The After Effects of Smoking

We all know that smoking harms you and the people that you smoke around but something that is not as commonly documented is the after effects of smoking on your loved ones. You may be the one with the physical pain but it is your family who have to deal with the agonising emotional pain. I would like to share with you a story that is sad for me to tell.

I have been very lucky so far in my life in the fact that I haven't had many people who I am very close to, die. The closest person to me who has died is my Uncle Brian and he passed away last year at the age of 64. Uncle Brian was a heavy smoker and had been so since his teens. He was one of the smokers whose mentality was 'I will never give up'.

Well, one day my Uncle Brian did give up, the day he was diagnosed with cancer. The cancer was the direct result from all those years of smoking cigarettes. In the just under a year he managed to hold onto his life he didn't touch another cigarette.

The hardest thing for my family was having to watch Brian slowly deteriorate over that year. He has so much to live for, a loving wife and family, many friends and was actively involved in sport and social clubs. He did his best to live for as long as possible not only for himself but for everyone around him. He had to live that last year of his life wishing he had never smoked that first cigarette and hoping that a miracle would save his life.

That miracle never came and his funeral was one of the saddest days of my life. My Dad is Uncle Brian's younger brother and the two were very close. Dad wrote a eulogy for the funeral but only managed to say a few sentences before being overcome with grief. It was the saddest thing I have ever witnessed. Something that will always stick in my mind is something that Dad said to me a few days after the funeral. "We should have at least 10 more years of Brian in our lives"

To those of you out there who think that you cant quit then trust me when I say you can. You just haven't found the right motivation yet. Why not use your family, friends, all the people that love you as the motivation you need. Just imagine you are lying in a hospital bed, you are very sick and don't have long to live, all thanks to smoking. All your friends and family are standing around the bed crying wishing this wasn't happening. Think about that deep sad look on their faces.

Now imagine what you are thinking as you lie there with your loved ones all around you. Imagine how you feel knowing that you are one responsible for putting yourself and all the ones you love through this pain. The stupid thing is all of this pain could've been prevented if you had simply quit smoking. Now it's your time to go and the physical and emotional pain you feel is gone. Sadly for your loved ones the emotional pain doesn't stop, they have to live with this pain for the rest of their lives.

Are you feeling motivated yet. I really hope so, please don't be like my Uncle Brian and find that motivation when its too late.