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Post by ☮ superbek ☮ on Mar 6, 2010 15:39:57 GMT -5
I'm sorry to be so thorough, but I really wanted to share something with you all...
6 March 2010
Back last summer I was working delivering pizzas and I left the house on my way to work when I realized I had forgotten my cigarettes. Suddenly I was panic stricken as my chest felt heavy. That was a very defining moment for me. I realized that my world involuntarily revolved around cigarettes. I had to have a cigarette for everything I did... when I woke up, went to bed, after every meal, before I went anywhere, after I did anything, while I was somewhere, on my breaks... and most certainly in the car on my way to work. This made me feel like I had lost control of my own life. I always told myself and others that I smoked cigarettes because I wanted to, I didn't care if it was bad for me it was my life and will die happy if I live how I want to live. But in that one little panic stricken moment I realized that there was one thing in this entire world that I answered to besides myself... Camel Lights and god how I needed one right that very second.
A few months later I got the part time job at a community college bookstore and I decided to take my pack a day habit and cut it in half which was good for my empty pockets minimum wage pockets. Also to past time in the bookstore I would just pull textbooks off the shelf and read them (COMPLETE nerd) and one day I picked up the World Religions book and I began to read about the life and teachings of Buddha. I never knew a whole lot about Buddhism but I felt really inspired by the mindset, perception, and life of the Buddha. This made me think about how bad cigarettes were for me, against nature. Smoking them began to feel like more like repelling from life than being as one with the universe.
Fast forward again to the beginning of December, after I started my new job. I smoked but not a lot of other people around me did so I felt like I was in smoke free environment. Compared to my good smelling co-workers I could really tell I smelled like an ash tray. Since I grew up in a family of smokers, it was the first time in my life I could really tell the difference and yeah... it was pretty disgusting. For a new reason, I had decided to cut my half a pack a day habit in half again. I was now down to five ciggys a day which seemed pretty incredible to me at the time and I vowed to quit after Christmas. After a week I could tell an even bigger difference between my world and a non smoking world so decided to cut down to three cigarettes a day. That lasted about two days and then on Sunday December 6, 2009 I laid in bed and unknowingly smoked my last cigarette. I will never forget that moment in my life, all I could do was to think about how disgusting my mouth felt as I watched the smoke twirl round the room for the very last time while my eyes drifted shut.
The next morning I woke up and I was a new person. For the first time in eight years I got in my car and drove to work without smoking a cigarette, a major accomplishment compared to how I felt just a few short months ago. Admittedly this was the hardest part of the journey of quitting but every time I wanted one I just thought about everything that had brought me to that moment. I reminded myself that that chapter of my life was over and there is no going back. Not ever, not even if I'm drunk and at a party. Let there be no confusion, there are times when I have a stressful moment and I want one but that feeling now comes and goes as quickly as I can say, "I need a cigarette." I know that if I smoke one now, it will not do the same thing it did for me a year ago because I really wanted to quit.
Not only do I feel and smell 100 times better since I quit smoking, but now I feel like I can do anything. Since December I have also quit drinking mountain dew and eating McDonald's and most fast food in general. I did eat fast food 5-6 times a week, now it is more like 1 or 2 times... same thing, it just doesn't taste good anymore. Also, I now know that the only person who can stop me for achieving everything is me and I'm the one in control so in the end if I can't get it done then it is nobody's fault but my own. I had to come to understand that I, you, we are capable of conquering so much but we really have to put our minds to it before we can overcome anything.
Did I mention that today has been exactly three months?
And it absolutely feels better and better everyday...
Post by FuzzyWarbles on Mar 6, 2010 16:56:40 GMT -5
Congrats on quitting.I used Chantix to cease my smoking 3 years ago.Even though I was ready to kill someone the first month or so it has really been great being smoke free.Running is so refreshing now.When I'm around a smoker I can not believe I used to smell like that all the time.
Post by nitetimeritetime on Mar 6, 2010 17:10:38 GMT -5
Way to go, bek and steve!
Some unsolicited advice to anyone who has just started smoking or has only been smoking for a couple of years: quit now, because eventually you will want to, but it will be a lot harder then.
Way to go Bek! I can't relate with the cigarette habit but I can relate to the fast food. I stopped eating fast food regularly about a year and a half ago. When I was in college, and the few years after I graduated, I LIVED on it. But I haven't had fast food in over three months now, and the thought of it seriously disgusts me. I've learned how to cook (and pretty darn well if I do say so myself) but more importantly, for the first time, I have control over what I put into my body. That's the best feeling!
Post by ☮ superbek ☮ on Mar 8, 2010 1:08:16 GMT -5
thanks for all the support you guys! I hope people who are considering quitting can see how much they can lean on us here at inforoo if things get hard!
kitten, I haven't actually had a chance to read any books on Buddhism as of yet. I read that chapter in the textbook and then I expanded my research to more concentrated areas on the web.
Buddha (born Siddhārtha Gautama) was born a prince and his mother passed within days of his birth. A common tradition at the time, his father brought forth an oracle to predict the young man's future. The see-er predicted that if the boy would grow up to be a powerful ruler unless he ever saw any pain or suffering and then he would be a great teacher. Hoping for a unprecedented ruler, the king kept the young Buddha contained to a luxurious life behind the castle walls.
One day in his young adulthood, Buddha snuck beyond the fence and down into the marketplace where he saw sickness, starvation, and death. He returned to the castle and gathered his things and took his servant back to the edge of the grounds where he cut off his hair and handed over his horse, taking off into the wild.
I am considering giving up caffeine. This may be may jump start. I drink wayyyyy to many sodas during the day. Thanks and congrats on your successful non-smoking campaign.
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Post by SouthGA_Festival Machine on Mar 8, 2010 4:35:04 GMT -5
I quit around this time four years ago and I almost never think about smoking anymore. Unfortunately my son has taken up the habit. He's talked about quitting but hasn't gotten serious about it yet. Hopefully he won't wait too long. There've been lung cancer deaths on both sides of my family, not to mention all the other health concequences that go along with the habit.
Truly inspiring story! Thanks for sharing that. I hope to join you shortly. This will be the zillionth time I've tried and it's good to hear from people who have kicked it.
Congratulations on the job well done! I read your story last night in a kind of a haze, and it made me realize that it is my time too. Your story inspired me, and I decided to cut my habit in half this week, then in half the following week, then no more cigarettes again after that. So thank you for those words of wisdom
Post by ☮ superbek ☮ on Mar 8, 2010 15:00:49 GMT -5
^^ I really hope this method is good for you. I know I for one never thought I would be able to stop smoking but if you can spin it around and turn it into a challenge, a game of sorts, I think you might find it much easier!
Maybe stevet and southGA can share with us how much their quality of life has improved since they quit smoking? I know, I for one would love to hear their stories since they have become established as non smokers!
Post by questionablesanity on Mar 8, 2010 16:24:43 GMT -5
Smoking is tough. I started when I was 13. I've never been a heavy smoker, it's always been more of a social thing. I've never smoked at work because the last person I'd want to smell while I'm sick is someone who just got back from a cigarette break. I've quit many times, usually for a woman. Then we break up and I start again. I don't smoke in my home which cuts down a huge amount. I mainly smoke when I drink, after I eat sometimes, and when I hang out with friends. If anything, it's something to do with my hands. It'll probably take a woman to get me to quit permanently. I should do it on my own because I deal with bladder cancer patients daily which is usually a direct result from smoking. All of the carcinogens are excreted in urine. Another reason to go pee when you get the urge instead of holding it.
A Thieve's Parade 2/24 Conspirator 2/26 Kevin Smith 3/11 Keller 3/17 Papadosio 3/18 JJ Grey 3/25 Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer 3/26 Toubab Krewe 3/27 O'Death 4/11 Budos Band 4/22 EOTO 4/28 Summer Camp 5/6-29 All Good
Post by questionablesanity on Mar 9, 2010 17:03:20 GMT -5
No shit. I had no idea until I started working for a group of Urologists. Renal and Bladder CA are a direct result from smoking. You are more likely to get bladder ca before lung ca from smoking.
A Thieve's Parade 2/24 Conspirator 2/26 Kevin Smith 3/11 Keller 3/17 Papadosio 3/18 JJ Grey 3/25 Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer 3/26 Toubab Krewe 3/27 O'Death 4/11 Budos Band 4/22 EOTO 4/28 Summer Camp 5/6-29 All Good
Way to go!!! I know how hard it can be - how smoking can trick you into thinking it is as necessary as your right arm. Stay with it and before long it will be as if you never began. Bravo Bek and the rest of you! Next week will be 10 years straight cigarette free for me!
Instead of dirt and poison, we have rather chosen to fill our hives with honey and wax; thus furnishing mankind with the two noblest of things, which are sweetness and light.
Post by SouthGA_Festival Machine on Mar 10, 2010 16:34:28 GMT -5
As far as differences since I quit, I don't really feel much different, except for maybe having a better sense of smell and taste. Even though I smoked a pack a day for over 30 years, I never got to the point that I was out of breath or woke every morning and coughed for five minutes like some smokers I've known. I'd say that the main difference is that I don't have to live with the knowledge that I'm doing something every day that's making it more and more likely that I'll die an early death or maybe just severly degrade my quality of life with emphasyma, impotence, heart disease or some other of the many ill effects of smoking.
Just today, my brother was telling me about the wife of a friend of his who has terminal lung cancer. He said her doctor told her she'd be better off not to quit at this point, because the effects of withdrawl would be worse than any benefit of quitting now. I can only imagine how she must feel everytime she lights up in the time she has left.
I started when I was 13. Tried to quit 3 or 4 times unsuccessfully. Finally after my grandmother died from emphysema when I was 25, I had the resolve to quit once and for all. Not sure why I couldn't do it while she was wasting away all those years....
anyway, what I did may not work for anyone else but did for me. I had a friend who wanted to stop also. We agreed to partner in it and be each other's support system via phone, etc. if getting weak. We also made a bet that whoever caved in first had to buy the other a nice dinner or a bottle of something good. Well, lo and behold, he caved in after 2 weeks, and by that time I had the resolve to keep going. It's been 25 years and I've never looked back.
I also know of many people who have done well taking Chantix. If you have a history of psych problems it is not recommended though. Some insurances are finally starting to cover it too.
Bottom line is - anyone can quit but you have to be ready and willing to do it. Nothing in the world will help you otherwise.
I'm sorry to be so thorough, but I really wanted to share something with you all...
6 March 2010
Also, I now know that the only person who can stop me for achieving everything is me and I'm the one in control so in the end if I can't get it done then it is nobody's fault but my own. I had to come to understand that I, you, we are capable of conquering so much but we really have to put our minds to it before we can overcome anything.
Did I mention that today has been exactly three months?
And it absolutely feels better and better everyday...
