Have you ever been swimming and tried to hold your breath underwater for as long as possible, just to see how long you could push yourself? Imagine yourself holding your breath while running, walking up the stairs, standing in the cold, or in a stressful situation. It almost seems impossible, right?

Whenever you are in a stressful situation, people always say "take a deep breath."

Whenever you are running, you try and catch your breath when you are done, because you were breathing so hard. I don't have to imagine myself holding my breath because that's my reality.

In November of 2016, I had my first severe asthma attack. I was gasping for air, as if I was underwater without it. I was taken in an ambulance to the hospital, where I was then stabilized. Recently, I was feeling some chest pain and shortness of breath, but people around me were telling me that the pain is just part of my imagination due to a distressing situation I was dealing with. The doctors at the hospital I was rushed to wouldn't say that the pain was part of my imagination. A normal heart rate ranges from about 60-100 beats per minute. When I arrived at the hospital, my heart rate was 175 beats per minute.

Due to my asthma, my lungs were not working as efficiently to send enough oxygen to my heart. At 23 years young, I didn't know I would be so restrained, limited, and lack control when it comes to breathing. Isn't breathing suppose to be second nature? For being someone who has never smoked a cigarette in their life, I don't understand why people purposely abuse their body and take advantage of their God-given right; the right to breathe.

There are 7.6 billion people in the world and more than 16 million are living with a disease caused by smoking. Why would 16 million people choose to live with a disease caused by smoking and willingly struggle to breathe? Well, not all 16 million of those people chose to live that lifestyle. Exposure to secondhand smoke causes an estimated 41,000 deaths each year. 41,000 people die each year, because of the choices made by the people who surround them.

To the people who smoke and don't think their choice to smoke affects anyone else, you are wrong. Every time I walk outside or am in public, I have to hold my breath when I see someone smoking, to avoid having an asthma attack. I heard a story one time of a father being called into his daughter's middle school to meet with her teacher. The teacher asked the father, "why isn't your daughter wearing a jacket to school? It is freezing outside and your daughter seems to have a cold that won't go away. Is it a financial issue that is prohibiting you to buy your daughter a jacket?"

The father sat in confusion and told the teacher, "my daughter has a winter jacket. I don't know why she wouldn't wear it to school." The teacher called the student to join the meeting with her father. When they asked her why she wasn't wearing her jacket to school, she responded with tears and said, "my classmates made fun of me and told me my jacket stinks." The father smoked cigarettes to "relieve" his stress from work and personal issues but consequently forced his daughter to be made fun of for his actions and freeze during recess.

In 2014, 215,951 people in the United States were diagnosed with lung cancer. Did all 215,951 people smoke 5 packs (20 cigarettes/pack) a day? No study has been shown to prove that X amount of cigarettes will cause you lung cancer or any other associated disease to smoking. Why would anyone take the risk of developing a condition from smoking, not knowing if "that" cigarette will cause their breaking point? Everyone always thinks, "it won't happen to me. One won't kill me."

If a study was conducted and showed that your 10th cigarette will 100% cause you a condition associated with smoking at some point in your life, whether it be when you are 25 years old or 65 years old, would you still take the risk?

To the young guys that say "I only smoke when I drink", did you already reach your maximum of 10 cigarettes? Just because you "only" smoke on occasion, that doesn't mean you are exempt from the consequences. Imagine your allotted 10 cigarettes are your 10 fingers. Every time you smoke one, one finger falls off. Your hand can still function if you lose one finger, but the damage is still there, you just don't realize it yet, until you get to your 10th cigarette.

Fun fact for you young guys who still aren't convinced, smoking is a known cause of erectile dysfunction in males.

To the people that smoke packs a day, because they are "stressed", how much more stressed are you going to be when you are living with cancer (lung, lip, pharynx and oral cavity, esophagus, stomach, pancreas, larynx, cervix uteri, kidney and renal pelvis, bladder, liver, colon, or rectum), heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, emphysema, chronic bronchitis, tuberculosis, certain eye diseases, problems of the immune system, rheumatoid arthritis, acute myeloid leukemia, atherosclerosis, or aortic aneurysm? -Just to name a few things that smoking can cause and lead to.

If you are in control of your breathing, don't take advantage of it. Don't take breathing for granted, because the damage you are causing yourself is irreversible. Be thankful that you don't have to fear for your life every time you get short of breath. I carry my inhaler at all times, in fear that I will be gasping for air at any moment.

Please don't make anyone else or me be part of the 41,000 who have to suffer every time you light up a cigarette.