When is the right time to quit smoking

Is there ever a perfect time to quit smoking? 
Some people may think that its only time when physical symptoms start to surface or that they are really convinced something bad might happen. If you believe in God, then you might even think that it is a message sent from Him. But all that divine calling and signs are often ignored, and people usually choose  to believe in only what they want to.

Take Dave for instance. He has been smoking for many years. He had all the symptoms of a smoker, the stained teeth, yellow fingers and frequent cough, but he never really did try to quit. Well the thought of quitting did come across his mind more than once, but never really tried to quit. It was always, "OK, I'll do it next month", but that next month never came. 

One day, Dave was watching TV with his girlfriend at home, with a lit cigarette in hand as always. Halfway through his cigarette, he placed his cigarette on the ashtray to open a bag of chips. 

But just when he reached for his cigarette again, he noticed that the light on that cigarette strangely extinguished. Thinking that it was really nothing to bother about, he lit up the cigarette again. 

Strange enough, it happened the second time. This time as Dave was about to take a puff from his cigarette, he noticed the light was dead again! Dave realized that this could not be a simple coincidence. It was a sign - a sign that could mean his next puff could be his last breath. Dave looked at his girlfriend and said " Honey, that's it. Its time for me to quit."

Although this story is hard to swallow, but it really did happen. But most smokers are not half as lucky. The only sign they get are of smoking related diseases: such as breathlessness, chest pain, harsh voice, cough etc......

But the sad part is smokers who experience physical symptoms refuse to associate them with cigarettes. They choose not to see that cigarettes are destroying their health even with all the signs showing.

Jeannet suffered from chronic bronchitis. Her doctor had told her that she was allergic to cigarettes, and that smoking aggravated her condition and that she had to quit smoking right away. Jeannet agreed that she had an allergy problem but simply refused to believe that it was to cigarettes. 

Jeannet thought she did all she could to prevent the allergy - everything but quit smoking that is. She got rid of every tinkle of dust from her home, avoided cold drinks completely, stopped using perfumes, but just as predictable as it was, her bronchitis remained as bad. 

It was when her condition got too bad that she finally decided to try to quit smoking. Immediately Jeannet condition improved and the attacks became less and less frequent. Now, the attacks have completely stopped. It is only when she quit smoking that Jeannet believed that smoking was the cause of her problem.

So are you like Jeannet? How many times have you received warning signals telling you that its time to stop smoking but you just closed both eyes to them?

People like Dave and Jeannet are ex-smokers with a happy ending. Most smokers end up with an incurable disease like heart disease or stroke before they actually decide to quit smoking. 

Smoking is a ruthless silent killer and you won't be spared. If you have not received any warning signals yet, then let this be YOUR signal to quit smoking. Remember, if you're not as lucky as Dave, your next puff could be your breath.

When is the right time to quit smoking