I have now completed a full seven months without lighting up a cigarette. I am approaching the longest quit of my life and it feels satisfying, to say the least.
As a serial quitter, I always started my quits with a lot of confidence and motivation, but mostly fell away at about the four-month mark invariably falling prey to the junkie's classic trap...'I can have just one puff'. Hopefully, I have learnt my lessons well this time and am ever vigilant against this ruse.
Looking back, the quit progressed just as the textbook says - the craves were intense but weakened ever so slowly in the first four weeks and from the second month onwards, the craves were no longer overwhelming. The last three months have been especially easier, as I have completely kept away from trigger situations - smoking friends, drinking sessions and suchlike. Also, regular excercise and pranayama/ meditation have been instrumental in keeping me focussed on bigger and better thoughts.
My obsessive study of quit literature - at whyquit and also Alan Carr's books - have stood me in good stead, reminding me of the benefits of the quit and the lurking dangers of relapse.
Presently, I am very comfortable in my skin as an ex-smoker and the daily, minute-to-minute struggle to overcome triggers and craves is largely over. From experience, I know that this false sense of complacency can be the exact reason for a downfall. I am internalizing that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.
Three years ago, one fine January morning, I resolved to quit smoking. This is turning out to be the best conscious decision of my life. In these three years, I struggled a number of times with my resolve, with my motivation, with my inner resources but all these struggles have helped me grow as an individual and become more conscious about every aspect of my life. I started discoveriing a lost part of myself that I had neglected nourishing for too long - the saner, better and fulfilling part.
I wish each and everyone of the visitors here a very, happy and fulfilling life. Each one of us are at different stages of our quits - some veterans, some recent quitters and some struggling with their resolve to quit. All of us go through the same progression - of apprehension, tentative trial, the struggle with craves and then slowly but surely, through the light at the end of the tunnel - the freedom that comes from realising that you are finally free from the self-enforced bondage of nicotine slavery!
To keep our hard won freedom intact, let's resolve Not To Take Another Puff.
