I had my last
cigarette on February 4th. I haven’t
yelled at anyone, cried, gotten road rage, or had to hide a body. I think I’m doing pretty well. I started smoking when I was 13. I don’t feel old telling you that I’m 47, but
I think I sound old when I say I’ve been smoking for 34 years. I know, I’m weird.
I spent a year talking myself into
doing this. No, I’m not doing it for my
health. If I was quitting for my health,
I would have done it over twenty years ago.
My great motivation is that I’m tired of stinking like an ashtray. The smell I used to crave so much has gotten
quite offensive to me.
It really doesn’t matter what my WHY
is. What’s important is that I have a
strong enough WHY to see it through.
There are plenty of solid reasons to quit smoking and I will reap the
benefits of all of them no matter what my motivator is.
I’m using a vape to quit because I
know that quitting cold turkey turns me into a raving lunatic, I’m allergic to
the adhesive on the patches, the gum and lozenges taste like pepper and I hate
pepper. This isn’t my first try, but
this is the one I feel the most positive about.
I started out at a level 6 nicotine
and my plan is to cut down to a 3 on June 1st, 0 in September and
then on New Years Eve I’m going to pack up all my vaping supplies and be
done. I know my limits. I know that trying to break the nicotine
habit and the physical habit is a recipe for failure for me, so I’m doing it
this way.
Two people I know commented that
everyone they knew that had tried to quit smoking using a vape went right back
to cigarettes. I can think of three
people right off the top of my head that quit successfully using a vape, so I
know it can be done. I don’t believe in
applying my “can’t” to other people’s lives and I don’t allow other people to
apply theirs to mine.
If you smoke, don’t worry that I’m
going to be obnoxious to you about it. I
know that everyone walks their own path.
If and when you come to a place where you decide to quit, I will be your
biggest cheerleader, but if that never happens, I promise to never forget what
it felt like to “not be there.”
Feel free to help hold me
accountable.
No comments:
Post a Comment