My father was a
“Chain-smoker” at least that is how they term it in English. In our place Ilocos region, Philippines, where
the late strongman Ferdinand Marcos came from, we call it a “Pugon” (Poo-goon)
a ventilation shaft of a place where the tobacco farmers dried their tobacco harvest.
It is a small house without a window,
but only a door to get in and the ventilation shaft where the smoke of the burning
firewood passes through, while drying the tobacco leaves.
My father smoked three
packs or more a day. And in order for
him to save, we planted tobacco every year to augment his need for cigarettes. When the tobacco was gathered, dried, and
ready for use, I helped my mother to make rolled sticks of cigarettes in a
piece of torn newspapers.
I
also tried to puff some sticks of his cigarettes, I secretly took from his
pocket when I was a teen-ager, but it never appealed to me. I got dizzy after finishing a stick, so I
never thought of having it as part of me.
From
my father’s account, he started smoking since he was young. He learned it from
his friends.
However, one day in 1980 -
1981, he decided to quit smoking and from that time on, he never tried it
again. In addition, he influenced his
two cousins who were chain-smokers themselves, and some men who wanted to quit a
long time, but did not find a way to do it.
HOW MY FATHER QUITS SMOKING?
When his friends,
interestedly asked him how he quitted smoking, my father had a simple answer on
how he did it.
He said that every time he
had a cold, the smell of smoke was not pleasant at all. When the cold is finished, the smell of
cigarette becomes enticing again. He
never realized that he could use it as a prelude to quit smoking, although he
wanted to stop smoking years back, he did not know how.
One time, afterwards, when
he had a cold and the smell of the cigarette was repulsive, he decided to keep
the whole idea of smoking as repulsive. From
that time on, he started to say no to himself whenever he craved for a cigarette.
His mantra was simple, “If
I have done it yesterday, I can do it again today!” or, “If I have done it for
an hour, I can do it again for another hour.” Sometimes, he also said these
words, “The cigarette is not part of my body, so, I can live without it!”
Moreover, whenever someone
offered him a stick of cigarette, he will accept it but put it inside his
shirt’s front pocket. It’s either he
will give it to someone who ask for a stick of cigarette or just leave it in
his pocket for a day or two and he will throw it away.
The idea that he was able
to overcome himself from the strong compulsion to have even a puff of cigarette
made him more motivated and gave him strengths to continue fighting himself.
A day became a week; a
week became months, until the months became a normal day for him: He no longer craved for a cigarette.
That was how he did it. He
just repeated his mantra of saying, “If I did it yesterday, I can do it again
today.”
He said it was a struggle
against him: “A battle of your will to quit against your desire to try for just
only a puff! You are fighting your own
demon who keeps saying, “Just a puff, man! If you want, limit it to one stick a
day!”
One of the common problems
for people who wanted to quit smoking is drooling caused by the desire to puff
a cigarette. That was one of the problem
I encountered my father told one of his cousins.
To counteract the problem,
he bought candies. Hence, every time he
drooled he took a candy, and played it in his mouth to neutralize the saliva.
There was one or two
advised he kept telling people who smoke and for those who wants to try:
·
In smoking, you
never have a chance to win. First, you
spend money, and second you will surely destroy your health.
·
If you want to
quit smoking – you can do it – if you will; the fight is all in your head. Your will to quit, will help you to succeed. The cigarette is not part of your body, so,
you can therefore live without it.
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