Like many before me, I never imagined I could go 100 days without smoking and still live to tell about it or without being incarcerated. Being 60 years old and having smoked for the last 42 of them was going to be the real “Mission Impossible”. But I have made it to Day 100. My last cigarette was at 9PM on New Year’s Eve. Since then some days have been easy, some have been hard. Some days have been happy, some have been not so happy. On some days the thoughts of smoking consume my thinking, some days I hardly think of it at all. All of the days have been different but they have one thing in common - they have all been smoke free.
Lots and lots of people on this site have been a great help to me, so not all of this success is mine. We all need to be proud. Some people have become very close friends and those relationships I cherish more than any in my life.
So, on this journey, I would like to pass along some simple lessons I have learned that help guide me through what can still be some rocky times.
1. If you want to quit smoking, you have to quit smoking. This is probably the simplest part but often the hardest. When I first saw a guy ending his blog saying NOPE I thought it stood for National Organization of Petroleum Engineers and that he was advertising his profession (like CPAs and MDs). Yes, I really was quite confused when I joined this site. I know today however that quitting is serious business and the only requirement is just don’t light one up and put it in your mouth. Ever. No matter what. I have also learned that relapses are not required.
2. There is more to quitting smoking than quitting smoking. For me, I had to make some changes in my life. I had to become more physically active (the endorphin thing), I had to eat different (to avoid massive weight gain) and I had to change my attitude about life (yes, I really do want to live, and I really do want to be happy without smoking, and I want to be helpful to others). The attitude change has been the hardest for me but I am getting there.
3. I help myself the most by helping others. Anytime that I provide an encouraging comment on someone’s blog, I am also encouraging myself. Whenever I can offer a suggestion to someone as to how I dealt with a situation, I am offering a helpful suggestion to myself. When someone struggles and I want to hug them, my own struggles are eased. We are in this together with one common goal. And “WE” has tremendous power.
A while back I told a friend who quit after I did, how to get as many smoke free days as me. The answer is quite simple. So, if you are on new on the journey and want to know how to get 100 smoke free days you only have to do two things. Don’t smoke, and don’t die. It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
Yes, I find that the simplest things work the best. God bless to all of us as we continue the journey on the Freedom Train. Finally, don’t give up before the miracle!!!
