HOW TO STOP SMOKING

HOW TO STOP SMOKING

AS A TRUE STORY ABOUT HOW CAN I STOP SMOKING…..

VERSI BAHASA INGGRIS DARI "CARA BERHENTI MEROKOK"

First of all I want to apologize to those who reads this article, since I’m not native American (I’m Indonesian) I may have made mistakes in my writing and I hope you to understand my inability. And please overlook small mistakes that I may have made in this article. (I tried so hard translating this article myself without using google translate).

Alhamdulillah, I finally fulfilled my wish of having a blog. My purpose of making this blog is to share experiences with other bloggers. Who knows, maybe you can take something out of it.　Do you know why I titled the blog as “How to Stop Smoking”? Well, it’s because that’s the kind of experience I want to share with you, especially those who are a “heavy smoker”, and wants to stop their habits of smoking completely or for those who merely wants to reduce their smoking consumption. I never mean to be a know-it-all or a smart-ass, I just want to tell you a story which I experienced myself, if you can take the best thing out of this blog, then Alhamdulillah, if you don’t, then that’s fine, I won’t ever try to force you or anything.

Wanna hear the story?

When I write this blog, “How to Stop Smoking”, I’m a 46 years old man. I started smoking when I was in college back then around 1988. Compared to other smokers, I’m a late smoker. Since most of my friends started smoking when they were still in Senior High School. Since there was no one in my family who smokes, I never smoke, it feels awkward and I was afraid that my folks would catch me back then. And when I’m in college, I started my smoking habits (I stayed out of town, so no one can scold me if I smoke). Smoking became a habit, as all of my friends who bunked with me were smoking anyway. At first, I only spend a few sticks a day, but after I’m used to smoking, I could spend a pack a day. Note; when my mind’s in jumbles, got a problem in the campus, got a problem with my girlfriend, etc, the smokes I spend in one day could be more than a few packs.

Actually, it wasn’t just once or twice when the idea of putting a stop to my smoking habit crossed my mind. My girlfriend really hates it when she saw a man smoke, so I never smoked in front of her when we were having a date, I had to refrain myself, even though my mouth tried to suck another cancer stick. But, the smell of a smoke never left no matter how hard I tried to get rid of it. Even though I’ve cleaned my teeth, sprayed my mouth with mouth-fresher, she somehow always found out. A smoker knows that the smoke they suck in will go straight down to the lungs, so it’s impossible to wipe the smell of the smoke completely, unless if you’re desperate enough, you can have your lungs removed, but then again, you’d be six feet under if you do that. At night before I went to sleep I have some smoke, and when I wake up, that smell still lingers, even though I’m sure you already knows that a normal mature human’s course of sleep is around 8 hours. But what can I say? I kept smoking because I’d feel left out if I hang out with my friends who were also smoker like me. Don’t want them to think I’m cheap, afraid they’d think I’m not a man, and I don’t want them to think I’m not following the trend, etc.

And so my adventures of being a smoker continued until I work for a private company. Working in a full-AC room, I’m not allowed to smoke. The director at my company wasn’t a smoker, either. So meetings were always done in a room with ACs. If I were to think about that time, I can actually use the current situation to reduce my smoking habit. But this way never works, because in working hours, if I can’t take it anymore, I’ll always steal some times to get out of the room and “get some fresh air”, in reality I used those times to smoke, no matter how I did it. The result; my smoking habits grew.

There was a time when I stopped smoking for a while, it was when my blood pressure reached 170. The company’s doctor advised me to reduce my habits of smoking and drinking coffee. I took medicines, doctor’s advice I’ve followed through, but well, after my blood pressure goes back down, my smoking habit resurfaced... even though the portion was reduced. Funny thing is that my smoking habit… “evolved” so to say. Usually, I smeared the top of the smoke with grounds from leftovers of a coffee to give the essence of coffee when I suck the cancer stick in. But there was also a time when I got a cold, I smeared the smoke with cajuput oil or a medical ointment. Weird, I know, silly me.

Anyway, this smoking habit worsened when I moved to do another job at an agricultural medicine distributor company, as a Technical Sales Representative in the field. Most of my co-workers and customers were smokers, and the results were, well, you can certainly guess; I was tempted to smoke extensively again. Every transactions I’ve done with my customers wouldn’t feel comfortable without a stick between my fingers. Conversations seems more fun, speaking feels so easy when I had a stick slipped between my lips. Honestly, my wife didn’t take my smoking habit so well, she eventually grew tired of asking me to stop smoking after so many times. In my home, most of the rooms smelled of smoke, except the bedroom, ‘cause my wife would kick me out otherwise. Rather than suffering her wrath, I’d rather do what she says. (Whipped. I know you’d say that. But that’s true. I’d rather smoke outside, in the chilly night, rather than having a boxing match with my wife.)

Eventually, karma bites me in the a**. Due to my smoking habits, I caught a disease, which got me into horrible coughing fits. I’ve tried countless medicines from natural and herbal medicines, to chemical ones prescribed by doctors. Due to my routines of check-ups, I finally drilled the effects of smoking into my thick head, from what the doctors and nurses told me, and from seeing the pictures of those who fell victims to the evil cancer sticks, I finally had a rather sudden enlightenment that my habit of smoking all those times ago were just a horrible temptation which would have ended my life sooner than I’d hoped to.

After recovering from my sickness, I still couldn’t help but smoke. The thing is, now I started to think about a way to stop my smoking habit. Why does this habit is so hard to get rid off? The answer is, well, because smoking is very good and addictive… By smoking I can get rid of the stress from work, by smoking my thoughts are clearer when I do something, and many other benefits. But I realized its disadvantages is greater than the advantages. Finally, I found a way to stop my smoking habit. I do it by trying to make the addiction and the comfortable feelings of smoking disappear. How to do it:

I keep smoking, but I purposely exchanged my favorite brand with the ones I disliked, even going as far as exchanging it with home-made smokes that tasted like s***, and even smokes that’s already expired which undoubtedly tasted even worst. Every time I feel like smoking, I always force myself to smoke anything but my favorite brand, and after a while, my hard works pays in the end. I started feeling that smoking wasn’t as good as it used to be. And after a few months, now I felt that smoking was nothing but torture, and if I didn’t enjoy smoking anymore, then why do I keep smoking?

And that’s how I stopped my smoking habit. Even now, after ten years of non-smoking routines, I never felt any urges to smoke. Fresh breath every morning, no more horrible coughs that I usually had when I stayed up late just to burn my lounges with a few packs of cancer sticks. And of course, money that I usually spend on cigarettes can be used for other necessities, such as spending it for my family.

I hope this blog; “How to Stop Smoking” can be useful for others.

(Agus Prihandono)
CARA BERHENTI MEROKOK, ENGLISH VERSION