I have been a smoker since I was 16 and now I would like to stop for good with a bit of help from Steemit.
My mother is coming to see me here in Bali soon, to say hello to our new born baby and I would very much like to be a non smoker in this period. And if I can do a month, then why not two...or three... or four? Yeah, you get the idea.
What do I know about tobacco?
I learned recently that it is mostly just the chemicals & preservatives that poison us when we smoke cigarettes. And some argue that tobacco in its original natural form is actually good for us.
Indeed there are many indigenous populations who smoke home grown tobacco regularly yet do not experience the same lung cancer rates as us in the developed world.
There is even a clinic in Jakarta where they are treating all kinds of diseases, including cancer, by smoking organic home-grown tobacco.
So why quit?
I have tried this natural tobacco and it is pretty harsh and not all that pleasurable, so whilst I do smoke it sometimes, I still smoke my preferred brand of the region. Which at the moment is Sampoerna, a local blend of tobacco & cloves which has a lovely sweet flavour. It crackles and pops when you smoke it and has a whopping 14mg of tar, 1mg of nicotine. So I am in no doubt about the health implications of these.
I did try a vaporiser for a while but after a few months my lungs felt worse than they did when I was smoking.
The main reason I want to stop is because I noticed my 22 month old son Esteban puffing away at a pencil a few days ago, blowing imaginary smoke into the air after each puff.
And this didn't make me feel good. Which most things do!
So, now is the time to make a change. And this time it's not just for me. It is for my children too.
Children copy us instinctively as you can see here...
...and whilst I don't mind a little 'dip dip' of Bintang (the local beer) from time to time, I don't want to be responsible for influencing his belief system around the subject of smoking. Though clearly this subject is much more complex than the generally accepted idea that all tobacco is plain old bad. When Esteban is old enough I will teach him what I have learned.
My Plan
Steemit is the perfect place to create a group in which we all quit on the same day, sharing our experiences and supporting each other with daily blogging and even vlogging if we choose.
If we can create a decent sized group and all resteem and upvote eachother consistently, we might even make a bunch of Steem whilst we are doing it.
Further Incentive
If each of us puts 10 Steem Dollars into a 'holding account' before the project commences this will give us some pre-promotion funding, widening the potential size of the group, and giving a further incentive for us to go the full distance and quit forever, because at the end of a 3 month period those who are still not smoking will split the pot between them. Those who fail to make it to 3 months will be giving their 10 SBD to a good cause and potentially even make this back (and more) through their daily publicised efforts to quit. Which speaking from experience can be quite fun to read about or watch in films. There is nothing quite like seeing other people in pain...especially whilst puffing on your cigarette!
The Tag
I don't know for sure what I would like to call this incentive yet.
Here are some suggestions off the top of my head:
- quitsmoking
- stopsmoking
- nomoresmoke
- exsmokers
- steemitsmokers
- steemitxsmokers
Thoughts anyone?
The Rules
- Must post a film of you smoking your last cigarette on the given starting day.
- Must write a daily update on how you are feeling throughout the 3 month period
- Must post using the allocated tag, to keep the group in one place.
- Must interact with at least one other member of the group a minimum of once a day.
- Must post a film expressing your feelings upon reaching the 3 month point. Should you make it this far :)
- If there is any suspicion within the group that a person is lying, further proof will be required. This may be in the form of video testimonials from friends and co-workers.
It will be tricky to know for sure if people are telling the truth. So, the films I believe are essential for us to be able to judge this for ourselves.
And let's face it, honesty is rewarded here, so even if you fail and post honestly about it, you are likely to earn more in rewards than your initial investment.
In Conclusion
I belive this is a great incentive to quit. We can support each other as a group and benefit financially not just from the money saved by not buying those cigarettes, but also from the Steem accumulated through our daily posts and the shared pot at the end.
I am looking forward to hearing back from any smokers out there who are interested in giving this a shot.
Now is the time my friends!
