Sirius

Smoking while having lung cancer is a lot like choking on a piece of chicken...and reaching for another piece of chicken.

This too shall pass. :unsure:

I dedicate this NOPE to...me. :)

Way, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down on the list. #457 Rather see the farmland, resources, research, and transportation that are involved in the tobacco industry be utilized toward something that is ultimately productive to society rather then this addictive poison. #458 Reduce carbon emissions from all those people smoking. #459 At a party where some people happen to "chew" I might accidentally pick up the wrong soda can only to discover in the worst way possible that it was being used as a spit can. Hasn't happened yet, but just the thought....

I sometimes wonder if I confuse the memory of craving a cigarette with the craving for a cigarette...and that is something truly messed up. :blink:

Recently had a close call when I was out on a business trip. Drove 370 miles, did some high stress IT stuff and then drove back. The hours, the boredom \ freedom of the open road, and being off by myself. Didn't help that one of our contractors on-site was a smoker. But then I realized it would just make me dizzy while trying to concentrate on technical stuff. And really, once I burned one what would it have accomplished? I'd either have to quit all over again or start buying my own. The cost, the smell, the disease, the loss of control versus a moment's impulse...thuck fat! I stuck with coffee and a stick of gum and felt sorry for the contractor.

Bravo! Every success girds us with even more resolve. :)

Samuel Clemens said it best, "Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a hundred times." So you quit, but how did you stay quit? When the going got tough and the cigarette was at your finger tips and your brain sang for a smoke, how was it that you stayed true and kept your quit? A couple months down the road and you wanted one for old times sake (just this once), but then decided against it. For those who kept the faith and abstained, how have you stayed true? For myself, one of my biggest reasons was that I never wanted to have to quit (go through withdrawals) all over again. It gradually gets easier but only if you never, ever, smoke. No freebies, no exceptions. :angry:

Knowledge is knowing its a one-way street. Wisdom is looking both directions anyway.

Ask your spouse to give you a good back scratching. oooooh... ahhhhh.... mmrrrmm...

Cigarette packaging: A cigarette pack frequently contains 20 cigarettes, cartons have 10 packs or 200 cigarettes, and master cases 50 cartons or 10,000 cigarettes. A shipping container generally has 475,000 packs or almost 10 million cigarettes. ------------- That being said, I'll toss 4 Master Cases, 9 Cartons, 2 Packs, and 4 cigarettes into the flames. It'll be a couple more years before I can throw a shipping container in the bonfire. B)

Here in the Pacific NW we get a lot of rain. Every day. Day after Day. and night.. Including weekends. So it was with some shock that yesterday we had a decent er, interval of low precipitation such that the sidewalks at least looked dry from a warm bright yellow thing up in the sky. Skipped lunch and went for a walk. Fresh air, cold breeze, and warm sunlight as I greeted the daffodils. It's been a while. Knees were a bit stiff but slowly worked my way into it. What I didn't have was coughing fits, or hacking phlegm, or stopping to smoke someplace out of the wind. Cuz... wait for it... I don't smoke. :)

Ever light a cigarette while your previously forgotten cigarette is still lit? :wacko:

National "I'm smug today" day. :D

One day we will discover that the biggest reward for not smoking is not having to smoke. Until then, we have vanilla lattes. :wub:

A strong commitment is necessary and this commitment must be reaffirmed constantly. In the morning shaving, excuse me, um...brushing your hair in the mirror. As you are going into the sundry store to grab a cup of coffee and staring down those packs of smokes. You have to be your own coach. The words you say to yourself are vitally important. Firmness and resolution while staying optimistic and focused. Oh yeah, and maintain your sense of humor. :)

I spoke with somebody the other day who had quit smoking 12 years ago. He said that after a while you forget that you ever smoked. No head games, no occasional cravings. Like it never happened. I'm not entirely certain I can believe that but I'll let everyone know in another decade :rolleyes:

...all good children go to heaven. :) Love the theme.

Is it just me or does that sharpie look like a lit cigarette? :blink:

You can't get people to stop. They can only stop themselves. To stop themselves they need to change themselves. ...and change is the easiest, and hardest thing to do.

And, unlike other investments, this one not only doesn't cost anything, it provides immediate and continual savings!

Desire at times comes to visit; unbidden. But we have it's measure and know it will leave soon enough. Having the occasional craving is a small price to pay for a long and well-deserved retirement. I talked with an acquaintance that quit smoking over thirty years ago (I wonder what her quit meter would look like). Maybe...219K+ cigs not smoked? Anyhow, she said that she doesn't think of smoking at all but it took over a decade. I think it will happen when we forget we ever smoked. When the memories are so distant and blurry that any other thing will occupy our attention.

Empty the contents of an over-full ashtray into a pickle jar half filled with water. When your feeling a particularly strong craving unscrew lid and inhale the aroma and you will experience a bit of what your really missing.

Evolution is based on errors in replication causing mutations which is usually bad news but every once in a while... So yeah, our existence is an error but no more so then everything else. Life is messy. Embrace life, don't smoke it. :D