Yeah, I'm no anti-smoking crusader. I haven't said anything to anybody about quitting smoking until this thread. If big boys and girls want to smoke, so be it, what do I care? Yet, for me it was the right time. In mid-November of 2012 I realized I was pushing 40 years old and I also had to spend 24 hours on a plane where I couldn't smoke. I seized the opportunity to quit. It actually doesn't take long before the cough goes away. It doesn't take too long before the smell of the smoke is nasty. Before that yellow junk on the inside of the index and middle fingers goes away. You get past that initial hump and it gets way, way easier. Drink a lot of water to flush that crap out.
Earlier this week, before I even saw this thread, I was thinking about how happy I am to have stopped. I don't dwell on it, it was more realizing that weeks had gone by without even thinking about smoking at all that made me happy. Also, how much mental energy I used to spend thinking about smoking, not just smoking, but thinking about smoking. Planning to get somewhere early so I could have a cig before a show or whatever, counting my cigarettes to make sure I had enough to get me through wherever I wanted to go, all that cognitive effort so I could breathe dirty air on purpose. Not being able to pay attention to the end of a movie because I was dying for a smoke. It just had dawned on me how nice it was to be off that leash, unchained.
Also, one of the things was just the amount of time smoking too. Figure a pack a day, 20 cigarettes, say you just take 3 minutes to smoke a cigarette. That's a whole hour out of every day. Add in the time spent swinging by the store to pick up a pack, that crap adds up. You know you'd make a special trip out to the store just for a pack if you are running low. Think how much more Mortal Kombat you can play, not taking the time to smoke, not taking time to think about smoking.
GOOD LUCK!
