It never ceases to boggle my mind how thin the line is between life and death. While people can survive an astonishing amount of pain and physical trauma, it can take something as small as a glance away from the road or the tiniest amount of a poisonous substance to beckon death's call.

In light of this reality, our parents teach us from a young age to behave in certain ways that will lessen the likelihood of tragedy. We are told to look both ways before crossing the street, stay away from bottles with Mr. Yuk stickers, and avoid talking to strangers. In other words, don't play with fire or you'll get burned.

Averting tragedy is an everyday experience for most. From the time we hop in the car in the morning to the moment we cross the street to go into work, we know there is the potential for accidents so we drive carefully and look both ways before crossing the street. Sure, there may have been times we know of when we have not been as careful as we would like to have been. We may have dashed across the crosswalk without looking, or driven while distracted, but we do not make a habit out of engaging in these behaviors.

With smoking, however, the pull of the addiction can often blindside people from this kind of logic. I often hear participants say things like, "My grandpa lived to 102 and he was a smoker" or "I'm getting so much pollution from the air anyways so what is smoking going to hurt?" I even hear, "Well, I could get cancer anyways, even if I don't smoke, so it doesn't matter that I do." We know the addiction to cigarettes is powerful when it can force people to lose sight of the sensible logic they possess in most other areas of everyday life. How many people do we know who would say, "Why should I look both ways when crossing the street when I may get hit by a car anyways?"

Let the warm glow at the end of the cigarette be a reminder of what wise friends and loved ones have often said, "Don't play with fire or you'll get burned."