Do we really need more reasons to stop smoking? Most of us have already been battered with constant reminders about how dangerous and deadly smoking can be in the long run, and of course we all know how incredibly expensive it is to smoke. So do we really need more creative reasons with which to motivate ourselves?
I think at least half of the smokers out there do. It is not enough to be told that we will suffer ill effects if we keep smoking. That is only going to go so far in preventing people from pursuing their addiction, which is incredibly hard to stop on its own anyway.
The same is true with other addictions as well. We almost never turn away from it based on the negative factors, until the pain is absolutely extreme. That is why alcoholics and drug addicts often must hit rock bottom before they become willing to change.
Now without trying to draw too close a comparison with smokers, it does seem like smoking and the health effects are somewhat innocent for us, until that dreadful day when the doctor comes back into the room and declares that we have terminal lung cancer. It is then that we vow to take action, and so easily can point out that we should have acted sooner. Hindsight is always 20/20. But of course, the whole world is screaming at us to stop smoking right now, for the sake of our health, and we don’t listen.
So here is another reason I can give you. This is a good one. It is my favorite statistic.
But first, what do you like to do with your time? Do you have family and friends that you spend time with? Do you like doing activities outdoors, playing sports, traveling, fine dining, and so on? What do you like to do? Because most of us, when we are doing the things that we love, have to take a break from those things in order to smoke.
Smoking distracts us from living the life we want.
Now here is the statistic that will blow you away: if you smoke a pack a day, you are wasting almost an entire month out of every year in the act of smoking.
This is unthinkable. But if you add up the minutes that you smoke in a day and do the math, it come out to over 20 full days out of a year. Close to 30.
This is crazy. You are smoking your life away.
Do you really need another reason than that?
