My Experience of Smoking - Essay Example

Reflection paper: In this paper, I have reflected upon my experience of smoking and how I quit it having convinced by a guest lecture at my school. Two years ago, I gained an instinct to smoke as I saw my friends smoke. Before that, I used to think of smoking as a bad habit that not only costs an individual too much, but also ruins his health. But my feelings for it changed as I saw my bosom friend smoke. When I saw him smoke, it seemed as if the cigarette had added a spark to his otherwise bland personality. I was quite impressed! I wanted to give the cigarette a try. It was just when I was about to ask him for the cigarette that he thrust one between my lips himself. He read my expressions and was no less eager to get me at cigarettes himself either. After a couple of coughs that are very natural for any new cigarette to make, I began to feel it. It made me feel light, and I loved that. But what I loved more was my reflection into the mirror with a cigarette in my mouth. It made me feel mature. It made me appear five years elder than my age at that point in time. I loved it, and had already resolved to make it a permanent symbol of my persona! It was when I had been smoking for over four months that my school arranged a guest speaker. We were led to the auditorium for the lecture. I had occupied a seat in the front row, where I could clearly read the subject, the discussion was going to revolve around. It was smoking, and its effects on an individual’s health. I found it offensive. I knew for sure that all the smokers were going to feel guilty about their habit, and would be looked at by their friends through the corners of their eyes. I had mentally prepared myself for the same, because almost everybody in my class knew that I had been smoking for the last four months. They were not impressed by this! I can tell this because they made several unsuccessful attempts to convince me to work my way out of that habit, but I was too committed to it to accede to their proposal. The lecture started and the guest speaker explained in what ways a cigarette ruins an individual’s health. He told us about the various ways in which individuals get at the cigarettes, and one of the most obvious ways was in which I had done so i.e. through friends. The discussion that followed provoked my mind to seek answers to many questions. Did I know smoking was bad? I certainly did! Did I know it’s expensive? Yes, I did. Was I fulfilling my desire on the cost of my health as well as pocket? Yes, both of them indeed! Why did I start it at the outset? I had started smoking in order to look mature, impressive and inspiring. Did I impress anybody? I don’t think I did. Indeed, I depressed quite a lot of people! They took my act of getting at cigarettes as childish. They thought of me as a highly immature person. Having known that it is bad for health, when I smoked made me look altogether insensible to all of my friends. Was the original purpose of it achieved? No, it had rather ruined my impression in my social circle. After the first sequence of questions made me realize that what I was doing was wrong, the next sequence of questions made me decide between whether I would continue with my habit or smoking or quit it. I resolved to go with the second option, because I had not been able to convince myself in the first session. It came to my mind that damage to health for four months is too less as compared to what it can be if I sustained the habit of smoking for four years, or perhaps, forty years! I had just started to damage my health and it would be very wise to just stop doing it, before it gets late. The third session of questions made me work the best way out of the problem. In order to get rid of smoking, I could either reduce the number of cigarettes I smoke on daily basis, and keep reducing the quantity to half in subsequent weeks, but it would take a lot of time and unnecessary calculation. I could quit smoking straightaway, but it would be too abrupt to do it, and I may not feel so positive about quitting once the zeal pulls off me. I could seek help of a counselor, but that would incur me additional cost. Another alternative was to take quit-smoking-pills. They were not very expensive, and had conventionally provided many smokers with objective results. I went for the fourth option. I consulted a doctor to know if the prescribed medication had any side effects. Luckily, it did not have any. Smokers are tempted to smoke by seeing other people smoke. Same was the case with me, though I knew I had to be determined and consistent in my efforts in order to quit smoking. It took me one whole month not to feel temptation while seeing someone smoke. No doubt, that was one of the biggest achievements of my whole life. Soon after that, I started to realize that my rapport with my friends was improving. They liked the determination I had shown towards the resolution of quitting smoking since the day of guest lecture. Having seen me quit smoking, they believed in my will power and adored me for the same. They reassured me that I had taken a very rational decision of quitting smoking, and encouraged me never to get at the cigarettes ever again. That was surely, the most beneficial guest lecture for me among all that I have attended at school because it saved my money, health, and impression upon my friends and peers. Read More