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happy711 · Feb 7, 2008, 06:54 PM

I don't smoke or anything but for the people who do how did you start and was the situation avoidable/ I mean like if it was a stupid mistake and you just can't quit or if anyone has no regrets/

J_9 · Feb 7, 2008, 07:02 PM

It was a stupid mistake over 25 years ago. Now I am fighting the urge to light up. So, yes, I do regret it. After spending this summer watching my father die essentially from smoking (among some other illnesses), smoking is not worth it.

nauticalstar420 · Feb 7, 2008, 07:32 PM

Mine was a stupid mistake. I started smoking 11 years ago when I was 13. I know it's a lame excuse, but it was peer pressure. All of my friends did, so I had to do it too. Stupid, I know.

Then I joined the Navy and was forced to quit smoking. I hadn't had a cigarette for 5 months, but the minute I got out of boot camp, I lit one up. I even smoked every once in a great while when I was pregnant. I think once you start smoking, there is a possibility of quitting, but you always want one.

lizliz · Feb 17, 2008, 12:47 AM

Hey there.. If you are thinking about starting.. don't.. it's avoidable... mostly I found myself starting tosmoke at parties... you drink... and smoke.. it goes hand and hand.. even if you do get drunk.. don't start smoking... you can quit drinking way easier than you quit smoking.. I've been smoking only less than a year.. but.. it's an expensive habit... and often I second guess myslef I think.. " wow i reallyneed to quit this habit" when I'm actually smoking and when I'm not I think " who the cares!? i really really need this righ tnow i'm stressed!" and try to justify my actions... not cool

KBC · Feb 17, 2008, 08:55 AM

I also started over 25 years ago,peer pressure, the need to accentuate the drinking/drug use,the group I was hanging with or wanted to be with.

Regrets? Plenty. Shortness of breath/stamina. Today being in the minority not the majority of my friends(they either quit or never did) and now the new law here about not being able to smoke within 15 feet of a public building/window,outcasts for sure!

If your thinking about it,STOP thinking so much its not worth it.

KBC

happy711 · Feb 17, 2008, 02:58 PM

I don't want to become a smoker. But didn't you wonder what it was like to smoke before you actually had one?

xphelper · Feb 20, 2008, 12:33 AM

I did it on a dare when I was 17 (and stupid). Yes, I am sorry that I ever started.

ISneezeFunny · Feb 20, 2008, 01:03 AM

I did it just to see why people did it. Honestly. I tried it. I actually liked it a lot. Never tried it again.

Does that logic make sense? I liked it, but didn't try it again? Self control...

starbuck8 · Feb 20, 2008, 01:49 AM

I started smoking over 20 yrs ago. A family member that I looked up to, and thought was so cool gave me one, and I really wanted to be like her. She quit yrs later, and I didn't because I was hooked. They say it's harder to give up than heroin or crack (which, by the way I wouldn't know) but, I struggle to quit and it's very hard to do! Don't EVER start smoking, especially if you have an addictive personality to begin with! It's sooo not worth your health and money!

mirandycc · Feb 21, 2008, 07:17 AM

I started smoking when I was 15. I am 19 now, going on 20(in April) I started because I was a rebellious child, and my parents were always on me about not starting smoking. Stupid, I know!! I regret it terribly. I try to quit, but I find myself eating in place of the cigarettes, and I am overweight anyway, so I choose cigarettes over weight gain every time... :(

helooo · Mar 4, 2008, 09:51 AM

I started about 2 years ago when I was 14, my mate was a smoker and I tried it, now my mates have started and I've warned them off, hypecritical I no but they haven't listened, people are becoming younger and younger when starting to smoke, I wish I had never started, which is why I have given up!
So good luck to anyone who wants to stop
And Don't do it to anyone who wants to start x

nicki143 · Mar 4, 2008, 10:34 AM

I was 13 my elder sister coned me into it she said why don't we start smoking.
Next day brough home a cigerette we smoked it she then said you cannot tell on me now.
Then after that it was just peer pressure you do it to look good but the truth is you don't

happy711 · Mar 4, 2008, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by helooo

i started about 2 years ago when i was 14, my mate was a smoker and i tried it, now my mates have started and iv warned them off, hypecritical i no but they havent listened, people are becoming younger and younger when starting to smoke, i wish i had never started, which is why i have given up!
so good luck to anyone who wants to stop
and DONT do it to anyone who wants to start x

This doesn't have to do with smoking, but what country are you in that you say "mate"?

starbuck8 · Mar 4, 2008, 06:33 PM

Originally Posted by happy711

this doesn't have to do with smoking, but what country are you in that you say "mate"?

I'm assuming England, as they all refer to their "friends" as "mates". Pretty common!

happy711 · Mar 5, 2008, 02:19 PM

Oh. I thought it was more like a boyfriend or a girlfriend.

peggyhill · Mar 5, 2008, 02:39 PM

I started smoking when I was 17. I lit up one day just to see what it was like, and I ended up getting hooked. I smoked for about 5 years. But, I quit last year. I've slipped up a few times, but haven't had a cigarette since September.

Stringer · Mar 5, 2008, 09:34 PM

I was always an athlete, and took pretty good care of myself but started smoking when I was 18; 45 years ago. I was the one telling everyone the dangers of smoking until I met "her," Noreen...

She was the most beautiful girl that I had ever, met up to then. And she was in love with me, only problem, she smoked. We fought about this for so long. Then one day she lit one up in my car. (You know what a car means to an 18 year old-right?) I asked her to put it out and not smoke in my car, simple request. She blew her top, and started calling me names, screaming how I was chauvinistic and that I had no right tell her what to do. Amazed I drove along quietly. Then she asked me if I wanted a cigarette? I said no, are you crazy?

Her response; "Why? Aren't you man enough?" What! Challenge the manhood of an 18 year old boy?

Needless to say I have been smoking since, I found out she quit years ago. Not a good reason to start I know... but I have seen the doctor, I start Chantix this Saturday... wish me luck.

The reason for quitting, besides all the health reasons for me personally? My wife has asked me to, she has allergies. And she said she wants me to be with her for a long time... that was enough to try, one more time... wish me luck... (By the way, she knows how I started, she said she loves me too, even more than Noreen did.)
Stringer

go2004 · Mar 30, 2008, 01:16 AM

I started smoking when I was 13, the reason was to impress a girl lol she smoked and I don't know being the stupid kid I was I decided to try smoking to maybe get her attention or something, its been almost 7 years of a pack or to a day since then and I'm now a 19 year old with a bad heart and lungs, I have no energy at all and hgonestly 0 stamina, I regret it big time honestly smoking is the dumbest thing on this planet to do and I'm now in the process of trying to quit (not going so well)

slick_devil · Mar 30, 2008, 03:10 AM

Well... when I entered college... all teen movies flashed up in mah mind.. and to add up to my style statement.. I started smoking.. now it's a addiction... I don't repent it but somehow I can feel how it is damaging my body from the core... as because I was a professional swimmer and footballer... I suffer its effect on my lungs...

Angel Of Mercy · Apr 1, 2008, 09:14 AM

Wow, it seems to be a running trend in here. A lot of people start at the age of 13. I have my theories about this. First, when you are 13, you just became a teenager and are looking to define your life and what you are going to do with it. So, you are very easily swayed to make the wrong decisions. Also, this is the age where you are no longer in Elementary school and different people come into your life. If you went to Middle School, you probably have met most of these people.

I will say that the biggest attribute to starting smoking would be peer-pressure.

I started when I was 13. Peer-pressure was the cause. I am now 29 and still smoke. Do I want to stop? You bet. It is hard to stop though. Will power has to be stronger than your urges. I have plenty of regrets. My dad had lung cancer and had to have a lung removed. My aunt died of lung cancer. My dad's best friend died of lung cancer. This all happened in a period of 1 year. It was heartbreaking. Now, I have a husband and three beautiful children that I want to see grow up and see their children grow up. I risk that chance everyday because I smoke. It is not the best way to live, and I know that. I am working on the courage of quitting. I really want to, but feel that will power is not enough alone.