intro essay

CR094

Brian Stutzman

Mrs. Richter

February 16, 2016

Quitting a Nasty Habit

                I need to quit smoking.  My family, Friends and work colleagues have told me to do so since I started, which was about 5 years ago.  Not too long ago I began telling myself the same thing.  To put the foundation on what I’m telling myself, I am going to use these 30 days to my advantage. I have tried quitting in the past and end up no where due to lack of effort and a poor routine. For 30 days I am going to try to break a nasty habit in hopes it will improve my health. Speaking of my health I’ve noticed a change in a great many things. My breathing, sleeping and eating habits have all changed drastically over the past six years.

                I never really thought that my health was a big deal; I took care of myself pretty well. I never thought things like my sleep, oxygen I breathe, or even my appetite would be affected so quickly. Time to start worrying I guess. At my age not that I’m old but I am beginning to feel the long term effects from what cigarettes are doing to my body. I can’t run or eat that much, I only eat once a day, or even sleep it’s like a cup of coffee to some people.  So in light of quitting smoking I hope quitting will restore my appetite. More of an appetite will allow me to store more energy which in turn will allow me to use more energy to make me tired. I’ll sleep much better by the time this 30 days is up.

                 30 days is enough length to what I consider to be a long term goal and plenty of time to break a habit. My plan to break these habit starts with taking one cigarette out a day or having one less then the day before. I’m hoping that will control my urge to smoke and my shakiness. In the morning and in the evening is when I usually smoke the most. So I am going to limit the number of cigarettes I have at these points of the day. This will change how I wake up and how I go to sleep. I used to go to bed earlier then my parents, now I go to bed way later. My Mother and Father, who used to smoke, have said that they feel much better in the mornings when they wake and at night when they go to sleep as well as previous smokers in some health articles I’ve stumbled upon while reading a magazine.

                A lot of ex-smokers that I have talked to said that they could not quit cold turkey. I look at it as a great confidence booster. That’s why I decided to break this habit slowly. A lot of those ex-smokers that I have spoken to told me to find a “niche” or simple but progressive way to break my habit. I understand some people can jus let go of a habit “just like that” but I am not good at breaking habits quickly. So basically it’s going to be slow but easy as I have no other choice but to use 30 days as an excuse to quit.

                Quitting smoking period is going to be difficult but I think if I try maybe just a little bit harder this time the pay off will be much greater. There are so many things to have fun with then to increase my risk of cancer.  I know mom and pop will be much happier along with some other people that are close to me. I’m hoping that instead making this a short term goal like I have in the past, a long term goal will make it easier. Who knows maybe I’ll save a little bit of cash at the end of the year from not buying cigarettes to put into the car I want to build. I really hope I can accomplish what I set my mind to this time and possibly if I do quit help convince others to quit too.