Two years ago today, I finally decided to quit smoking. At my “peak”, I smoked at about 1 pack a day. I smoked the heaviest when I worked as a Web programmer in Manila for about 2 years.

Job-related stress made me smoke heavier. During mancom meetings, I went out and smoked. During departmental meetings, I smoked. When I went to the bathroom, I smoked.

I read somewhere that when you reach 30 years old, your body starts to decline. My target then was to quit smoking when I reached my 30th birthday. That day passed and I smoked heavier than ever. Then, my wife pleaded that she wanted me to live longer so we can see our children grow up. That she loved me so much she wanted me to grow old with her. I felt like bread soaked in hot coffee - I softened up. Before that, she always demanded that I quit smoking, it didn’t work. So what’s the lesson of the story? Ask nicely! Just kidding.

Anyways, so how did I do it? A number of things:

1. I guess my wife’s concern bothered me. I saw in her eyes how she didn’t want to be left alone in this world. It sounds corny but …
2. I must admit I already started to feel something weird during mornings (just after I wake up). It felt like I was aware that I had lungs. You know, like everytime you’re aware that you’re breathing, you feel like you couldn’t breathe. That thought scared me.
3. I chewed nicotine gum. I swear it works. It tastes like nicotine and 1 gum is even stronger than a stick of cigarette. In fact, I only chewed half a gum at a time. Nicotine gum, I think, is not being sold here in the Philippines so I asked a friend of mine who works in Singapore to buy me a box or two there.

In closing, I am telling you that you can quit smoking. Chewing nicotine gum works and having a valid reason for quitting smoking works even better.