* Sorry this is a bit long but hopefully worth a read.
I have reached a major milestone for me. Two years ago today I quit smoking. One day I was smoking a cigarette and as I put it out I said "I'm sick of this shite, I'm done". I've always smoked in the garage and I tossed what was left of the pack on the workbench in plain view. I did it to challenge my resolve every day. I went on Chantix for 2 months and went through the 2 weeks of torture of withdrawals but I've quit before so I knew how bad it would get. The open pack stayed on the workbench. I had been a member on Ex for the quit before this so I had some tools to help me through. The ones that helped me through the most were:
- Smoking never solved anything. It's only what we did because we needed a break to clear our minds. I could go outside without a cigarette to achieve the break.
- I found out what cigarettes were actually made of and it's NOT tobacco. Most cigarettes contain a "reconstituted tobacco" product known as "sheet" that is much like a roll of paper, which consists of "recycled [tobacco] stems, stalks, scraps, collected dust, and floor sweepings", to which are added glue, chemicals and fillers; the product is then sprayed with nicotine that was extracted from the tobacco scraps. The sheets are then shredded to look like tobacco and shaped into curls.
- I thought they kept me from being evil. No, I was so much calmer and nicer when I didn't smoke
- If I didn't smoke I could occupy the extra time in my day to do something else that I enjoyed.
- I wrote on a piece of paper every day how much money I saved and put it in a jar. I pulled out enough slips of paper to transferred the money to my bank account to use on things I wanted to do. I went to see a lot of heavy metal music concerts, even out of town and a hotel using that extra cash.
- By cheering someone else's achievements I reaffirmed my own resolve.
- I pledged and I wasn't going to break that pledge.
Looking forward I intend to continue living a smoke-free life. How?
- See all the reasons above. They stay at the forefront of my quit.
- I promised my family I wouldn't go back to it.
- I'm in control and not led around by my nose by the nicotine addiction
- I'm proud of myself and as each smoke-free day goes by my resolve gets more solid.
- Just knowing that I've been successful for the last two years makes me want to keep being successful and help others to be successful.
I hope that I have helped anyone that reads this to either start or continue on your quit journey. It's not easy but with knowledge and encouragement it absolutely can be done and is absolutely worth it!
Julie
