For the past few weeks I've been working in the pathway used by some very dedicated people: smokers! All day long, at each and every break they faithfully come past me. After a while I got to thinking that maybe I should start smoking and stress will just vanish. It must be, considering how many times a day these same people traipse back and forth from the opposite end of the building. Plus, I would get an extra break or two, since management seems to wink at some of these little pauses.

I've also noticed that they look and walk a little differently when they come and when they go. A little slower, a little more of a stare on their face, on their way back. Is that what nicotine, oxygen deprivation, and some of the 4000 chemicals contained in tobacco smoke does to people?

If everybody knows there are cancer causing chemicals in the smoke, why do they keep doing it? I read that there are 69 cancer causing chemicals in the smoke! It isn't as easy as saying, "It's the nicotine, they are just hooked." No, there are other reasons, otherwise why would they make the trek every few hours, even when it is raining sleet outside?

Stress and smoking

It doesn't take much observation to see that people smoke when they are stressed. You have to do something when you are stressed, but smoking cigarettes just makes more stress on the body.

This is why people think smoking reduces stress: When they feel tense, they smoke a cigarette and immediately after the nicotine buzz begins to diminish, they feel relaxed. What actually happens is that the nicotine increases the tension temporarily and then, when it lets up, you feel relaxed.

Kind of reminds me of my few months living and working part-time on a dairy farm. When a cow was bothered by a bad udder or something and had a hard time letting down the milk, the farmer would twist her ear. The cow would let down the milk because she forgot about her udder discomfort when her ear hurt more!

There must be some kinda way outta here

When you take something away from your belief system, you need to replace it with something better, otherwise you will surely return to the thing familiar. That's why people stay in religious cults, but I digress. So, if you are going to quit smoking, you need to do something else instead.

Cold turkey, warm turkey, what about the turkey method? It works great for some people. They decide to quit and just quit, right here and now. They suffer the withdrawal symptoms for a short time and that's that, they are done.

Other people quit over and over again, maybe eventually they manage to finally finish forever. But most people need some help. They need a plan, a method that works for their own needs. Maybe a patch, maybe gum, maybe supplements, there are a number of well documented methods that can help somebody to once and for all quit.