quit, and she said to him, “You know, I don’t want to be a young widow.” And now look. IT happened.

Unfortunately, the alarming statistics and personal stories aren’t going to make someone quit.

You have to really want to do it.

So find motivation. Seek advice.

By thinking “there’s no way I can do this,” you’re setting yourself up for failure. You can do this.

Your family, your mom, your dad, your partner, your kids, your brother and your sister want you to be around in the next few years.

Nothing should have that much control over you.

Take each day, each minute as it comes. Don’t think what it will be like in a few days. Concentrate on that day, that minute.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, is that bad that you need to rely on cigarettes as a so-called stress reducer. I never knew that adding to your body’s demise was a stress-reducer.

As you research online to find solutions, statistics can bog you down. Don’t think of the odds. Think of how you’re going to quit and what you will gain.

Take this opportunity as the greatest challenge that you will ever embark upon; document it, blog about it, scream about it.

Employ the help of your doctors, your family, your friends; they want to see you kick this.

Keep busy, chew gum, eat more, join a gym, become a philanthropist with your new found savings.

And reach out to someone who has been there. They may not have walked in your shoes, but they can certainly guide you down the right path.

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Guest post for Twitter Stars by @estanczak

Marketing Communications Consultant at Consulting, Chief Marketing Officer at Babyspot.com, and Marketing Communications Officer at Kidz-Med Inc.

Tags: addiction, cigarette, Cold turkey, health, Nicotine, smoking cessation, substance abuse, The Nicotine Asylum, tobacco

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 24th, 2008 at 5:37 am and is filed under Behind the Blurbs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.