Moments of missing it

[...]

Do you ever have moments where you miss smoking ?

 

I'm not talking about all the side effects of smoking. We all know it's bad for you. But still you kinda miss it. Like wondering if it wasn't bad, would you still do it ?

 

I sit here and am watching this woman smoke. I don't see the agony in her face. It doesn't make me want to smoke......I know where she's headed physically.

 

but there is this little part of me that kinda makes me sad that I can't. I wonder if that will ever go away.

[action]

Sometimes for a split second... But then I remember you can't just have one - it's everything that comes with it - the slavery most of all that I hate.

[Jengelsnew1]

Junkie thinking...nothing more

[MarylandQuitter]

but there is this little part of me that kinda makes me sad that I can't. I wonder if that will ever go away.

 

I think when people talk about missing smoking, what they're missing is that feeling of relief when you stop withdrawal by smoking.  You know that feeling when you're smoking and when it's time for another and you light your next cigarette?  That first drag feels so good, such a relief!  The relief that you feel is just relieving the withdrawal symptoms.  It's an illusion that you enjoy smoking because of course it's enjoyable when you relieve something uncomfortable like withdrawal. 

 

It's like scratching a mosquito bite.  It feels so good to scratch it but we don't enjoy the bite itself.  We enjoy the scratch to relieve the itch.  Make no mistake about it, we do not enjoy being bitten by a mosquito but scratching it's itch feels good.  It's a vicious cycle just like smoking.

 

Even if you did enjoy the occasional cigarette (which I believe a lot people have), those were few and far between.  Think of all the cigarettes that made you feel like crap and how many times while smoking you thought about quitting.  It doesn't sound like anything to miss when 98% of them made you feel like crap and the remaining 2% probably only gave the illusion of liking them because you thwarted some withdrawal symptoms.   

 

Remove the desire to smoke and you will never smoke again.  Practice on removing the desire to smoke until you firmly believe that you get nothing from it.  Until then, use your smoking addiction to help you quit smoking.  That’s right, you read correctly.  You, me and millions more rationalized smoking even though we knew the consequences.  Use those same veteran rationalization skills to rationalize quitting smoking.  Think about that for a minute.  If we could rationalize smoking knowing full well the damaging effects it had on our health, why can’t we rationalize quitting smoking knowing full well the health benefits of quitting?

[sgt.barney]

The Sarge tells you straight up: if it wasn't bad, he'd go right back to 'em.

 

But they're bad ... so he won't.

 

Ditto the greasy bacon McBurgers and pizzas every night, too.

 

But they're bad.

 

So he won't.

 

He won't.

 

 

 

Easy Peasy

[leahcaR]

I kind of understand what you are saying.  But not really.  I know recently after the doctor news on monday I though "fu** a cigarette...that sounds good"  and I watched someone light up....and then I realized there was nothing there for me.  It stank.  sure...they seemed to be having a good time.  But I could see through it....I used to look like I wasnt miserable.. I used to look pleasant and like I was having a good time while smoking.  You would have been able to tell nothing else other than I was having a good f***** time.  And that is the trick it plays and now I can see through it.  Does she look miserable?  Did I?  Absolutely not.  because she is...and I was... telling herself lies while she smokes that cigarette.  It offers nothing and we know that.  miss it? I don't know that I would say that.  If I thought it would help me enjoy or fix anything at all I would pick one up right now.  But i know that it would not.  

[...]

Thank you.  I'm not saying that I WANT to smoke, I don't.  Nor am I going to rush out to the store and buy a pack.

 

And I am fully aware that it doesn't do anything for any one of us.  Was she enjoying it ?  Probably not. But she wasn't hurting either.  As a matter of fact, she probably wasn't feeling anything.  It is to her what it was to us.  Second nature.  Kinda like going to pee.  That's my point.  It was something we did every day many times a day..... that it just became part of us. 

 

And yeah, if I could escape all the damage it did to me or would do to me, I think I would continue to smoke.  I did enjoy it.  I have never hated smoking.  I have hated the side effects of it. 

 

I understand where y'all are coming from though.  It's bad.  And I don't want it in my life anymore.......

 

I guess I was just reminiscing and being dumb.

[leahcaR]

eh aside from wanting to run better a side effect of "having to clear my throat CONSTANTLY" was a factor in me not wanting to do it anymore.  it was embarrassing to me.  <3

[sharonsiff]

I get what you mean Tiffany. I saw someone vape the otherday and for a split second I thought...mmmm..I'm not even talking about nicotine as if it was me it would be no nicotine, but just the event of doing it. So yes I know what you mean that sometimes it's not even for the drug 'nicotine' but just the event. I didn't of course, well past that now, but the feeling of why not did come over me for a split second....then went ;)

[Soberjulie]

I have a list as long as my arms of things I would continue to do, if they weren't bad for me. If the consequences weren't so horrific.

But they are.

My list of things robs me, robs my loved ones of time, energy, money, and ultimately my spirit.

The cons FAR outweigh the pros.

So I won't smoke.

[Jonny5]

I can see everyone's view, it's a personal observation rather than a rule, and it's based on many things.

 

Personally I do not miss smoking. Maybe it's because I group all of the side effects as a whole package, or maybe it's because I know that My enjoyment was only the relief of my withdrawals.

 

And although my logic suggests that we all had the same physiological reaction to smoking and withdrawals, I can't say what it was for anyone else, as we all attach different emotional connections to cigarettes.

 

What I'm sure we all agree with is that we all know that we can not go back to cigarettes. We know that they are no longer an option that we can afford to choose.

 

So maybe finding a way to remove the romantic memories of smoking is a good mental strategy? I think my hate of cigarettes is extreme in reality, but it works for me :-)

[JackiMac]

Honestly at this moment in my quit, I would say yes I miss smoking, but I miss it because it was a habit, it was something that I did every day, my brain is still learning to re-adjust to not having cigarettes, I sometimes get a quick smell of smoke and think ohhhh. then I stop and I realise that that one second of bliss would lead to a lifetime of trying to quit again, the burning in the throat, the cough, the smell, the money, smoking was not enjoyable it was a habit and we and the addiction trained ourselves to believe that it was an enjoyable activity, swimming is enjoyable, walking on a clear sunny day listening to the sounds of nature is enjoyable and I would miss these activities, smoking at sometime in the very near future I hope I will be truthfully able to say I don't miss at all.  :D

[Tink]

everytime i have a drink or two I miss it only as I still associate with the romance of it being social - its still my nemesis but it will not be my down fall as the truth is smoking hurts and kills us - the end 

 

if it wasnt toxic - yes I would still smoke - this is the truth and if they made it less stinky even better - basically if they changed everything about it i would still do it - which contradicts itself lol

 

ok leaving thread :)

[queen greenlover]

Sure I think about "having one" but I know for me theirs no such thing as one. Then I think of all the good things I now enjoy so much-singing, not using an inhaler daily, hearing my dr say how clear my lungs sound. Smelling stuff & being able to walk home faster & not be short of breath. So many good reasons to NOT lite up. :D  :rolleyes: 

[...]

I agree with everything y'all said.  Now that I have gotten past whatever I was thinking there....... I don't miss it at all anymore.  When I started this thread, I was...... I don't know what to call it..... reminiscing maybe. 

 

But truth be told, I feel SOOOO much better without smoking.  I can breathe, I don't cough, I don't stink anymore, and most importantly...... I feel good not poisoning myself anymore. 

[comrade simba]

Sitting on the stump staring at the garden without a couple of cigarettes is a lot different than with a couple. I just don't sit as long. I hurt worse at the end of the day from working harder. That's what sucks about not smoking in my world today.

 

Sometimes I miss shooting narcotics and staring at my shoes for hours, too. Jail and degradation suck. So do heart attacks. Did I mention I'm developing a spare tire for the first time in my life?

 

Sunshine, lollipops and... acid bombs, molotov cocktails, maybe just a bit o' clockwork orange "singing in the rain"?

 

I don't smoke today. Good, bad, or indifferent.

[El Bandito]

Sometimes I think that I have moments of missing it - my tactic is to force myself to THINK about it some more..

 

1. Am I reminiscing for the cigarette? Or for the 'moment' associated with it?

2. Thinking back - was it the taste/the hit? Or the moment - perhaps sitting outside?

 

An example. It is not yet 7am here. Outside it is crisp and bright.

 

As a smoker, I would be outside enjoying my first cigarette and marvelling at Spring. 

 

Solution? I am going to finish this post, close the lid on my mac, make an espresso and go out and marvel a little at Spring...cigarette? Won't even cross my mind B)

[Still winning]

I* sat in a pub garden yesterday for the first time since my quit. I sat with smokers and every time they lit up, I had one brief second of thinking ahhhh. Then I would instantaneously force my brain to add all of the god awful parts of smoking, and smile, and sip my malibu.  I got tipsy but smoking is no longer an option for me. So I understand what you're saying, on the whole no not at all to wanting to smoke. Really occasionally an ahh moment comes in but it's easy to dismiss now. x

[beacon]

Some times I miss the not caring, not thinking about my heath, and ingesting whatever I wanted with abandon, cigs, greasy food, cocktails, all sorts of other party favors, lying in the sun for hours sizzling. That part of my life must be over now if I want to live the rest of my life mobile, healthy, attractive.