We’re Not Telling You How Bad Smoking Is, We’re Showing It To You

Dear Smokers of the World,

First of all let me tell you, I’ve no problem with you smoking. I don’t judge you or harbour an opinion of you in regard to your personal habits. Your right, your money, your lungs.

Everyone knows cigarettes kill. But one death is a tragedy, a million people dying every year due to smoking related illness becomes a statistic.

As a non-smoker, whenever I’ve reasoned with your tribe, most people say things like, “Oh well, I’m going to die anyway” or “I could get hit by a bus tomorrow”. Sure, because your tongue is still firmly in your cheeks, your face is pretty, young and intact. Honestly, dying immediately would be much easier than going through chemotherapy, getting your neck and throat dissected from ear to ear and mouth cut several times.

Cancer is brutal. Look for yourself.

WARNING: Though real, some readers may find the images below disturbing.

Listen, I get it. Everyone has a vice, and that’s standard. I’m not saying you shouldn’t smoke. If you want to kill yourself, that’s your deal. Personally, I love the rattle when you breathe; it reassures that you’re alive. And those “extra wrinkles” give you the “mature” look. And what would Phillip Morris do without your extra money?

But if you feel like quitting, have attempted to and can’t stick to it, try these methods:

Genuine Tips To Curb Your Nicotine Addiction

1. Try Apps: Not patronising, but there is this hugely successful, “Smoke Free”, cessation app on both Android and iOS, which helps you to stay motivated. It tells you how many cigarettes you haven’t had, how much money you’ve saved and your health progress:

2. Do Something With Your Hands: That didn’t sound right, but holding a cigarette becomes your comfort zone. Instead of lighting up out of boredom, hold a Mars (okay, not the healthiest thing, but it won’t kill you!) and reward your brain.

3. Delay Your First Cigarette: Don’t pick up a cigarette when you wake up, push it to 10 am. After a couple of weeks, put it off until lunch. In a fortnight, your cravings will be largely reduced. In a month’s time, if you keep yourself really really busy, you might forget to smoke the stick till evening. A friend of mine did this and he’s been cigarette-free for 7 years now.

4. Find a Partner, and Do It Together: And tell your friends, family, and co-workers that you’re trying to quit. Their encouragement will keep you motivated.

5. Do Something Unconventional: Every time you crave to light up, google for images of people with lung, mouth and neck cancer. The ones you saw above. Eventually, you will feel repulsed and quit.

6. Do It For Money: You buy one cigarette for 15 bucks, it doesn’t hurt you. Let’s say you smoke 5 in a day; that’s 27,000 rupees in a year! For something which is killing you with every puff, that’s ridiculously expensive.

7. Replace Cigarettes With Exercise: Wheezing in the middle of a workout isn’t worth it. Go for a run. Do 20 crunches. Exercise releases the feel good hormones and your brain will associate quitting with fitness.

8. Salt Solution: Each time you feel the urge, lick a little salt with your tongue. This is said to break the habit in less than a month.

9. Seek Professional Help: If everything fails, go to the experts. There are drugs and patches and counselling. Whatever helps you slay the monster.

Just to reiterate, I am not judging you if you smoke but this apathetic feeling changes, the minute you toss your burning cigarette out of your car window. That’s gross, inconsiderate, and plain rude. This planet/ highway/ driveway/ parking/ building stairways are not your personal ashtray or trash can.

In the end, I want you to be in my future as friends. It will be fun to get old and cranky together. But the more I see you smoke, the more I realise, you might not be there to play cards in the park or feed pigeons together.

Sincerely,

Every Non-smoker