One incident which is imprinted in my memory is the day I saw an elderly woman of my mother's age coughing on the roadside. She was beautiful, well-dressed and confident, however, she was coughing. She threw her hands over her chest, continued to gasp and her eyes were in tears. It was not that moment that I knew that she was a smoker. I simply knew that she was suffering. Worse still when someone told me in whispers, she has been smoking the years. Harder and harder that sentence smote my heart. You might be reading this and you think that smoking is just a small habit, something you engage in when you are stressed, lonely or you want to appear bold. Smoking is however not a friend, at least not to me. Not a fashion. Neither is it relieving stress. Smoking is a killer and it is indifferent to whether you are a male or a female, old or young, it is a killer. It sneaks up in and before you recognize you have no peace, no health, in some cases even your life. Peer pressure induces some individuals into taking up smoking. When others do it they do it as a result of heartbreak. Others claim that it aids them in forgetting. Have you ever bothered to think what happens to your lungs every time you take a puff of that smoke? Your lungs are two sponges that are soft. These are supposed to bring you fresh air and induce life to your entire body. Sure enough, when smoke gets in there is when those sponges will go black. Gradually they become weak. Gradually, they are ruined. And when the damage turns too excessive, even breathing, which is the most natural thing to a human, turns into a struggle.  [Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/smoking-ashtray-cigarettes-8561797/) I met one young woman who narrated a story to me once. She began smoking in the university. Originally, it was also done as a source of fun. Then it took the place of something to cushion her against stress. She believed that she was in control, however, the time came when she began to feel pain in her chest and it escalated to the point where she could not sleep at night. In the hospital she was informed that her lungs were terribly destroyed. She wept in heart-rending fashion now that she knew, but too late, that each cigarette she ever smoked was a digging of her own grave with the fingers of one hand, a bit at a time. And the worst part is do you know? It is not only that smoking is detrimental to you. It is also painful to your surroundings. When you want to smoke in front of your children, they inhale the same dangerous but chemicals that you inhale. Their tiny lungs are not strong enough to combat the poison to the extent yours do so. Can you imagine that you are holding your young baby girl to your chest and this thing that makes her feel warm also makes her feel hurt in smoke through that hug? Do you want to be that sort of mother or sister? There are women whom I know saying, It is my life. No one is to tell me what to do.” But did you consider the people that love you? Have you wished you were born by your mother who was carrying you 9 months? Or your brothers, that also see Pinces? Or your mates, who have faith in you? When you die at an early age due to smoking cigarettes you do not suffer alone. They will weep. People will be sorry when you are gone. They will regret that you stopped sooner. Well, here is something that not everyone knows. Cigarettes are made to addict you. The manufacturers themselves recognize this. Each time you smoke a stick the nicotine content gets a hold on you more. It tempts you to feel the inability to quit. but that is a lie. You may quit. There are quite a number of people who have changed and are healthier today. It might be difficult in the initial days and your body might miss it but with pains, prayers and support, it can be liberated. And believe me, the delight of breathing the pure air again, of smelling free air without smoke, of going to bed without coughing, is value beyond measure. Consider you are a beautiful woman. Smoking robs it. It discolors your lips, makes your teeth breathe, your skin pale and ripen your years before their time. Then one day one may glance in the mirror and question why she has lost her glow. However, the fact remains that, smoking consumes beauty within. And are you sure that you want to trade your natural grace with a tube of cigarettes? I tell you I want to leave you with this sight in your heart. Think about you lying on a hospital bed struggling to breathe with tubes up your nose, and your doctors turning to your family and saying you are losing your lungs. and, now, would you not be glad you had stopped sooner? Wait not until that day. It is not until you are sick that you really appreciate being healthy. It is not a time you should wait until your children are crying at your bedside. Quit smoking now before it is later.  [Image Source](https://pixabay.com/photos/cigarette-stack-ash-smoking-1642232/) My sister my friend my fellow woman you are too valuable to lose your life in smoke. You are a mother who carries life inside, you have a future in you, you have strength in you. Do not allow smoking to deprive you of that. You want a long life. You have the right to health. You have a right to happiness. May it be that today of all days you will utter the word, No more. Smoke is not my option. It is life.