Swear off

Once upon a time, there was a young man named Tim who had a bad habit of smoking. His friends and family were always telling him to quit, but he just couldn’t seem to kick the habit. One day, he decided to turn over a new leaf and swear off cigarettes for good.

But as the days went by, Tim found himself struggling to resist the temptation. Every time he walked past a smoker on the street or saw someone light up on TV, he felt a gnawing urge to light up himself. It was like his mind and body were fighting against each other.

One day, while working on a crossword puzzle, Tim came across the clue: “Swear off.” He thought about it for a moment and then wrote in the answer: “Eschew.”

It was like a lightbulb went off in Tim’s head. He realized that the reason he was struggling to quit smoking was because he hadn’t fully eschewed it from his life. There were still reminders and temptations everywhere he looked.

So Tim decided to take a more comprehensive approach to quitting. He threw away all his cigarettes and smoking paraphernalia, avoided places where people were likely to smoke, and kept his mind occupied with other activities when he felt the urge to light up.

Slowly but surely, his cravings subsided, and Tim was able to finally eschew smoking from his life for good. And he knew that whenever he saw the word “Eschew” in a crossword puzzle from then on, it would remind him of his triumph over his addiction.