I managed to make a 3 hour drive to visit family in Mississippi on Friday without smoking and I made the same 3 hour drive back to Alabama without smoking today. I also managed to make it those couple days in MS; my hometown, my past, where I drove and smoked for many years, without smoking!
My mom and cousin thankfully waited until I was out of the car Friday night to smoke. They didn't smoke to my sister's or back which I appreciated for sure. Saturday night I gave a friend a ride to her car and out of habit she lit a cigarette, not even thinking about the fact I had quit, and it was fine... I mean I would've preferred she not smoke in my car (but it hasn't been cleaned since I quit so that's not too crucial yet) but the fact she did and I was ok... well that was almost magical to me!!
Don't get me wrong, there were many times I would think, "normally I would light up here" or even times I would automatically crack my window, like when I got in car from gas station or got on the interstate, like I used to, before I would light a cigarette... but those moments weren't overpowering. They were more frequent and came without warning at times, which is to be expected I suppose, but they weren't unbearable.
Anytime someone would ask me about quitting and how I was doing, and why I did things a certain way to avoid those triggers, I would explain about how I needed to create neuro-pathways without cigarettes to teach my brain I CAN survive without cigarettes! That I need to do the things, without smoking, that I've always done while smoking and that the more "firsts" I get behind me the easier it will get.
Thanks for all the support and thoughts and encouragement!
