The Day I Quit Smoking

I had been employed at Esso Standard Oil Company in the Accounting office for several years and had been a heavy smoker since teen age years. One of my friends and a co-worker was also a heavy smoker. We each had considered giving up the habit since we were aware of the physical consequences of smoking. At this time the word "cancer" had not been associated with smoking.

One day I read an article in the Reader's Digest about quitting smoking. The author of the article pointed out that on average it took about 3 minutes of time to smoke one cigarette, including the time it took to purchase the product, the matches, and the time it actually took to smoke it. This meant that for each pack of 20 cigarettes, one whole hour of precious time had been consumed for nothing more than adding tar and nicotine to the lungs. At the rate of one pack per day, that meant that seven hours per week had been used only to feed a nasty habit. In addition the cost of the cigarettes and the cost of repairing burned holes in one's clothing was exorbitant. The author of the article asked the question, "What would you do if you had seven additional hours of time each week if you did stop smoking"?

My friend, Enoch said to me one day, "You don't have the guts to quit smoking". This was a real challenge to me so I told him the same thing. We then both agreed that the first one to smoke another cigarette would buy the other one a steak dinner. This was to be on the honor system.

I agreed and we shook hands on this. I immediately called Virginia and told her, "I have just quit smoking". There was about half a pack in my shirt pocket. I decided to leave them there and whenever I wanted to smoke, I would just pat on the pack and silently say, "OK, you're there but I shall not smoke anymore". I was determined in my mind, my heart, and my soul that I would quit. It was the most difficult physical challenge I had ever faced.

The habit was so ingrained into me that I literally wanted a cigarette with the tips of my fingers.

Someone suggested that I chew gum instead of smoking. I must have chewed thousands of packages of Spearmint gum. The suffering was intense for several years, but I gritted my teeth, silently kept repeating my oath, and kept patting the half-empty pack in my shirt pocket while chewing my gum.

It must have taken five years for the urge for a smoke finally left me. I had discovered that I felt better, had fewer colds, food tasted much better and I enjoyed everything in life far more than before. No more coughing phlegm in the mornings, no more dull headaches, no more sinus problems. My sense of smell had returned. Later I learned that smoking had been determined to be a major cause of lung cancer. This was an enormous benefit of quitting.

It has now been almost 50 years since I quit and who knows, I may not have lived this long had I continued. I may not have seen my son David and my daughter Patricia grow and I may not have seen my 5 grand-children. This had been one of the best decisions I had ever made in my life.