@dvs51 your comments are great and show that you are building a really solid quit!
I, too, used smoking as a kind of punctuation in my daily rhythms… breaks at work, pauses in between projects, to mark the start of the day, the end of a meal, etc. Smoking was the organizing principle of my life, the structure I followed.
At first, many moments felt strangely hollow without smoking. I felt like a jellyfish… squishy and adrift in a sea of cravings, like I had lost all my solidity. So I filled those moments with tiny tasks. I constantly would read articles and play games on this forum. Wall/countertop push-ups played a huge role in my quit, too.
I stayed busy/active because the desire to smoke was very strong in those interstitial moments. I was very vulnerable. So I had to very intentionally rewire my relationship with time, and with pauses/transitions. It became kind of a creative exercise to do something different that wasn’t about lighting up.
That change gradually became more natural. That feeling of being adrift or “missing something” subsided. Every time you choose not to smoke, your quit gets stronger and stronger and stronger!
Recalling the struggle times is part of what keeps me on the quitting path today. Repeat the agony of withdrawal again? NOPE, no thanks! I share your views on that point, @dvs51. Withdrawal totally sucked for me. I was a hot mess. So I am NOT going through that misery ever again!
