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“I am not a smoker,” I would often hear myself say in defense. The truth was, by definition, I suppose I was in fact a “light smoker” {or at least that’s what this article claims}. I wouldn’t smoke every day, but if you found me out and about at night chances were I had a secret cigarette or two {or three} stashed in my bag. It wasn’t a habit that I truly took seriously because I figured, ‘What’s one or two cigarettes a couple times a week?’ I really didn’t think it was a true problem until I would wake up with a violent headache nearly every morning asking myself “Why?”

Let’s get real: I didn’t quit smoking because of all of the obvious reasons. But I’ll list a few here just to refresh your memory:

• My chances of having cancer, heart attacks, heart disease, stroke, cataracts, and other diseases will go down.
• I will breathe easier and cough less.
• My blood pressure will go down.
• My skin will look healthier and I will look more youthful.
• My teeth and fingernails will not be stained.
• My car‚ home‚ and kids won’t smell like smoke.
• It kills you.

The truth is, I really wanted to quit. It was just a really bad habit that I felt in my heart that I wanted to ditch. I couldn’t figure out why on Earth I would instinctively reach for a cigarette after 2 drinks and why I couldn’t just stop. Why was it so hard? After months of trying every trick in the book {I watched YouTube videos on quitting, hypnotism, asking friends to help} I then resorted to prayer.

Shortly after, in December 2015, I found myself in Aspen with the family. It was positively freezing out, but that didn’t stop me from stepping out aprés-ski for a quick cig. Finally, one day I woke up to my prayers answered. I had an awful rash on my cheeks. I didn’t immediately assume that it was from smoking. I thought it was just dry skin from the altitude. So I went and got a hydrating facial from the spa in Aspen and that was when the esthetician asked if I was a smoker. “No! I mean, kind of. I mean, I only have like 1 cigarette a day, if that!” She immediately responded that it was from smoking.

My stubborn self still didn’t believe her. I didn’t have cigarettes for 2 days, the rash went away. The next night I had 1 cigarette and the very next morning the rash on my cheeks had returned. It is baffling to me that this was what it took for me to finally ditch the habit. Without thinking twice, I quit. It wasn’t hard, it wasn’t torturous nor was it really even that big of a deal. But it took literally wearing my lungs on my face to finally see and feel the true damage that smoking was doing to my body.

I realize that I am extremely lucky, and that smoking is a very serious habit for so many people to kick. I just wanted to finally open up to this secret that I’ve been hiding for so many years which is that I am was a smoker. I found this article about 23 Ways to Quit Smoking pretty interesting.

Do any of you smoke? Have you quit? Share your secrets in the comments below!

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