Section III
MODULE
TWO
Welcome to Day
Two of the 5-day program or Week Two of a 5-week program.
Today’s Module is
filled with facts and statistics to help you build a solid foundation for a
life of long-lasting smoking cessation. We’ll take a look at the role Hollywood and the media play on smoking,
and we’ll also begin to expose the tobacco companies for what they truly are.
The information presented here should help keep you focused while building
motivation. This is going to be a good
one. Ready? Let’s get started.
If you smoke, you
are not alone. This year, North Americans will smoke almost 500 billion
cigarettes. That’s a lot of cigarettes, isn’t it? That works out to over sixty-five packages for each and every
man, woman and child in North America. Sixty-five packs for each and every citizen on the continent! This year!
Now consider the
fact that there is no safe level of tobacco smoke exposure, so every
puff, from every single cigarette smoked, represents a threat to our
health. That’s billions of health
threats - every year. Al Capone
wasn’t even that bad.
This year,
tobacco companies will spend $1 Million on promotion and advertising – every
single hour! That’s 24 million
dollars, each day of the year – without even so much as a ten-minute smoke
break!
The quality of
this advertising rivals any advertising ever used, for any product, it's
effectiveness, unrivaled.
With this kind of volume of business at stake – almost 15
billion cigarettes smoked worldwide every day - “Big Tobacco” can’t afford not to spend that kind of promotion money. Tobacco companies are
pumping out cigarettes at a rate of five and a half trillion a year. That’s nearly 1,000 cigarettes for every
man, woman and child on the planet!
“There is no
twilight zone of honesty in business. A
thing is right or it’s wrong. It’s
black or it’s white.” - John F. Dodge, automaker
Keep in mind,
too, that now closing in on 50 cents per cigarette, every 2 light-ups represent
approximately one dollar consumed. Do
the math.
Imagine: 200+
billion dollars worth of any product, burned up in our own back
yard…THIS YEAR!!! Poof, burned,
gone. It’s very real - it’s happening
now! What a colossal waste, by anyone’s
standards.
Here’s an
interesting quote from one of Canada’s major tobacco companies, clearly
demonstrating an understanding of their target market:
"There is no doubt that peer group influence is the single most important factor in the decision by an adolescent to smoke…thus a new brand aimed at the young smoker must somehow become the ‘in’ brand and its promotion should emphasize togetherness, belonging and group acceptance, while at the same time emphasizing individuality and ‘doing one’s own thing’. - Imperial Tobacco - makers of Players and DuMaurier
Smoking is a
perfect habit to sell to youth and to support with sponsorship. You couldn’t ask for a more ideally suited
promotional tool than sponsorship, because of the very nature of the tobacco
addiction: every time a smoker hears or sees a mention of smoking, they’re
triggered to light up. What a
moneymaker!
In order to
remain successful, the big tobacco companies need a new smoker to replace the
one that is dying from the products they sell. They are very good at what they do and know exactly how to do it – and
it’s been working for them for years.
It’s not a
coincidence that each year, the number of people who die early from illness and
disease caused by smoking, is approximately equal to the number of children and
teenagers who freshly take up the habit. It has in fact evolved into an
exact “science” for the tobacco companies.
They are using
advertising genius and proven marketing success formulas to guarantee these
numbers stay close. Nothing is left to
chance.
From the time we
are toddlers, we are bombarded with images of smoking associated with being
cool. Over time, we’ve all become
convinced that, with a cigarette, we can be popular, strong, independent,
relaxed, sexy, daring and sophisticated.
Smoking becomes
irrevocably linked to pleasure, through a steady barrage of influences, as
we’re fed a repetitive diet of images splashed up on billboards, in magazine
ads and in movies, associating smoking with excitement, passion, security,
tranquility and virility.
Advertising is
the art of making whole lies out of half-truths. - Edgar
A. Shoaff
Studies show that
less than 10% of high school seniors who smoke believe they will still be
smoking two years after graduation. In
fact, 75% of all North American high school seniors who smoke at graduation
this year, will still be smoking eight years from now!
Here’s a quote
from one of Canada’s biggest tobacco companies, demonstrating an obvious,
calculated marketing strategy:
"At a younger age, taste requirements and satisfaction in a cigarette
are thought to play a secondary role to the social requirements. Therefore,
taste, until a certain nicotine dependence has been developed, is somewhat less
important than other things" - Imperial Tobacco
Popular magazines
designed for a youth audience such as Rolling Stone, Spin, and Cosmo have
accepted huge amounts of advertising dollars to spread the lie. Through
their cigarette ads, these magazines “sell-out” by loading their pages with attempts
to legitimize smoking as a regular, mainstream practice. They attempt to
portray smoking as socially acceptable, widespread behavior and ignore the
stunning truth that it kills 50% of its users.
All of us were
never more impressionable than we were in our younger years. Peer pressure, curiosity and a yearning for
independence are often among the top reasons for youthful experimentation.
Studies show that
children who witness their favorite star smoke (at least twice) have a
favorable view of smoking 13 times stronger than kids whose favorite star
doesn’t set that example.
Teens are three
times more sensitive to cigarette promotion than adults. For most teens,
actors and pop stars become role models and mentors. Our media idols are actually our teachers whom we love and
respect - often above all others.
They set the
example for us up on the big screen and through videos and T.V. at home.
Our idols normalize things for us - and we believe them. They teach us how to dress; they show us how
to talk, how to use body language and which clothes to wear. We trust them to lead us.
Take a look
around any high school in your community to see kids dressed like their
favorite pop star, rock star, rapper, movie star or other successful famous
person. Take a little closer look and you’ll see how some kids have even
come close to the exact same voices and mannerisms of their heroes.
Smoking is such an obvious identity icon, who could miss picking up that part
of the "star" being mimicked?
They teach our
young people how to act, how to dance and what to wear. They also teach us how to destroy our health
and happiness with smoking, guaranteeing shortened lives, illness, disease and
slow, painful death. That’s very
serious business.
The way we appear
to others is very important – even as adults. Many of the props we employ to
define our image are direct – such as wearing a tie. (“We’re business people”,
and consequently increased respect is a given) And just as many are not as
direct – such as our laughs (By quietly laughing just the way a favorite
celebrity laughs may persuade people to give us a little of the respect the
star receives.)
Some experts now
report that between 40% and 50% of all new North American smokers were
influenced to take up the habit by smoking taught in movies.
Using cigarettes
as a prop has been introduced into our culture with a slick finesse that has
baffled millions of people into early graves.
Many “myths’ that
surround smoking have evolved into beliefs.
Hollywood has
been involved with the cigarette-selling business since it started making
movies. In 1989 the tobacco industry imposed
a ban on themselves regarding product placement in movies. A study by
U.S. Dartmouth University found that since this so-called ban came into effect,
“branding” takes place 11 times more often than before the self-imposed
ban.
Of the top 25 box
office movies for each of the 10 years from 1988 – 1997, a full 85% of those
250 movies featured tobacco use! 88% of
the top 50 box office movies, between 1997 and 1998, featured smokers. And in those 50 top movies, the stars smoked
in 37 of them. That’s 74%! That
number is way out of touch with reality.
Today, between 23
to 25% of all North Americans over 15, smoke cigarettes. It runs as high as 35% in the younger,
less-educated and poorer demographic, while it’s somewhere around 12% in the
richer, educated, more mature demographic.
So of all those
fabulously rich, successful movie stars, the average is around 12% who smoke -
not the 74% - 88% as Hollywood would have us believe. The makers of the
brand you smoke pay lots of money to get those kinds of numbers. They know that teens are
more likely to try smoking if they see their favorite movie stars light up on
screen.
That’s why there’s
smoking featured in many movies that are definitely aimed at a younger
audience. The tobacco companies are very successful in making smoking appear
quite glamorous, dangerous, cool and widespread. And it’s not, not at all. It’s just a Hollywood illusion.
Look at some more
of the movies that feature paid product placements: “Men in Black”; “The Nutty
Professor”; “Kindergarten Cop”; “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” and “Home Alone II”.
Those are kid movies.
Through Hollywood
and the media, the tobacco industry has created a carefully crafted image of
“the smoker”. Examples of how movie
stars have shaped our perception of smoking can be seen in many of our favorite
films.
The producers of
“James Bond License To Kill” took a $350,000 payment to feature James Bond
smoking Lark cigarettes.
Lauren Bacall
pushed sex appeal to the limit, for that era, as she leaned against a doorway
with a cigarette hanging off her lip and asked Humphrey Bogart in her sexy
voice, “Gotta light?”
In ”A Time To
Kill”, America’s sweetheart Sandra Bullock taught us to stay cool in pressure
situations, by smoking cigarette after cigarette.
Almost every
rogue in every movie that comes out this year will be smoking something.
Al Pacino puffs
his way through “Devils Advocate”, showing us that smoking accentuates and adds
to a “devil may care” attitude.
Remember Clint
Eastwood chewing on his little cigars in his early westerns? He taught us that even good guys
smoke.
The aliens in the
coffee room in “Men in Black” showed us smoking can add to a bit of an
anti-establishment attitude.
David Letterman
and Arnold Swartzenegger are some of our sophisticated, I-enjoy-a-good-cigar
“cigar-rut” celebrities. When Arnold, a
known smoker in public and in movies, was hired to be the head of fitness for
the world’s most powerful nation, the tobacco companies must have been very
proud. He made a wonderful role model
for them, didn’t he?
Brad Pitt and
Edward Norton’s famous two-hour smoking commercial, “Fight Club” will teach you
smoking is associated with being a big risk-taker. It's risky to do all the stuff they’re doing in the movie –
including the smoking part. And taking
risks is often perceived as cool.
You can learn to
associate smoking with independence – being a “natural woman” from Julia Roberts,
in almost all of her movies. She smoked
so much in “My Best Friends Wedding” that it’s basically just another two-hour
Marlboro commercial.
Lois Lane was
seen smoking Marlboros 40 plus times in “Superman II” through a $40,000 pay-off
from Phillip Morris. They paid to have
their brands in “Who Framed Roger Rabbit” and “The Muppet Movie”.
It’s been
reported that Sylvester Stallone once agreed to take $500,000 to smoke Philip
Morris brand cigarettes in a 5-movie deal.
Whoopie Goldberg
insisted on continuing to smoke on her prime-time T.V. series, amid protests
from scores of angry citizens concerned with her obvious disregard for the
health of all her young, impressionable fans.
Hollywood has
always used their best talents to keep the deception alive, despite the
self-imposed ban by the tobacco companies.
We’ve been taught
gestures, postures and how to hold it between our fingers; take a deep Collin
Farrel type drag; to talk as the smoke leaves your mouth from James Dean; we’ve
been taught how to light-up the cool way from Marlon Brando and how to
nonchalantly flick the butt away by James Bond.
Our idols are
lying to us when they present such a distorted picture. Not only are the numbers grossly
misrepresented, but also they never show us what living with the habit is
really like.
You’ll never
catch Julia Roberts up on the big screen hocking up her morning loogie – well
maybe that’s a good thing, but you can see where we’re going here. The movies rarely give us a hint of what it’s
really like to be addicted to nicotine, including the widespread pain and
suffering that goes along with it. All those stars who smoke in their
movies know people who have suffered and died from smoking - yet they continue
to deceive us. We’re being
professionally duped by some of the very best deception artists of all time.
In an autumn 2002
New York Times article, Joe Eszterhas of “Fatal Attraction” fame, wrote an
article entitled "Hollywood's Responsibility for Smoking Deaths:
“I've written 14 movies…My
characters smoke in many of them, and they look cool and glamorous doing
it...what [I and my colleagues in Hollywood] are doing by showing
larger-than-life movie stars smoking onscreen is glamorizing smoking. My hands
are bloody; so are Hollywood's…I beg that Hollywood stop imposing it upon millions
of others.”
Another famous
director that refuses to have any reference to tobacco products in any of his
movies is Rob Reiner. Supermodel Christy
Turlington and actor Jackie Chan are two prominent celebrities that have
publicly taken a stand against smoking.
With such
influential Hollywood movie people boycotting tobacco products in their movies,
awareness is growing, but obviously we still have a long way to go. In the meantime, our youth will continue to
receive their smoking instructions from their favorite stars in their favorite
movies, on T.V. and in magazines.
It is now less
socially acceptable to smoke than ever before. It’s unhealthy behavior – and that’s not cool these days.
To be fair, some
of the people mentioned above may no longer smoke. At the time of this writing, this information was verified for
accuracy.
"By means of
shrewd lies, unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that
heaven is hell – and hell heaven. The greater the lie, the more readily it will
be believed. - Adolph
Hitler, Mien Kampf
So what’s the
smoking habit really all about?
By now, it should
come as no surprise: It’s all about the money.
Cigarettes are
just a way to funnel billions of dollars in annual profits into the tobacco
companies pockets and out of ours. And
that’s really what it’s all about – money, money, money.
We now know that
the tobacco companies sell us nicotine. Cigarettes are just the most efficient
nicotine delivery system available. They’re just over-priced, nicotine delivery
devices. That’s it. Everything else about the product is a sham,
a scam and a fake.
The glamour and
coolness and all the hoopla are all part of an illusion - a carefully crafted,
manufactured, bought-and-paid-for, Hollywood illusion.
“Whoever is
careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important
matters.” -
Albert Einstein
The most
efficient, addictive delivery system for the nicotine is through smoke,
delivered by the cigarette, going directly through the lung’s capillaries and
to the brain. No glamour – just legal,
mass addiction and poisoning by heartless, licensed drug dealers, in it only
for the money!
Here’s a thought:
What if we were to license the use of heroin? Perhaps then the “XYZ Heroin and Tobacco Co.” might start to glamorize
the syringe in there advertising…”Hey, it’s cool behind the ear”…”I like mine
in my pocket”…etc.
This is not such
a far-fetched idea when you consider that by far the strongest influences in
our lives associated with smoking, come directly from the very tobacco
companies that got us hooked in the first place.
Tobacco companies
are the ones spending the most money on making you aware of cigarettes and how
to use them. They’re the very people
who are providing billions of health threats and early death to millions of
citizens around the world every year. So what should we expect, right?
Don’t forget:
Cigarettes are the only widely used consumer product that, when used correctly,
will make you sick - and then kill you. And the illness on the way to death is long, slow and agonizingly
painful. All for the money.
We now know that
our involvement did not happen by chance. It was carefully and methodically plotted, planned and executed. None of us started smoking by accident. No, it wasn’t fluke at all, but rather a
giant, extremely expensive, cleverly perpetrated con job, foisted on us, by an
uncaring and unscrupulous tobacco industry.
But it didn’t
feel like that at all when we started, did it? It likely felt more like a little playful experimentation, or perhaps an
expression of “coming of age” defiance, through a commonly used identity prop.
But now, this year
nearly half a million North American citizens will die, from what is usually a
long, painful and premature death - and for what? Because they were all conned into believing that the nicotine
delivery device was something more than what it truly is, just so the tobacco
companies could make money.
Do you see? Where’s the excitement in a drug delivery
device? There isn’t any. We’ve all been hoodwinked!
“Truth is like
the sun. You can shut it out for a time, but it ain't goin' away.” -
Elvis Presley
They are lying to
us - and the lie is a carefully crafted illusion. It’s been going on for years, with the majority of the public
totally unaware of it.
Look at it this
way: Imagine a jumbo jet, filled to capacity – say 220 people - crashing
somewhere in the U.S. or Canada. Front-page news? Probably. But what if another one crashed in the same
area, just 4 hours later? You can count
on that hitting the front page of every newspaper in the world! Well, the 440,000+ North Americans who die
from smoking this year, is equal to a jumbo jet, filled with North
American citizens, crashing to their death, every 4 hours. Every 4 hours - all year
long!
This is very
real, very topical news and yet there is relatively little press on the
subject. How often do you hear news
about the preventable pain, suffering and death caused by smoking? People all around us are dropping dead from
smoking at an alarming rate, but little is done about it.
Success of the
nicotine addiction is heavily reliant on mass ignorance. Few kids who start smoking really know what
they’re getting themselves into and less people would continue to smoke if they
were truly aware of the actual costs.
“All truths are
easy to understand once they are discovered; the point is to discover them.” - Galileo Galilei
Here’s a great
new belief – one based on truth: We were manipulated and deceived into nicotine
addiction and it turns out that it really isn’t as good for our lives as we
thought it would be. The negative aspects
of the addiction far outweigh the positive ones.
Now that we are
aware of that fact, continued allegiance to the habit or brand seems almost
nonsensical. Wouldn’t you agree?
Sure, it’s hard
to turn your back on brand loyalty, especially if you’ve been with them for a
number of years. It may seem like a
fairly major adjustment for you to make, but with your new knowledge of the
"hows" and "whys" of smoking, you should be beginning to
lose much of your feelings of allegiance for your brand.
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not
enough; we must do." -- Johann
Wolfgang Von Goethe, Author
Here’s an
exercise to help with this little adjustment. It’s called your “Personal Top Ten” and it will arm you with extra
motivation.
For this quick,
little exercise, you’ll want to get a clean sheet of lined paper and a pen, (or
use the computer) along with your “Insist on the List” wallet folder.
Begin at the top
center of your sheet by printing, “Personal Top Ten”. Now directly below that,
print your biggest personal reason to kick the habit. Choose your own, or if you need it, use the “Insist on the List”
folder for inspiration.
Now, put a big
“#1” in front of it. Are you with us so
far? O.K. Now put a value beside it. That’s right – evaluate it, so that you know exactly what you are giving
up, should you continue to smoke.
What’s it worth
to you? If it’s priceless, go ahead and
write down 100 billion dollars beside it. If it’s worth $10,000, put down $10,000.
Now, directly
below #1, write “#2” and write down the second greatest personal benefit you
will enjoy from not smoking. As with #1, put a value beside it. What’s your #2 reason to no longer smoke,
worth to you? Now on to #3 and so
on. Don’t worry if they’re not in exact
order of importance; just get them down onto the paper, quickly.
Continue your
list making until you have your “Personal Top Ten” list of solid,
well-conceived benefits that you are guaranteed to receive by not
smoking. Be sure to put a value on each item on the list. If you want, you can cut it into a long,
narrow list and fold it in accordion style to match the supplied wallet folder
list.
This is now your
own personalized “Insist on the List” folder - your Personal Top 10 of the
primary, positive benefits you will receive when you stop smoking. It can be a very powerful tool for you to
use to keep your motivation at peak levels.
Be sure to keep
this new list safe, as it is intended to become an integral part of your
overall craving handling strategy, later in the program.
"Knowing is not enough; we must apply. Wishing is not
enough; we must do." -- Johann
Wolfgang Von Goethe, Author
Have you noticed
that every time you made an attempt to kick the habit in the past, that you
have felt sort of ripped-off or robbed, like you were losing or giving up
something important? Do you remember that it didn’t seem fair: “Why should
he/she get to smoke and I don’t?”
This time will be
different.
This time you can
look at the process the way you choose to see it – not based on the lies that
the tobacco companies would have you believe. You’re not being cheated when you don’t smoke – you’re a winner when you
don’t smoke!
This time you
know that it’s the other way around – that smoking has been costing you far too
much. Every time you suck on a
cigarette you are actually being robbed of all the enjoyment of all the great
life benefits found on your “Personal Top Ten” and “The Insist on the List”
folder.
This time, rather
than concentrating on negative, your focus will be on the positive benefits you
will enjoy from your efforts.
Focusing on your
“Lists” will allow you take control of the habit, one craving at a time. You won’t be trying to deal with the entire
lifestyle every time a craving pang strikes, you’ll just be concentrating on
all the wonderful benefits you receive.
Your carry-along
support tools, including your “Personal Top 10”, will be with you whenever you
need a reminder that you can do a whole list of things better when you don’t smoke. We’ll have complete step-by-step
details on using these lists in Module 5.
Your “Personal
Top 10” list proves that the reasons to not light-up far outweigh the
alternative - and you’re a winner every time you make the right choice.
More Great Benefits
The positive
aspects of stopping smoking seem to be endless. Exciting new study findings
routinely reveal amazing new benefits that you can expect once you no longer
light up every time you crave.
For instance, those vitamins you’ve been taking are about to become much more beneficial to your health.
It has been long known that cigarette smoking reduces blood levels of Vitamin C, but now researchers have found a connection with Vitamin E, as well.
Cigarette smoke is an oxidant, which creates free radicals in a smoker’s body. Vitamin C is a water-soluble anti-oxidant protecting the inside of cells and Vitamin E is a fat-soluble anti-oxidant protecting the outside. Both support each other and help to prevent serious degenerative disease.
Without adequate
levels of Vitamin C in the body, Vitamin E in tissues can decline quickly. That’s why smokers and those who have
freshly stopped smoking should be sure to take both Vitamin C and Vitamin E
supplements.
And here’s good
news for heartburn suffers: Nicotine can open up or weaken the valves
between your stomach and esophagus as well as increase stomach acid production, so if you suffer from heartburn, stopping smoking often relieves
the symptoms – or eliminate them altogether!
If you suffer
from arthritic pain, stopping smoking may be even more beneficial to you. According to a study conducted recently by
the Mayo Clinic, smokers risk more painful and progressive osteoarthritis than
non-smokers. The study showed smokers
were more than twice as likely to have a significant degree of cartilage loss –
the rubbery tissue that cushions bones at the joint - compared with the
non-smokers. Smokers were also
significantly more likely to report greater pain severity.
"When you
have to make a choice and don't make it, that is in itself a change.” -- William James, Psychologist
The Nature of the Habit (The Nature Of The Beast)
The “habits” are
all the actions associated with supporting the addiction. The actions you must
take in order to get the nicotine into your system become the “habit” part of
the addiction.
Addiction to
smoking is made up of 2 parts: part is mental; part is physical. The
physical side is the inhaled smoke that’s quickly absorbed into the bloodstream
where it’s carried to the brain, heart, liver and spleen. We get about a 2
second brain buzz as it hits our brain’s pleasure centers and our central nervous
system.
The smoke affects
all of the body’s systems including our hormonal system, and our
metabolism. About 30 minutes after their last smoke, smokers typically
begin to crave another dose of nicotine.
It’s accepted
that the “craving” felt by smokers shortly after their last cigarette conflicts
with concentration and other brain functions. Smokers fighting with
craving must often deal with their own irritability and other symptoms of
withdrawal until they are “allowed” another smoke.
During this
withdrawal, they are less productive than their non-smoking counterparts.
After a smoke, they are back operating on the same level as a non-addicted
person, for 30 minutes or so, until the cycle begins again. That’s the
physical part – the rest of the addiction is mental.
The mental side
of the smoking addiction consists of everything going on in our minds,
including all the psychological factors and ritual surrounding the act.
Our subconscious
is greedy and whether it’s right or wrong, demands immediate satisfaction. This
often requires action directed by our conscious mind.
For instance,
when our ears get cold, we are triggered by our subconscious to cover them
up. So we consciously cover them until
they get warm. If we don’t, our
subconscious will keep prodding us to act, through new ideas and
repetition.
No action causes
more pressure from our subconscious than to change continued discomfort.
So when we don’t
get our nicotine when our mind tells us it’s time, we start to feel
uncomfortable. We all know the feeling: part of us really wants to not smoke, but the stronger part
always seems to win.
The intensity of
the craving continues to escalate until we finally reach a point where we
believe that it’s too hard to live through the strong feelings of craving. We light one up and dismiss it with, “I’ll
quit tomorrow” or similar reasoning. That’s the nature of the habit – and enough to keep many people hooked
for life.
We’ll show you how to break the pattern.
“Security can only be achieved through constant change,
through discarding old ideas that have outlived their usefulness and adapting
others to current facts.” – William O. Douglas, U.S.
Supreme Court Justice
People who smoke
become smokers. Sounds simple but it’s quite profound. And with this title, comes
responsibilities.
Once we start
smoking, like it or not, we assume the role of “smoker” and everything that
goes along with it. We automatically
inherited many negative aspects or “conditions” when we took up smoking, that
we weren’t aware of when we started.
Many of the
support habits that go along with smoking would never have occurred to us
before we were hooked. Most of us were
just young and impressionable and not informed or prepared to make a mature,
life-altering decision of this magnitude.
According to the
American Cancer Society, 90% of smokers are already addicted by the time they
are 18 years old. So now we’ve accepted it and live our lives as “a
smoker”. For many of us it becomes associated with part of “sticking-up
for what you believe in” – a great personality trait that many of us learn at
an early age. As we live with smoking
every day, it becomes part of our lifestyle. It just feels natural to defend it and hard to imagine life without it.
Without noticing,
we’ve all made the transition from a person who tried a few cigarettes as a
child, to being a full-fledged spokesman for all smokers on the planet. As “a smoker” you often must “speak on
behalf of the group” and even “represent the group”. Advocacy is part of
the package.
"You are
what you repeatedly do." – Aristotle
In order to
smoke, you are also naturally required to relax your attitude toward living a
healthy lifestyle. You can’t have both;
there is no safe level of tobacco smoke. To be a smoker, you must
continually accept that you are putting your health at risk. This often leads
to acceptance of other health risks as well as feelings of inferiority and inadequacy.
Smokers often
don’t feel too good about themselves. We may begin to feel unworthy of a
healthy lifestyle – because we smoke. Daily affirmations and a positive focus
can really help turn this around.
As your
self-worth increases and you feel more worthy of a healthy lifestyle, you’ll
get used to the idea of insisting on living with what you deserve. You’ll come to demand it.
Developing a
positive attitude about what you are doing for yourself now, will make
your transition to non-smoker much easier. Doing it the other way,
believing in, and dwelling on the negative – “it’s too uncomfortable to live
through the craving” - plays a large part in assuring it stays that way.
To make this
program work for you, just being open to positive change in your life, is
really the most important thing you can do. And the most positive, possible change you can make in your life is to
stop smoking. Wouldn’t you agree? Isn’t this easy?
“The most difficult thing is the decision to act, the rest
is merely tenacity. The fears are paper
tigers. You can do anything you decide
to do. You can act to change and control your life; and the procedure, the
process is its own reward.” - Amelia Earhart
Just in case you
are running low on motivation, here’s some up-to-date statistics to help carry
you through. Although our primary focus is on the positive benefits of
stopping smoking, the harmful effects of tobacco use cannot be ignored.
To say that
smoking has a significant, negative global impact would certainly be an
understatement. Nothing causes more preventable illness, death and suffering in
the world than smoking.
Over 70% of
cancer caused by smoking is lung cancer. The risk of lung cancer is 18 times higher for smokers than for
nonsmokers. Wow! Not twice as many times, which would
be huge; not triple the risk; but 18 times the risk!!! And of those people who are diagnosed with
lung cancer today, only 13% will be alive in five years!
About 20% of
stomach cancer deaths are attributable to smoking with cigar smokers at
particular risk.
The danger of
having a heart attack before the age of 65 is 3 times higher. These risks drop
significantly when you quit smoking.
Smoking is the
cause of many other health problems: cerebral attacks (strokes), osteoporosis
(reduction in the density of the bones, causing pain and fractures), chronic
bronchitis, stomach ulcers, deterioration of the gums, etc.
Researchers now believe that the
projected one billion deaths from smoking around the world this century may be
somewhat on the optimistic side.
To add to the growing list of harmful effects of all forms of tobacco exposure, a recent Canadian study involving 52 countries finds that smoking a pack a day increases your risk of a heart attack three-fold. They found even smoking eight to 10 cigarettes a day, doubles your risk.
The study also
showed that pack-a-day smokers have an increased risk of heart attack by over
20% - a full 20 years after butting out their last cigarette – much longer than
previously believed. Yet, those who
smoked 10 or less per day had no increased risk three to five years after
butting out.
Smoking causes
one in five deaths in North America.
Smokers cause a
third of all fires (cigarettes thrown in the trash, falling asleep while
smoking, etc).
Many driving
accidents are caused by smokers due to inattention while lighting a cigarette
or while searching for a cigarette, lighter, fallen embers or half extinguished
butts, etc.
There are over
50,000,000 North American smokers and the average one has been smoking for 24
years.
A new British study involving 4,000 people, aged 75 and older, showed that current smokers were twice as likely to be visually impaired as non-smokers. The study found that smoking doubles the risk of age-related macular degeneration - a progressive and irreversible eye condition and the most common cause of blindness in the elderly.
Cigarettes and
tobacco are the only widely used consumer product that, when used correctly,
will make you sick - and then kill you.
Tobacco kills
more people than AIDS, murder, suicide, crack, heroin, cocaine, fire, car
accidents and alcohol - combined.
Fifty percent of
all longtime smokers will die from it and smoking is responsible for 1/3 of all
middle-aged deaths. If you smoke you have a 50% chance of being dead by the
time you are 65.
The World Health
Organization estimates that by the year 2030 tobacco will kill 10 million
people a year.
Secondhand Smoke News
Not only is
second-hand smoke a well-know cause of cancer but now research shows that those
exposed to second-hand smoke for 22 hours or more per week, may increase their
risk of heart attack by up to 45 percent.
When considering
your relationship with tobacco smoke, don’t forget to consider your pets. Secondhand smoke has been associated with
oral cancer and lymphoma in cats, lung and nasal cancer in dogs and lung cancer
in birds.
Thirdhand Smoke
Beware: What you can’t see can still kill you – and your loved ones.
By now, most smokers are aware of the dangers associated with second-hand smoke. Now, new research on the effects of tobacco smoke residue left behind in the car, on clothing, in carpet, on cushions, blankets, stuffed toys and on just about any other surface, has coined the phrase: third-hand smoke.
We now know it is not safe for others, if you smoke by an open window, or with the fan on, or when the kids aren’t around. This deadly residue is impossible to avoid. It clings to hair, skin and clothing and includes heavy metals, carcinogens and even radioactive materials, which pose a cancer risk for anyone of any age who is exposed to it.
"There is never a better measure of what a person is than what he does when he's absolutely free to choose." - William M. Bulger, American Educator, Senator
Smokeless Tobacco
With the growing popularity of tobacco products used without lighting them on fire, such as snus, consumers should be aware of the health risks involved. Smokeless tobacco is not a safe substitute for smoking.
While it does not produce secondhand smoke, so those around smokeless tobacco users are safer, smokeless tobacco products still pose considerable health risks including being a major cause of mouth and throat cancer.
And smokeless tobacco, including electronic cigarettes, is just another way to get us started and then keep us addicted to nicotine.
According to the World Health Organization, someone dies from tobacco use every 6.5 seconds.
"Sometimes we stare so long at a door that is closing, that we see too late the one that is open." - Alexander Graham Bell
This Module
presented facts and stats surrounding smoking and touched on some of the many
benefits you’ll receive once you no longer smoke. The more information you absorb on the subject, naturally the
more knowledgeable you’ll become. And
as we’ve already agreed, cessation experts don’t smoke.
Our next Module
provides a different style of information, focusing on the role our brains play
in the smoking addiction and how we can have it work for us, rather than
against us.
This is the end
of the information portion of Module 2.
Be sure to
schedule a time and place for tomorrow’s seminar and exercises.
If you are using
the pack wrappers, go over your smoking activity from today’s filled-in log and
plan to not smoke the same times and places tomorrow.
Continue to
interrupt your smoking habits and patterns tomorrow, paying attention to how
you hold it, how you inhale and exhale, etc.
Also, beginning
tomorrow, try to put off lighting your first cigarette by at least 15 minutes.
Recite this
phrase in front of a mirror for 3 to 5 minutes before going to bed tonight and
repeat it throughout the day, tomorrow. "I’m a good person and I control
my life." This little phrase can
have a very powerful effect on your life, if used correctly. Go ahead, say it with me: "I’m a good
person and I control my life."
Today’s
Visualization Exercise is almost the same as yesterday’s except today we are
going to introduce the idea of not smoking during this time. If you can see
yourself as a non-smoker you will find it easier to assume the role of a
non-smoker.
So just like
yesterday, once you are in your super-relaxed state, picture yourself in a
favorite “nature setting”, or today, if you prefer, try out something new, such
as a “genie” or “magic wand” scenario.
Perhaps you would
like to imagine tripping over a genie lamp while walking along the beach. It
could be a beautiful day and it just keeps on getting better for you. Or imagine finding a magic wand in an old
trunk in the attic. You could daydream about being granted three wishes,
ultimately placing you in a wonderfully, comfortable setting.
Again, imagine
feeling your lungs fill with the beautiful, pure, clean oxygen provided by your
wonderful, new environment and imagine you can feel energy wash over you as
each breath you take makes you feel stronger and stronger.
Just spend time
enjoying yourself in your favorite imaginary place, aware of each wonderful
breath you take, as it becomes part of you, saturating every inch of you with
goodness and strength.
Each breath that comes into your lungs fills you with energizing strength and
each breath that leaves, washes away any negative energy that may be left
behind.
Use your
imagination and have fun for a few minutes, and as you do, squeeze your middle
finger together with your thumb. Keep applying gentle pressure for about 30
seconds as you imagine yourself completely content in your favorite
setting.
Enjoy the experience and then relax your thumb and finger and begin to become
aware that you are completely smoke-free in this wonderful environment. But
that’s O.K. because today there’s no room for craving - everything is
perfect. And smoke-free.
So whatever
images you come up with, make sure everything now revolves around you as a
happy non-smoker, wonderfully content and healthy. Be sure all tension caused by smoking was left behind, as you
picture yourself as a happy, non-smoker, in this beautiful setting. Feel good
about yourself and where you are.
Keep daydreaming
and if you like, this would even be an ideal time to fall asleep. Or just relax
and enjoy yourself for a while longer – before returning to reality. This little, “mini-holiday” will be continued
tomorrow.
This concludes
today’s seminar.