I am sitting in bed with some Actinite next to me, and it smells like fresh mountain air in here. You don’t know what you are missing if you have polluted air and haven’t experienced this. See my previous diary if you are curious.
It gets me thinking about smokers and how they really suffer to keep their habit. To have your mouth taste like an ashtray and turn your lungs from pink to a dark brown color. What are they thinking?
I have managed to get one smoker to quit and I think I will go after some more. They say a financial motivation is good to help people stop. A little potential embarrassment will help as well…
What I do is approach a smoker and offer them a bet of $20 to quit smoking. Not only will I make that bet, but it will give the $20 to them right now if they never smoke another cigarette. They often take a few days to think about it, but then they are on the hook for $40 and they are not likely to cheat.
The first person I did this with eventually gave me $40, so I figure I have to find two more smokers to make the bet with. He did quit for about 6 months though, so he may have added as much as 5 years to his life or so. I found one more person who took the bet, and as far as I know he has quit for good. I think it was money well spent. To save someone’s life is the best thing you can possibly do.
So go to the ATM and take out $20. Find someone who you can make the bet with and change someone’s life. Bet your partner. Bet your friends. Bet your parents. Bet your kids if you have to. Just don't let them cut their life in half just so that they can blow smoke out and feel cool.
I think I will make it clear next time that if they can’t find me to give me the $40 that they have to donate it to the American Lung Association, but if they can find me they have to come to me first. Then I take their $40 and say, “this is my money now. I can do whatever I want with it. I think I will double down,” and give it back to them.
So maybe May 1st we should clear the air and have a betting day. I am in for $100.