Thursday is the Great American Smoke Out. I used to try to ignore all the hype proclaiming the purpose of the day. That is how I handled it back when I was a smoker. Usually I would make the valiant effort to quit and then set my alarm to get up at midnight. I would fire up a cigarette because it was the day after. Oops, I’ll try to do better next year.

Or I would light up first thing in the morning on Smoke Out Day and then think, “Drat, I was going to quit. Oh well, too late now, I already took a drag.”

Pretty cavalier, huh?

There are always excuses not to quit. You don’t have to look very far to find them. Quitting is hard, no doubt about it. But you know (just as I did when I was a smoker) that smoking has no redeeming value. There is no good part to it except that you are hooked and it is no fun to try and quit.

Do it anyway.

If you don’t smoke, good for you. You are ahead of the game. Don’t start.

If you do smoke, quit. I know, I know, it is tough. But if I could do it, anyone can do it. Yes, it is a smidge irksome at first. Yes, you feel tense and edgy. But it fades. There are a lot more cessation tools available now than when I quit. Check them out. Talk to your doctor about how to quit. Get some help.

Just do it.

— Susan Marshall