I have no idea how many times I’ve tried to quit smoking, but it’s a lot. Take whatever-number-this-is started Thursday at 3:00, so I’m into hour 56 as I write.
The remainder of Thursday was fine. Yesterday was too, really. Most of today was okay, but I’ve had a hard time tonight. I’m trying not to be grumpy, not always successfully. I’m going to bed in a little while. It doesn’t hurt when I’m asleep.
There are hundreds of pages to write on the nature of the addiction, but I’ll spare you. (Actually I’m still pleased with what I wrote here on it.) The bottom line is that no one ever successfully quits without gutting out the first few days. That’s where I am now. It’s the part that, inexplicably, I choose to repeat again and again when I start, and stop, and start, and stop, and start…
Taking deep breaths. Stringing minutes together.
Maybe this is it. I know better than to speak of it in overly positive absolutes.
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Bo, honestly; you do NOT strike me as a smoker. I keep forgetting that this is an issue for you, and I’m surprised EVERY TIME you bring it up.
Really, Honey? Make this time stick. Smoking is terrible for you – there’s literally nothing good about it. If you can’t do it for you, do it for Lea and the boys. Trust me.
“Taking deep breaths.” Maybe that can be a mantra for you.
Good luck with this, I understand it is very difficult. If I have ever made a correct decision in my life, it was not to start smoking. I don’t say that with any “better than thou” sentiment.
Gators 51—LSU 21.
I can’t offer any words of wisdom, Bo. I’ve stopped and started more times than I can remember. Right now, I’m a non-smoker, but who knows….? The last time I started back I was out with some girlfriends for the night in Greenville for a jazz fest and we were drinking a lot. One was all it took. I found that reducing my nicotine intake day by day until I allowed myself only one cigarette helped me quit each time. My dad, one of the most dedicated smokers I’ve ever seen, quit cold turkey. That was 15 years ago and he’s still a non-smoker.
People who have never smoked just don’t understand how addictive it is. I hope you find your best way and that it sticks. Just keep thinking about the health of your heart and lungs and all the $$$$$ you’ll save. Good Luck!!!!
Thanks, all. I appreciate it. Into hour 76 now, and doing fine.
Mrs. Chili: I got hung up for a while believing I couldn’t do it for others; I had to do it for myself. There’s a reasonably well-defended school of thought that suggests such. In my case, I think it’s mostly horseshit. I think anything that isn’t immoral or unethical that can make me quit is right, and I’m doing just fine thinking about my family as a motivator this time.
Gerry: It doesn’t come off “better than thou” at all. Starting smoking was the single dumbest decision I ever made. That the converse would be true isn’t controversial whatsoever.
Cheryl: I’m proud of you for being off, because I know you’re the kind of smoker I am, having seen you smoke at length in exactly the same situations I enjoy smoking at length. It’s fun, and I really like it. If they came out tomorrow and said “nah, we were wrong, it’s not bad for you,” I’d do it the rest of my life.
Hang in there. I’ll hang with you. I’m seeing out my third full day of being off, and I’m feeling pretty okay, really.