smoking out Smoking … (08/31/14)
Smoking sucks — LITERALLY … It sucks the courage from our moments,
it sucks the money from our wallets,
it sucks the health from our bodies,
— and it sucks the life from our loved ones …
And this last is what makes smoking so much “worse” than almost all other addictions combined … for smoking is not only suicide; smoking is murder — most often the murder of the ones closest to us; most often the murder of the ones we care for the most.
Secondhand smoke contains most of the 69 cancer-causing compounds found in originally inhaled smoke. Even the EPA, notorious friend to many large toxin-producing corporations, has classified secondhand smoke as a carcinogen since 1992. And a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke were 25 percent more likely to have coronary heart diseases compared to nonsmokers not so exposed.
And none of us want to do that — none of us want to injure or harm or kill anyone around us, much less the ones we deeply cherish and adore. And in this regard, there is some very good news available for us all … Consider:
*For non-smokers, you have the power to refuse to enable smokers to continue down their still-chosen path of death & destruction. And to do so, you don’t have to convince them to quit, you simply have to have the courage to ask them to stop smoking in your presence – and to be sure to do so with gentle Compassion for THEM, much more than any concern or worry for yourself.
*And for smokers, you have the power to let go of this insidious enemy. The good news for you is: YOU CAN QUIT! … At the very least in this one moment, you do not have to light up. You do not have to burn holes in your wallets & your lungs & your Loved Ones … And because you are allowed to keep repeating this Loving Choice, you don’t have to cough any more — or feel fidgety any more — or worry any more — of feel guilty any more — or be out of breath any more — or stink any more. And you won’t have to ask non-smokers any more if it’s OK for you to smoke … because now you know that it never is.
Amen … Let it be so.
“Smoking kills. And if you’re killed, you’ve lost a very important part of your life.” ~ B. Shields
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