Actually it was yesterday. I am immensely proud of myself for yesterday was the 19th anniversary of me quitting smoking.Medically speaking....my doctor informed me that anyone who has not smoked in 15 years, is considered to have never smoked. How great is that!
I made my decision after they announced that cigarettes were going to go up 25 cents a pack. I was already paying $1.41 a pack and was UPSET over this price hike. (Jeez, I know I'm aging myself here, but when I first started smoking, they were only 23 cents a pack. You would put a quarter in the machine and the pack would have 2 pennies taped to the side. Anybody else remember that?)
I made up my mind that there was no way I was going to give the cigarette company any more of my money. The very next day was the first day for me not to light up with my morning coffee in a long, long time. Yep, I had some crabby days.....some days I was just a plain bitch that you'd have to walk a wide circle around....but I mostly held it together pretty well. I was glad that I'd never gotten into the habit of smoking in bed or waking up and smoking in the middle of the night like a friend of mine did. It was just one less habit I had to break. My hardest time was when I had a cup of coffee. It just seemed like a cigarette went with the coffee.....now I've found out that a Danish tastes so much better. LOL
I quit "cold turkey". I had tried to quit a couple times before but failed after only a few days. I even went to a hypnotist for help. It didn't help. I think that I just wasn't ready. You have to WANT to quit....REALLY want to quit before you can. I wanted to. And I did it. I'm so glad I did and I wish I could convince my children to do the same. But....they will when they're ready.
I also wish I could pass on some things to others who are struggling to quit but each person is different. Whenever I felt a craving I did play a hand held game....Gameboy I believe it was called and I would play Tetris on it. That helped to keep my hands busy and soon the craving would pass. I also did an odd thing because I found it absolutely necessary to carry a pack with me at all times. I never opened it....but I just had to have it in my purse. After 3 months I finally gave away the unopened pack to a friend who smoked the same brand. It was at that time that I finally felt......free.
I wish I would have put the money I would have spent on cigarettes in my savings account. I meant to do that but you forget after a while. I don't even want to sit down and add up what it would have amounted to in all these years.
So Smocha....keep up the good work. If I can do it, anybody can. You will feel so much better and thats really what its all about. You just wait and see!
16 comments:
Congratulations on sticking with it. I remember pennies in cigarette packs and how the boys used to twist their cigarettes into their T-shirt sleeve somehow. I never smoked, but I have a fierce sugar addiction.
You are just so strong willed and smart. But I knew that already.
Hugs friend. :)
Wow! 19 years. Congrats! I hope to be able to say that someday.
This is the first I've heard of the penny thing. LOL
The worst IS the coffee time :(
Congratulations for quitting smoking for all those years! Good for you!!
I am one of the lucky people who never smoked so I never had to quit. I tried smoking once when I was a kid, didn't like it so never tried again.
congratulations! that's awesome! Were the first 3weeks the toughest?
Did you get an odd craving like a year after you first quit, almost out of the blue?
When you smell people smoking, are there different smells that make you turn your nose up, say, "ahh, that smells good," or it doesn't even phase you anymore?
Awesome awesome! you are so right, you can only quit when you're 100%ready.
Congratulations! That is definitely quite an accomplishment. Carmon
Feel better about the savings by doing what I do.
(Hey..it's cheating, but then again, they used to dig up doctors to tell us it was healthy to smoke)
So, figure out how many packs you would have smoked, and pick the larger number....use todays price to multiply time the packs.
Feel good already, don't you?
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19 years...WOW! Incredible Val. To stop smoking is difficult and amazing to begin with. Believe me I know because my husband smoked all of our married life together until he passed away in 2005...and NEVER, EVER stopped smoking once. What you have done is no easy accomplishment. Congratulations sweetie. You have every reason to be proud of yourself. You have done the best thing for yourself and your health....but you already know that. Cheers to you. Love, Joy
Boy and you did it before we had drugs like Chantirx and the good old patch. Your right though, you really have to have your head in the right 'place' to quit. I keep waiting for mine to get there. At some point I may just have to tough it out.
This was a great post, Val, and it goes to show that we can accomplish just about anything we set our minds to if we want it bad enough. I had to smile about the 23 cents and two cents taped to the pack. Your lungs thank you for the gift of life and breath! :-)
Congratulations! That's quite an accomplishment. Yay for you!!!! ac
I'm not ready to quit but I've cut down a lot, since it's so expensive now. I'll quit soon-I've done it before cold turkey-I think that's the best way. Congrats on your 19 years!
Girl, you've got my admiration. I've thought about quitting, but haven't really wanted to yet. The price is making me sick as it is.
Wow. Congratulations!
I consider quitting smoking to be one of my greatest accomplishments and one of the hardest things I've ever done. It's been about 16 1/2 years for me. I'd never ever smoke again.
Congratulations. I will be 7 years June 12. I cannot believe what a pack of cigarettes cost now.
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