Posted by Dave on 1/4/2012, 4:11 pm, in reply to "New Year, New You...Our Choice"
70.177.58.173
I actually can't imagine much that would be worse than having to smoke merely because of an addiction, despite not wanting to. The problem with quitting, as I tell folks who ask me if I've thought about it, is that I don't want to quit because I love being a smoker. And as you say Tim, you have to want to quit to be willing to put up with the cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Like most smokers, I'd prefer not to have the health risks that go along with smoking, but I accept them because of the tremendous pleasure I get from lighting up. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the anti-tobacco activists are dead wrong when they claim that the problem with smoking tobacco is that it is "as addictive as heroin" and the like. The "problem" with smoking is that unlike heroin and almost all other illicit drugs, being a cigarette smoker is intensely pleasurable and continues to be so for decades, making it next to impossible not to quit, but to really want to quit.
As for the "New Year, New You" crap--thankfully I don't have a TV so I'm not exposed to the vast majority of it. Since I kinda like the "old me" I'm pretty much immune to such messages anyway, but what would bother me about them is the same thing that bothered me about TV in general--the sheer cheesiness and intellectual laziness of it, as though everyone needs a little programming beacon in their home to tell them what to do, when to do it, what's good and bad, what's cool, and how to think in general. I do not pretend that I am unaffected by the society I live in (I'm certainly a better person because of the influence of others), but the simplicity and banality of television's approach to almost everything it touches is gag-inducing, at least to me. "New year, new you," indeed--BLEECH!
--Previous Message--
: We're fresh into 2012 so no doubt we're going
: to be bombarded with television commercials
: about quitting smoking...again. There were a
: couple posts on here speaking of freedom of
: choice to smoke. I'm a smoker, so obviously,
: I follow this belief. What I get so tired of
: hearing is that it's simply addiction that
: keeps us smoking. I know for me, it's much
: more than that. I'm not saying I don't get
: the nicotine cravings when I can't smoke,
: but if I really wanted, I could get past
: those and go on to being an ex-smoker.
: Simply, I choose to smoke because I enjoy it
: like countless others. We all know someone
: who has quit smoking with no problem. The
: key to their instant success is that they
: were mentally ready to give up smoking. The
: problem today is that we are all brain
: washed into thinking we only smoke because
: we are addicted...not so in my opinion.
: Addiction is just a part of the habit, but
: not the whole picture.
:
: Wishing everyone here a good 2012!
:
: Tim B
:
Message Thread
« Back to index