Join the Great American Smokeout and Quit Today, I Did

If there was ever a day to quit smoking, today is it.

The American Cancer Society is marking the 36th Great American Smokeout on Nov. 17 by encouraging smokers to use the date to make a plan to quit. By doing so, the society says, smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life – one that can lead to reducing cancer risk.

Tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the U.S., yet more than 46 million Americans still smoke, the American Cancer Society reports. However, more than half of these smokers have attempted to quit for at least one day in the past year.

When I think about quitting smoking, something I did Memorial Day weekend when the rest of my friends were still enjoying their smokes, I often come back to this quote by Mark Twain: “It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times."

How many times have you quit smoking? What worked for you?

I've quite smoking for six months, 10 months and a year and have gone back; this time I really think I've got it beat but I am doing something different. Following the lead of an old neighbor of mine, also an ex-smoker, I embrace the fact that I loved to smoke. I talk about it, I acknowledge it and as quickly as the cravings come, they go. What I won't do is have one. I can't. It's like Pandaora's box or Lay's Potato Chips... 

Have you quit smoking? What worked or didn't work for you?

Additional Resources

• The American Cancer Society -- Call 1-800-227-2345 or visit the society online
• Connecticut Quitline -- Tobacco Use Cessation Assistance available 7 days a week. Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW, or 1-800-784-8669
• BecomeAnEX.org -- Re-learn Life Without Cigarettes, brought to you by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation