My name is Heather. I started smoking when I was a few months shy of my 16th birthday. I don't know why I even started. No one was pressuring me to do it, but in a way, I felt left out from the crowd because I wasn't lighting up at the parties, so perhaps it was a sort of acceptance thing I was looking for and I was way to scared to do drugs so cigarettes were my poison of choice. Poison is the best way to describe it too.
I am told that I was susceptible to becoming a smoker because my mother smoked when she was pregnant with me and I grew up with both parents being heavy smokers. I don't know how much truth there is in such a statement, I suppose on some level it might be true, but only one of my three brothers is a smoker too.
I'm a few months shy of my 40th birthday. Cigarettes have caused me to have asthma. Cigarettes have caused me to shy away from exercise because I cannot breathe well. Cigarettes make me look frantically for an opportunity to smoke before getting into a car full of non-smokers, going into restaurants, taking a break at work... all things that must be thought about before I ever light up so its not like I am UNAWARE that I am doing this! I actually make a plan of attack!
My name is Heather. I quit smoking six and a half days ago. I have had a headache for every one of those days. I have broken two dinner plates. Dented one can of soup. Become obsessive about sucking on butterscotch candies. Made my tongue raw with chewing on sunflower seeds. In the process of developing an habit of furiously cleaning something when a craving strikes. But..... I HAVE NOT GIVEN IN.
I opened an account at the bank I work at in which every two weeks, $70 will be deposited. This is my reward for not smoking. It is averaged to $5 per day that I do not buy a pack of cigarettes ( that's the average cost here in Missouri ). I figure I was spending the money on cigarettes so I won't miss this money coming out of my paychecks.
I do have to mention that I find a lot of the "stop smoking" commercials quite amusing. I like the one best where the woman is trying to back out of her driveway and keeps hitting things and basically acting like she's never driven before. The tag line is something like "If you can learn to drive without cigarettes..." These are great commercials!
