Starting a new life!

[K. Lou]

When you are a smoker and I mean a serious everyday pack smoker, your life revolves around the cigarettes you smoke. The first one with your morning coffee. The one during your break, the one when you get home and you want to relax, the one before and the one after lunch. The one after your nap. The one with your wine or beer or any kind of drink on your night out, the one before you go to sleep. and repeat, and repeat and repeat. Smoking becomes a part of expressing your emotions, when you are angry, or sad or happy or anxious or nervous or bored or exciting, when you are mourning or celebrating.

Sometimes you remember the cigarettes that you smoke sometimes you don't. But you always remember the times when you were low on cigarettes and you had to go out and try to find a store to buy a pack or more to get your through your day. 

You also remember the times when you couldn't wait to go out for a smoke, work, classes, some meeting or other, visiting non smoking friends and relatives, hospitals, weddings, non smoking bars and restaurants. Thinking when this is going to stop so I can have a smoke? Regardless if it was a happy or sad occassion, or even a friend needed your attention and support. 

When smokers are not allowed to smoke you can catch a glimpse of the addiction you can find the similarities between other drug addicts (junkies, alcooholics).

When a smoker quits you can catch a glimpse of the person they really are. They are good people with good intentions, they are caring and supporting. They become better because they become free. They can enjoy life to the fullest because they don't have a thought of having a cigarette over their heads. 

 

When you quit smoking you start a new life. You can reinvent yourself. Most smokers don't know life without cigarettes. They can't imagine life without the smoking routine. I couldn't, sometimes I still can't. It's a struggle. But sometimes for a few seconds I get a glimpse of the smoke free life...and during those seconds I realise that I want that life, I want to be that person... I want to start over...I want to become free.

 

To those who are struggling like me to quit, try to focus on those few seconds of the smoke free life, and cherish those seconds until they become a reality.At least that's what I am trying to do...

[BAT]

Keep marching forward flo  :)

[Nancy]

Wonderful post!  You are doing fantastic!

[Ramona]

So true, so true.

Think about time itself.

I used to smoke about 15 ciggs a day (American Spirits which took about 8 minutes to smoke).

(15 X 8) = 120 minutes.

That's 2 HOURS every day of JUST SMOKING.

Every time I calculate that I still don't believe it.

IT'S CRAZY.

 

You can do this Flo!!!!

[cpk]

Is 8 minutes kind of the norm, because I am not sure...

 

I eat really slowly (it pains the people around me) so I feel like it took me at least 10 minutes per smoke...and I will add another 5 minutes onto that because after smoking I would feel pretty awful and wouldn't function well for a few minutes...and would usually be finishing coffee, as well...

 

so 10 cigarettes times 15 minutes of basically non-functioning

 

= 150 minutes

 

= 2.5 hours per day

 

or 17.5 hours per week

 

70 hours per month

 

840 hours per year

 

which is like smoking continuously for 35 days straight.

 

Can that be right??? That would mean one month out of every year dedicated solely to smoking????????

[Nicole Diver]

Hang onto that rope :)

It's so worth it

[El Bandito]

Keep marching Flo.

 

You are doing great.

[action]

Great attitude, keep going :)