Will you dare to STOP SMOKING?

Well, there are many reasons why to stop smoking…

• Ways To Make Quitting Easier   (It’s Not Easy For Most People)

1.   Pick a date to stop, if you can’t stop today. Choose one two to four weeks from now so you can get ready to quit. If possible, choose a time when things in your life will change, like when you’re about to start a break from school. Or just pick a time when you don’t expect any extra stress at school, work or home. Of course life is very unpredictable so you just can’t wait for there to be NO stress in your life. Wouldn’t that be easy.
2.   Make a list of the reasons why you want to quit. Keep that list available so you can look at it when you have a nicotine craving. Make a list of what you like about smoking also.
3.   Keep a record of where, when and why you smoke. You may want to make notes for a week or so to know ahead of time when and why you will crave a cigarette. Plan what you will do instead of smoking (see list above for ideas). You may also want to plan what you’ll say to people who pressure you to smoke.
4.   Throw or give away all of your tobacco. Clean out your room if you have smoked there. Throw or give away your ashtrays and lighters, just get them out of your house and or room.
5.   Tell your friends that you ’re quitting. Ask them not to pressure you about smoking. Find other things to do with them besides smoking. If you have to avoid being around people who smoke, do that for a while. But do let friends know why you are avoiding them. You’re doing this for YOU, not them.
6.   When your stop date arrives, STOP. Plan little rewards for yourself for each tobacco-free day, week or month. Buy yourself a new top, get some new chewing gum, ask a friend to see a movie. Take a friend to get your favorite dessert or decaf… whatever.

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Go ahead, put it out, it might just be next to your computer.

• Reasons Not to Smoke (You know them..)

1.   Cancer Risk! - Lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer every year in the U.S.
2.   MONEY! It’s expensive (over $1000 a year for a pack a day, an estimation, it can be more)
3.   Bad breath — others do smell it
4.   Stained teeth and fingers
5.   Cough/sore throat 
6.   Breathing problems
7.   Fatigue
8.   Wrinkles (more, sooner than people who don’t smoke)
9.   Arguments with parents, friends who want you to stop smoking.
10.   Heart disease risk, including heart attack, no you’re not too young. 
11.   Gum disease risk
12.   It stinks up your clothes, hair, skin, car, pets, it goes on and on…
13.   Cigarette burns on your clothes or in the house, car, wherever
14.   Risk of second hand smoke to people around you (and your pets too)
15.   Nonsmokers don’t like kissing smokers. There is nothing sexy about smoking.