Wasted time pushed longtime Atkins smoker to quit

If you smoke, you don't need anyone to tell you the facts. You already know smoking is bad for your health, that it may kill you. You already know it's very expensive. But you may not often think about how much time you waste lighting up.

Frank King, 66, of Atkins, says that was the final straw. He knew it was time to quit smoking when it interfered with the time he spent with his granddaughter.

'I would stop playing with her to go out to take a smoking break, and when I came back, she would say 'Grandpa, you should quit smoking,' '

King, who had been a two-to-three-pack-a-day smoker for more than 40 years, finally decided to quit. It wasn't easy, but he discovered a few ways to keep himself motivated.

'I found out that the urge to smoke disappears in about 5 minutes,' King says. He learned to fill that time with 'meaningful things' like refinishing furniture, painting the house and, of course, playing with his granddaughter.

Now that he's a non-smoker — he quit about 7 years ago — he has lots more time to spend doing things he enjoys and with the people he loves, something that delights him.

'Every time you light up a cigarette, you stop doing everything for 5 to 7 minutes,' he explains. 'You can't do anything else.'

King also has more money since quitting. He put away the money he would have spent on cigarettes — about $100 a week, he says — and eventually saved up enough to buy himself a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Today, King shares his own experiences and advice with Mercy Medical Center's smoking cessation programs, which are offered every month. 'Since I've been a smoker and quit, I have street cred,' he says.

Being a non-smoker is something King couldn't even imagine 15 years ago. 'Most smokers don't think it's possible,' he says. 'They don't think they can ever get to that point.' But now he can't imagine going back to smoking.

By sharing his own experiences, King hopes to encourage others to realize that they, too, can quit — and have more time in their lives for the things that matter most.

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