Quit Smoking Monday Messages_1378

Removing the BlindersAs smokers, we know we face significant health risks due to cigarettes. We know smoking causes heart disease, lung cancer and emphysema. None of this is earth-shattering news.However, we learn early on to effectively ignore the particulars about smoking-related disease. We gloss over, tune out and otherwise distract ourselves whenever possible, because looking too closely can cause a head-on collision with the reality of the damage we're inflicting on our bodies and turns smoking 'enjoyment' into a guilty, fearful experience. Smoker's DenialAll smokers harbor the secret hope that they will be spared the disease and death that follows nicotine addiction. We tell ourselves we'll quit in time and somehow dodge the bullet that smoking is. But with four million people dying every year due to tobacco use around the world, the odds aren't in our favor. Put another way,stop smoking, a smoking-related death occurs somewhere in the world every eight seconds, 365 days a year.The sooner we remove the blinders and look carefully at nicotine addiction and the damage it causes, the sooner we can begin pulling away from the lies. This week's Monday Message helps us do that by taking a look at how smoking harms us -- head to toe.Image ? StockxpertTake The Quit Smoking Monday PledgeHealthy Monday encourages us to think of every Monday as a day that we can begin work anew on goals that we have for ourselves. If you're still smoking, put your cigarettes down and get started on your quit program today.We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.You can quit smoking ... and we're here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.Image ? healthymonday.org