Does Smoking Have a Purpose?

Unlike the 'old days' when tobacco companies touted the 'benefits' of smoking in their advertising (such as the idea that breathing more during smoking helps you by increasing oxygen intake), today everyone knows just how deadly this habit really is.

Why then, do over 20 percent of us adults in the United States choose to smoke? Because it's a free country? It sounds good – but unless you haven't been outside in a while... Any sarcasm aside, we have many unique reasons. But they do tend to follow a similar pattern. Almost always, the reason for smoking comes from your mind. We believe there is something to gain from it. And this 'something' must be worth the torturous effort of overcoming our bodies natural rejection process (vomiting, coughing, dizziness) – since there are definitely no true physical benefits.

The purpose, then, tends to be for satisfying an emotional need. We're trying to relieve boredom, stress, anxiety, nervousness, or unwanted thoughts from any situation causing these things. We may not have any other way of properly handling these feelings, it's usually not something we're taught in school. Once we're used to getting that relief, we feel awful without it. It affects our self esteem, our desire for life itself. Pressuring situations only encourage us to want it more.

What can we do? Is the situation hopeless? No, definitely not. The hardest part is believing this. 90% of achieving anything in life begins with belief. Reality is but a thin plastic spoon malleable by the lightest touch. It's the ability of our mind to 'agree' with such a simple concept that determines how successful we are at quitting, achieving. We're conditioned our entire lives into believing otherwise, and this is an unfortunate atrocity. As hard as it may be, believing in yourself is the simplest of the steps toward a better point.

When we've gained hope, we can tackle the habit of smoking from a more technical standpoint. That is, we can replace ingrained emotional habits with more healthy activities, find and meet with friends for a more supportive, happier environment, and create step by step goal oriented plans for solving major problems. This may sound complex, but it' really much easier in practice. Just going out for a walk, bike ride, or to a show with a few friends is enough to take your mind off the stress. Chewing a piece of gum can help with your cravings from boredom. Healthy meals 5 times a day can reduce blood sugar cravings and weight gain. And there are many other options.

Smoking does have a purpose. But it is a poor substitute for life. Even when we're at the bottom, we can still use our consciousness to 'climb'. There is always a happier, better alternative.

Smoking Revealed
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