| I can still remember that hot summer day in June of | | | | weight, not even a pound. |
| 1971; I was 5 years old, and purchasing my first pack | | | | Here are some facts about smoking that you may or |
| of cigarettes for my father. Each day, straight up noon, | | | | may not have seen before, but they're staggering, and |
| my dad would come pulling up in his Ford Torino, and | | | | worth seeing again. Those who decide to quit smoking |
| that was my cue, I'd run the two blocks to McCartey's | | | | have a financial burden, but worse yet, none of the |
| Market, a small neighborhood grocery store on the | | | | following methods have shown very promising results: |
| corner of 13th and Tindall Ave in Trenton, Missouri, and | | | | A Nicotrol Inhaler will cost you approx. $509.88. |
| pick up a pack of Sir Walter Raleigh cigarettes. | | | | 3 months of chewing Nicorettes will cost you approx. |
| On this particular June lunch hour, that I believe to have | | | | $337.50. |
| been my very first cigarette purchasing adventure, I | | | | 7 weeks of swallowing Zyban pills will cost you |
| leaned over the only checkout counter in the store and | | | | anywhere from $160.08 to $300.00+ depending on |
| timidly said, "I need a pack of Sir Walter Raleigh's | | | | where you purchase. |
| please", and the lady's reply still haunts me some 36 | | | | 3 months of "withdrawal munchies" (with other |
| years later. "Oh how cute, honey are you gonna | | | | programs) will add at least $700.00 to your grocery bill |
| smoke these, or are they for your Daddy?"She asked. | | | | But what if you could quit smoking? Are the benefits |
| "They're my Daddy's" I chirped back. "Well I'll bet when | | | | really that great if you've been smoking most of your |
| you get a little older, you'll smoke the same kind, won't | | | | life? |
| you?" | | | | After 1 year off cigarettes, the excess risk of heart |
| While I truly don't remember my reply to her statement, | | | | disease and sudden death caused by smoking is |
| her words are forever burned into my mind. | | | | reduced by half. After 15 years of abstinence, the risk |
| Fortunately, being the hard headed person I am, I was | | | | of heart disease is similar to that of people who've |
| polarized to someone telling me what I was going to | | | | never smoked. |
| do someday, and I've never smoked. But my how | | | | In 5 to 15 years, the risk of stroke for ex-smokers |
| things have changed. It was not an uncommon | | | | returns to the level of those who've never smoked. |
| experience to see kids buying cigarettes back then. | | | | Male smokers who quit between ages 35 to 39 can |
| But that's not the point of my story; the real purpose | | | | add up to 15 years to their life. Female quitters in this |
| of my story is to point out how many people's lives | | | | age group can add up to 12 years. Men and women |
| have been destroyed by this legal poison that's still sold | | | | who quit at ages 65 to 69 increase their life |
| today. | | | | expectancy by up to 3 years. |
| As a professional speaker, I travel all over the country, | | | | Oh, I almost forgot, have you ever had an X-Ray? If |
| speaking to men and women who command big fat | | | | so, then you've probably noticed the X-ray techs |
| salaries and live pretty high on the hog, and guess | | | | wearing those lead lined aprons to protect themselves, |
| what? Nicotine could care less about how much you | | | | right? Do you know why that is? |
| money you make, it crosses all socio-economic lines, | | | | X-Rays are dangerous...being exposed to the rays that |
| negatively impacting the lives of all who fall prey to her | | | | are emitted through your body can actually damage |
| seductive relaxation techniques. | | | | you, and ...each pack of cigarettes has been estimated |
| A good friend of mine, and well-known Internet | | | | by researchers to be the equivalent of one chest |
| entrepreneur, Rick Beneteau, has unleashed something | | | | X-Ray! |
| that he believes will change the world and the lives of | | | | I've known Rick for a long time now, and I know that if |
| millions...it certainly changed his. | | | | he says it's good...then you better believe that it is. He is |
| You see, Rick smoked for almost 40 years, and was | | | | as stoked about this as anything I've ever heard him |
| suffering physically. After having has several failed | | | | ranting about. |
| attempts at quitting, Rick made an appointment with a | | | | Look, it's bad enough we once had an era where a 5 |
| clinic that claimed to have a 90% success rate with | | | | year old could buy cigarettes for their Daddy, and be |
| getting smokers to quit. | | | | encouraged to smoke the same kind someday. But |
| Here's the kicker; the clinic told Rick that not only would | | | | now, those 5 year olds are in their 40's, and watching |
| he quit, but he would quit forever! And he's do it | | | | loved ones, friends, and family members dying around |
| without having cravings; without stress; and without | | | | them. Whenever, however, and for whatever reasons, |
| patches, pills, and gums. | | | | I hope that if you have been a smoker, you'll find a |
| And that's exactly what happened. Rick didn't have | | | | way to quit. You might even choose to do it like Rick |
| any strong cravings, used no pills or patches, and | | | | did. |
| suffered no major anxiety.....and he didn't gain any | | | | |