Well, bless my soul, I wrote that whole darn blog about the aborted landings and the terrified kids...and I didn't even MENTION smoking/not smoking!
Sometimes I do write blogs about stuff that happens in my life as a flight attendant, but I think I've always included a last sentence about how I made it through without smoking or how I didn't even think of a cigarette or how I would have smoked up a storm way back when.
But I didn't even MENTION smoking in that last blog. I think that's a really good sign. Smoking was never even a part of my thoughts during that entire time. Not even a fleeting thought. Nothing. Nada. Wow. I sure have come a long way from two packs a day to not even a single thought during a crisis! I'm so proud of myself.
I do remember the very first day after I quit that I went an entire day without a craving. That was a good day. A really good day. I think it was in the middle of No Man's Land, probably at about two months into my Quit.
And I remember the day that I woke up and realized that I hadn't even THOUGHT about a cigarette the previous day. That was also an excellent day! That must have been at about four months...maybe five months? Maybe more and maybe less. But how cool is it that thoughts about cigarettes and smoking are so faded in my memory now that I can't even remember some of my milestones? (However, I may be feeling better about this than I should be; my memory is less and less sharp as I get older and sometimes, I feel like I can't even remember my own name. Hmmm...)
Anyway, my point is this (and I really DO have a point about quitting smoking this time!): Everyone's path is different. Everyone starts to have an easier time at some point. You may stop having strong cravings at one month or at six months or at a year or... You may go without thoughts of smoking at all at a few weeks or a few months or a few years.
It doesn't matter what your personal timeline is. Don't get frustrated with your own progress. And DON'T compare your experience with anyone else's experience. As you guys know, I'm very fond of saying to Newbies "Your nicotine addiction is no stronger nor harder to beat than our nicotine addictions were". And I believe that with all my heart. But it doesn't mean that there is one "right" timeline.
Remember this: Every day that you don't ingest nicotine, you are a successful Quitter. Simple. Not always easy. But truly a simple concept, isn't it?
(And, by the way, I might have given you guys the wrong impression about my required rest time. The Crew Desk can give us as little 45 minutes between FLIGHTS and we sometimes work up to four flights per day as long as our "duty day" doesn't exceed 14.5 hours per day. Our TRIPS can last up to five days. The FAA mandate is that we have 10 hours off between TRIPS, not FLIGHTS. I know this doesn't matter much to anyone other than me, but I saw that I gave the impression that I lead this life of leisure, flying one flight and then getting ten hours off before another flight. Golly, I WISH. Being a flight attendant is exciting and I LOVE it. But it's lifestyle. There's no harmonious order or predictability to it. And I gotta say it; I don't get why people don't like flying. What's not to love? 😉
xxxxoooo, Sky (Don't smoke. There.)
