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marieToo -> RE: Smoking (6/2/2008 5:32:06 PM)
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My longest quit was 12 years. Then I started again, and was off and on for another 3 years. I recently quit again and am somewhere around my third month. I stopped counting the days a long time ago and just put it behind me. I'll never be done being vulnerable, but I can tell you that it does get easier--and as hard as it may be to believe this, there will come a day when you wake, go about your business, then suddenly realize you haven't even thought about a cigarette all day. I think sometimes the anticipation of the quit is worse than doing it. However, when you finally make it out of the woods, you'll most likely consider it one of the greatest accomplishments of your life.
As you touched on yourself, it's about wanting to quit. People who have been successful at quitting are no stronger than anyone else. It's only a matter of wanting it badly enough. You may try to quit several times before you succeed, but eventually you'll tire of going a few days clean then letting yourself down by lighting up again.
Don't try alcohol again until you feel strong enough to do so, because not only will it make you crave the butts more, but it will lower or eliminate your "give a shit" level.
And yeah....it's not just tobacco. There are about 4 thousand chemicals in cigarette smoke. Try arsenic, carbon monoxide, acetone, and formaldahyde on for size. There's a reason why hard core smokers look like street junkies. Your oxygen is carring all those deadly poisons throughout your body all day long. This was a huge motivating factor for me. Every time I took a puff I imagined my blood stream carrying these toxins throughout my otherwise healthy body. I just couldnt justify it any more. For what? Something that I imagined as "Enjoyment"? Wait till you can smell a rose bush a mile a way, and get an idea of what coffee really tastes like. Wait until you can shake someone's hand and not leave a smell on them, wait till your clothes don't smell, and you don't have to be conscious of having smoke breath and chewing mints. Wait till you're standing online at the post office or the grocery store and a smoker gets in line behind you and you know right away from the nasty odor that they smoke, and you say to yourself "holy shit, is that what people used to smell when *I* walked by?
Even if you could somehow know that you would never get cancer, it's still a detriment to your health and the quality of your life. Whether its the money that motivates you, or your health, or the way you look and smell, there is nothing beneficial in smoking.
It's a whole new world with newfound freedoms when you are no longer enslaved to the addiction. If you're going to stop, you should do some reading on some of the feelings you may experience while going through the withdrawal process. It helps if you know what to expect and all the changes that your body is readjusting to.
Good luck on it, whenever you are ready.
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