Can’t Stop Smoking? Start Drinking Tea…
Let me start off by saying, that this is not an article about how to stop smoking. In a way, it is quite the opposite.
Whether it is a pipe, cigar, or cigarettes, some of us have found that we are smokers. Maybe you have attempted to quit, and maybe you haven’t cared enough to try. Either way, the truth remains, “I am a smoker.” If this sounds familiar, then you I write this for you.
It came to me one afternoon, when I was trying to fight off a sore throat, and I held my pipe in my left hand, and searched for my lighter with my right…I shouldn’t be doing this. I have had this sore throat for a week, and I can’t stop smoking.
Well, the truth was the truth, and I really didn’t have intentions of stopping… Slowing down, yes; stopping, no. Though this moment was quick, it was important, as it was then that I accepted my fate. And more importantly, was now able to balance the scales.
Smoking makes you look old, smoking causes cancer, smoking smells, smoking makes your teeth yellow, and a million other STOP SMOKING ads rushed through my head…
I accepted them all…
Ok, now what…Well, I began to think. With a sore throat nagging me at the moment, I decided to attack this enemy first. Mouth wash, medicine, vitamins; I found these were all good ideas. But although I was helping the issue, my throat still hurt, and I was beginning to cough.
Perhaps the coughing was a blessing in disguise as I reached for cup of tea to help stop a fit of coughs. The steam helped me breathe, and the hot water cleared my throat. If nothing else, this experience got me thinking.
I looked further into the matter, as I of course stepped up my tea intake.
I found out that drinking tea, Rooibos Tea and Jasmine Green Tea in particular, will help me to relax (calming down my nerves), contain large amounts of antioxidants to fight against the increased level of free radicals in my body from smoking (the cause aging skin and of course, Cancer), clean my body of toxins, help me breathe, and help my previously mentioned sore throat. I looked at this list, and the STOP SMOKING ads returned…
Could it be that a pot of tea was a helpful accessory walking down this smokey path?? From personal experience, I have found that tea helps.
On Tuesday evening of this last week I suddenly became quite ill. Headache – fever – hacking cough and I knew exactly what this was. Bronchitis. I suffer from this several times a year. But this time it seemed so bad it was almost like it was combined with flu. It proper knocked me off my feet and I was in bed for two days. During this time I could not smoke nor did I feel like I wanted to despite I was used to smoking in excess of 50 hand-rolled ciggy’s a day. I had an idea. A perfect time to quit. My illness has almost gone I feel much better and I am on day 4 without a ciggy and I am determined to never smoke ever again. I want to do it and that gives me the insentive to succeed. I am 48 and I started smoking at the very young age of 11. That’s a shocking 37 years of my life smoking leaving just 11 childhood years smoke free. I have enough will-power and like so many others I too will succeed to give up smoking. Good luck to everyone who want’s to quit.
Let’s just say I am ready to quit smoking. It’s no longer a desire but a crutch a nagging aching crutch. One I need to start my day, end my day get me through the day. The smell it’s in my clothes, in my car in my hair on my skin and draining my purse.
I’m ready I’m in a way slowing down less smokes a day. I am going to take it one day ay a time though. I prefer saving my money to cancer any day
Good for you! When I quit, the patch and quitnet.com really helped me. The patch gave me the extra willpower to make it through and quitnet.com has (at least it did at the time) a timer that kept track of exactly how long I had made it without smoking right now to the second — kind of like a stopwatch in reverse. I wish you luck, you will be so much better off with cigarettes.
Update: Just checked and quitnet still has the counter thing. Highly recommend you join. It’s free and the counter showing progress is very motivating.
I just logged into to quitnet and here are my stats. I quit in 2004 and my login still worked and the stats are still running!
My Stats:
Your Quit Date is: 1/8/2004 6:45:00 PM
Time Smoke-Free: 2193 days, 22 hours, 3 minutes and 56 seconds
Cigarettes NOT smoked: 87757
Lifetime Saved: 22 months, 10 days, 8 hours
Money Saved: $15,358.00
My Med Plan: Nicotine Patch
I can’t believe I saved over $15,000!