I was that guy.
That guy who thought that by sticking a cigarette in my mouth and puffing away like an out of control veld fire would make me fit in with the “cool” dudes?
That guy who enjoyed a couple of cigs with the boys during his school days (sorry Mom, sorry Mr Headmaster).
On this day two years ago (I wrote this note on Wednesday) I made the decision to kick the butt in the butt – probably one of the wisest decisions I could make at such a young age.
Rather than splashing those 30-odd bucks on that square box, I could keep the cash in the wallet and spend it on something else, however, I am a human and other addictions can easily and quickly take its place.
Now, I am not by any means going on some preaching episode or rant about the health dangers of smoking etc etc.
Not at all.
I just happen to think that the luring attraction that cigarettes have, particularly on young people, needs to change fast.
Smelly clothes, dodging your parents, yellow fingers and, later in life, wasted working time due to numerous daily smoke breaks all took its toll on me.
When I weighed up the pros and cons its cool points were quickly thrown out of the window.
As a working man in the real world I realised that I don’t need to impress my peers anymore by dangling a filter from my lips.
In the big bad world it’s every man for himself.
To this day I still crave the relaxing sensation that a cigarette can provide, but tell myself every time that it is simply not worth it.
I quit for me, not for anyone else.
It is easy to start but difficult to stop.
Quitting the smoke is definitely not a joke.
LG
