Published at 11 March, 2025 11:50.
It's time for a coffee break. Take a moment to sit down, relax and enjoy this wonderful poem written for No Smoking Day by one of our specialist stop smoking advisors, Carrie...
When you were younger, many years ago
Without a care in the world, going with the flow
Your peers would tell you, “Go on have a fag
Don’t be shy, we’re all having a drag”.
You weren’t quite sure, and it tasted awful too
But you felt you had no choice; it was the cool thing to do.
You try to play your usual sports, but your teammates all run past
You feel a little out of breath, and this cough just seems to last.
This has you feeling a little stressed and wondering what to do
You’re lighting up another cig, which seems to help and calm you.
The feeling does not last for sure and your miserable and uptight
This heavy feeling is getting worse, somethings just not right.
Years go by and your days of sport are gone
Now heavier than it's ever been, each days a struggle, no fun.
You’ve let the burden of smoking consume and hold its power
This heavy feeling increases hour by hour.
It weighs very heavy now and that feeling will not go
You tried to shrug it off many times, but it stuck there, and so…
The more you smoked the more you wanted and here we are today
If only you were young again, what would you say?
That’s easy right … You'd say NO WAY!
Because now you know smoking comes at a cost
Up to 22 minutes per cigarette of our lives are lost!
As you can see your life started to change
From the moment you lit up, things were never the same.
But it's not too late to make things brighter
To shed the heaviness and feel a lot lighter
You’re not on your own, join others today
Quitting together on National No Smoking Day!
- Carrie, Stop Smoking Advisor, Yorkshire Smokefree Wakefield
Quit smoking - Better Health - NHS
NHS Stop Smoking Service - Yorkshire Smokefree
