If I could quit you also can

Hi everyone,

I would like to share my experience with you all.

It has been three weeks since I quit smoking and so far it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

I have been smoking for almost nine years started as social smoker for the first three years and then became a heavy smoker. I had to travel overseas and got married to a smoker and we enjoyed sharing the habit.

I used to be very sportive and had a very active lifestyle never actually felt that the smoking is impacting my life in anyway....

After smoking for few years it was obvious I was a smoker the colour of my skin and lips have changed and I could tell that the smoking played a huge part in that I also became asthmatic due to the city where I lived, the work I used to do and of course the cigarettes, I have watched my life shifting slowly my health deteriorated but I am glad I have made the decision to stop smoking, we used to smoke indoors without proper ventilation, smoking was the first thing we start with in the morning and the last thing we do before we sleep, we smoke when happy and when sad. Our house, clothes, and cars smelt like cigarettes.

We knew of how poisonous cigarettes are but we did not care we kept using cigarettes for many years, planning for a day for withdrawal but I guess we always found an excuse...

I was admitted to the hospital emergency on the 12 of April with difficulty breathing and a chronic cough due to a chest infection.

I wasn’t able to sleep and eat for three days in a row I coughed all the time laying down was hard I was on medication but sadly nothing helped I have literally tried all home remedies plus my prescribed medication.

While I was that sick I was still reaching for the cigarettes I couldn’t even make a puff I coughed non stop but I was trying so hard to smoke, I felt disgusted, horribly ashamed at

my self I was blessed with the ability to breath, workout, smell, and many other blessings which I have known the value when I felt weak, sick, breathless and insisting on inhaling that poison still...

When I left the emergency with a diagnosis of acute bronchitis and given three different inhalers I realised that I contributed to how horrible I felt at the time.

I want you please to think about what happened to me, it could happen to any of you, you don’t need to to have asthma or to get sick to quit, you need to be grateful and do it while you are healthy because no smoker will escape the effect of smoking on their health and life. You would want to use those healthy moments, that money, and the blessings that you are given daily.

There is nothing hard about quitting your mind is tricking you, replace the habit with something you like read a nice book, get some healthy snacks to keep hands busy or use chewing gum, go for walks, cook your own food and enjoy the smell of fresh vegetables as you will smell better and your taste will improve.

Put the money you spend on cigarettes aside and use it monthly to treat yourself to something you like, life is worth living don’t waste it, every cigarettes draws you closer to a list of chronic illnesses changes your face, your brain and your body.

Decide to quit now and seek help if needed you will find support everywhere, believe me it’s worth it.

From Emmy with lots of love❤️