Name: Fahim Ashir

Age: 25

Place: Kochi

I was in 12th grade when a friend of mine offered me a cigarette. He said that it was cool and most of the females in my batch would find guys smoking, really attractive. Well, whatever might have been my excuse, that is how I started to smoke.

Initially, I would too find it very inclusive. Why? Because now I could be part of the “cool gang” of my school.

The only fun stuff I had ever done was, bunked a class for 15 minutes. Smoking cigarettes according to me, was a way ahead like a degree in the university of coolness. In the beginning, a morning “cig” that is what I called it, was a must. Then one after school and one after a football match. Quit smoking? This question was not even in my head, as according to me, I hadn’t really started smoking yet.

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What started as fun and cool stuff in school seem to continue in college as well. This time along with being cool I had to manage the pressure of competing with my peers as well. The number of cigarettes increased.

From 3 in a day I was finishing half a pack every day. The rate at which I was smoking scared most of my friends. The pressure to perform well, actually made me increase my counts to smoke.

The body by now was addicted to a certain amount of nicotine, and if it did not receive that amount, it would be great trouble. The first sign of deterioration in my body was when I would have short breathness while walking 200mt!

I was no sports enthusiast but never expected my stamina to be this bad. The next signs were of severe coughing and bad breath. It was time I made a choice to quit smoking or not. In the early days, I would make unachievable goals of not smoking for a week or a month.

That would never work. I found out that when I stopped smoking, my body would shiver.

I would feel anxious and that would again drive me to my pack of cigarettes. My condition worsened when I was diagnosed with a lung infection. The doctor said, that it was not terminal, but not a good sign either.

That is when all the doors of my head started banging each other and I decided to quit smoking. I took the help of all the “other material” that could keep me away. It was not the case, they were just another addiction.

My family knew, but though they had been angry initially, my father was a big support when I decided to quit. My father said, “It is only once will that can make us quite an addiction” I believe he was right.

I made a plan, I promised that I would cut down my count of cigarettes to quit smoking. This is because my body would need time to adapt my decision to quit smoking as well!

I started working out to make my lungs more healthy. I stopped going out with friends to smoke. I avoided most of the places where even passive smoking was a condition. I started “detox” plans to cleanse my lungs naturally.

In addition to all this were my father’s support and his words. He was right, I would not do anything if I did not have the will to do it. I have completely quit smoking, and now I can run and sprint without my lungs cursing me or a cough coming my way!

To quit smoking is not easy and it can harm your body in many different ways. The untimely death and chronic diseases are the main risks your body can be vulnerable to. This must be kept in mind that nothing is impossible.

You can achieve and overcome any addiction if you want to. So, no matter what happens, never let addiction take away your power to defeat it.

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