The only thing smoking around St. Louis Entertainment Editor Bill Beene on July 11 was the residual fireworks set off around St. Louis after the Fourth of July. The day marked Beene’s personal Independence Day from his dependence on nicotine.
“The first day was…” and Beene made a swelling motion with his arms as if the urge to smoke was overwhelming. “But now it’s okay. I’m cool. Most people have will power, but I have ‘Bill power,’” he said with his usual soft-spoken confidence.
Bill went “cold turkey” on the smokes nno gum, no patches, no gradual reduction off the Black & Milds.
Upon hearing the news, Classified Ads Manager Vida Medina printed out a list of healthy outcomes from the American Lung Association site for encouragement.
“That was helpful in learning that the urge really didn’t last that long,” Beene said. “You have to deal with it one urge at a time. It’s not going to last forever. It’s not going to be that long forever. It’s not going to be that intense forever.”
And it wasn’t for him, partly because he went on the offensive this time. Beene smoked for three years before kicking the habit the first time. Four years ago, he made a pivotal mistake ex-smokers should avoid: overconfidence.
“I made a mistake of thinking one night I could pick it up and just do it one night and not get addicted again,” Beene said. “Don’t do that. I was just out having fun and drinking. I felt I could just take a hit like a non-smoker could—but a smoker would not take a hit.”
Precisely.
Beene researched withdrawal symptoms from giving up smoking and what would be going on in his body so he would be prepared to get through it or fight it.
“You got to keep it on your mind and you can’t get down on yourself,” he said.
“I would have one in my pocket and I new I was going to smoke it. I would just wait 20 minutes to see how my body would respond to the addiction to prepare myself to fight it.”
That was five months ago.
Sparring with the urge rather than reacting to the addiction is working for Beene. But the urge does make its presence known.
“It’s in your heard, your mouth, your chest, your stomach n You see a little bird in a nest with his mouth open? It’s like that. It just wants to be fed,” Beene said. “Even though the urge doesn’t last that long, it makes you feel like its going to last forever.” he said.
And the health benefits are pretty significant, including better lung function, energy and reduced risk of cancers, heart attack and stroke.
“You have to believe what it says on the box that it can kill you n and you have to care about your health,” he said. “Just like smoking, it becomes a habit, so does not smoking n it’s habitual. I’m slowly not thinking about it.”
Beene is also spurred on by the money he is keeping in his pocket by quitting smoking. His smoke of choice costs approximately $2.75 per package or 75 cents individually. At $2.75 per day, Bill will save $1,003.75 per year by snuffing out the habit.
For help breaking the smoking habit, contact the American Cancer Society at 1-800-ACS-2345 or visit www.cancer.org or the American Lung Association at 1-800-LUNGUSA or www.lungusa.org.
