Quitting smoking. My journey and how it benefitted me.

I decided to write to Vocal about one of my greatest challenges in life. It was a challenge but was also a wonderful accomplishment in life. Quitting smoking is the most difficult habit to overcome. It is not easy and most people that quit pick up the habit and become what they would call second hand smokers. People sometimes start to have cravings and some people, even years after quitting have dreams of smoking. I've experienced the dreams as well as others that I know of. Quitting smoking is one of the greatest achievements that I have ever accomplished.

I first tried a cigarette when I was fourteen years old. I had a close friend that smoked. I'll keep her name private for the story. My mother had a carton of smokes on the counter. I took a pack, tore it open, and pulled out a cigarette. I went into the bathroom to take a smoke when mom was gone. I tried to put the cigarette out in the trash can, which caused the trash can to catch fire. To put the fire out, I took the trash and tried to dispose of it on the porch, which was stupid of me. As I was going to clean up the trash on the porch my mother pulled in the driveway. The only thing I could think was... shit! She asked me about the trash on the porch. I told her I didn't know anything about it. She went into the bathroom and could smell the smoke. Plus to make things even worse she found the carton and the pack on the counter. She was so pissed she threw the pack and the carton at me. I really couldn't blame her. I cleaned up the trash on the porch and went to my room.

I didn't pick up another cigarette until I was almost eighteen. I started by smoking Kool's. I loved the taste of them instantly. I also loved the relaxing feeling they gave me. I also smoked Newport but stopped because they caused me to start coughing in the middle of the night. Eventually I started smoking from one pack a day to three packs a day. I lost an incredibly amount of weight and became addicted to the point to where every second I would pull out a cigarette. I would smoke when stressed, bored, or overexcited. Soon it just became where I spent over one hundred dollars a week on a carton a cigarettes. One carton was ten pack. Ten packs were gone within three to four days.

I loved the relaxing feeling the nicotine gave me. It gave me a feeling of calm. I was also so bored at times that I would just pick up a cigarette to keep me company. Silly to think or say but that's what smoking does to you. I loved it because it also calmed my nerves when stressed.

I started to realize that I had to quit. I started by asking my doctor about different methods of quitting and being on medication I wanted to be sure that I knew what the safest method was. So I tried the patch. The patch wasn't working very well so I switched to the lozenges. The lozenges worked very well. They helped me to get passed the cravings that I was having.

Now I no longer smoke. I can say that that was about ten almost fifteen years ago that I quit and I can say that that was my greatest achievement. I've been so happy since. I can walk longer distances without losing my breath, I am eating more, and I feel much better that I can entertain myself with something other than nicotine.

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