enough to cycle 20 kilometres in an afternoon.It's my birthday in two weeks' time and I 'll be82years old! I think my long and active life must be due to the healthy life I live.

This brings me to the real reason for my letter, my dear grandson. Your mother tells me that you started smoking some time ago and how you are finding it difficult to give it up. Believe me, I know how easy it is to begin smoking and how tough it is to stop. You see, during adolescence I also smoked and became addicted to cigarettes.

By the way, did you know that this is because you become addicated in three different ways. First, you can become physically addicated to nicotine, which is one of the hundreds of chemicals in cigarettes. This means that after a while your body becomes accustomed to having nicotine in it. So when the drug leaves our body, you get withdrawal symptoms. I remember feeling bad-tempered and sometimes even in pain. Secondly, you become addicted through habit. As you know, if you do the same thing over and over again, you begin to do it stly, you can become mentally addicted. I believed I was happier and more relaxed after having a cigarette, so I began to that I could only feel good when I smoked. I was addicted in all three ways, so it was very difficult to quit. But I did finally manage.

When I was young, I didn't know much about the harmful effects of smoking. I didn't know, for example, that it could do terrible damage to your heart and lungs or that it was more difficult for smoking couples to become pregnant. I certainly didn't know their babies may have a smaller birth weight or even be abnormal in some way. Neither did I know that my cigarette smoke could affect the health of non-smokers. However, what I did know was that my girlfriend thought I smelt terrible. She said my breath and clothes smelt, and that the ends of my fingers were turning yellow. She told me that she wouldn't go out with me again unless I stopped! I also noticed that I became breathless quickly, and that I wasn't enjoying sport as much. When I was taken off the school football team because I was unfit, I knew it was time t quit smoking.

I am sending you some advice I found on the Internet It might help you to stop and strengthen your resolve. I do hope so because I want you to live as long and healthy a life as I have.

Love from

Grandad

How can you stop smoking?

It is not easy to stop smoking, but millions have managed to quit and so can you. Here are a few suggestions.

Prapare youself. Decide on a day to quit. Don’t choose a day that you know is going to be stressful, such as the day of an exam. Make a list of all the benefits you will get from stopping smoking. Then throw away your last packet of cigarettes.

Be determined. Every time you fell like smoking a cigarette, remind yourself that you are a non-smoker. Reread the list of benefits you wrote earlier.

Break the habit. Instead of smoking a cigarette, do something else. Go for a walk, clean your teeth, frink some water, clean the house; in fact, do anything to keep ypur mind and especially your hands busy.

Relax. If you start to feel nervous or stressed, do not raech for a cigarette. Try some deep breathing instead. Do some relaxationg exercises every time you feel stressed.

Get help if you need it. Arrange to stop smoking with a friend so you can talk about your problems,or join a stop-smoking group. If you feel desperate , you might like to talk to a doctor or