376 Days Later

One reason I started this blog was to brag. Sure, I can be altruistic from time to time but, let's face it, who doesn't love tooting their own horn.

On that note, Monday, March 1st, 2010, marked one year smoke-free for the wife and I!

We're both totally pumped. I've said many times over the course of the past 12 months: "I knew we could do it." Honestly, though, I had my doubts on more than a few occasions. We had lots of enablers; mostly each other, but the bulk of our friends smoked, we smoked while gaming, while watching movies, inside, outside, while drinking, at work, you name it, we smoked there. We were both pack-a-day plus smokers for over a decade and stopped cold-turkey. We had a little help from the zyban pill but I stopped taking mine pretty quickly. I didn't see the reduced cravings they claimed and I really didn't like the way it messed with my head when I was taking the recommended dose. I figured that if I was still going to crave smokes at least I'd be myself while doing it.

One thing I have learned over the last year, though, is that if you really want to, quitting smoking is one of the easiest things you'll ever do. Self-control is a must. If you want to quit, though, just do it. Lord knows I made a lot of excuses beforehand. I don't want to quit. I've got a big project due. Work's a bitch. I'm drunk. If she's having one, I'll have one. But when it boiled down to it, I decided that I was just done with it. So I stopped. And I've never felt better! To be honest, the wife didn't really want to. She did it more for me than for herself. You know what though, it worked. I'm glad it did too. If one of us had failed we both would have failed. I'm not going to lie. There were a few rough patches. There were more than a few times that I probably would have killed a man for a smoke. Hell, from time to time, I still want one. Every once in a while I'll just get this feeling that I want a smoke. It passes though. All the cravings pass. One thing that separates us human beings from those celebutards who can't stay out of rehab (or the grave) is our ability to ignore those cravings and move on. The words "I'm better than them" went through my head on more than one occasion.

Quitting made me realize another important thing too: All those excuses smokers make are just B.S.. You can't smoke to wake up in the morning and relax at night. You can't smoke to get pumped up for something and to calm down from stress. You can't smoke to settle a meal and to ward off hunger. You can't know it's killing you and want to do it. You see the point I'm making here? B.S.. I'm know for a fact I've used every single one of those excuses to keep smoking and, after a while, even I got tired of hearing them from myself.

Now, don't worry. I'm not becoming one of those whiny, pretentious, self righteous non-smokers. You want to smoke? Your choice buddy. You wanna smoke next to me in a restaurant? Go for it. Doesn't bother me one bit. Going outside for a smoke? Hell, I'll join you. I could use the fresh air. I'm not going to tell you how to live your life. I've been there, done that, and loved every minute of it. Far be it from me to stop someone else from enjoying life.

However, if you are interested in quitting and are looking for some advice let me give you a few pointers:

1) YOU HAVE TO WANT TO QUIT! Yes the caps were required. If you don't want to or are "iffy" on it then don't bother trying. It's not your time.

2) It helps to have a [legitimate] reason. Mine was wanting to be around my wife as long as possible. Hers was wanting to have a baby. Just knowing it's bad for you isn't enough. Every smoker knows that before they even take that first drag. If it didn't stop you then it won't stop you now.

3) Stop smoking aids (gum, patches, etc.) are only band-aids. There is no substitute for sheer willpower. I'm a believer that they hinder more than help. You're trying to kick a chemical addiction to nicotine. Putting more nicotine into your body isn't going to solve that problem.

4) No more excuses. Your enablers won't go away when you quit. You have to find new ways of dealing with them. Me? I developed a wicked gum habit for a while. Working with my hands kept the physical need to smoke down (and got me a promotion.) You don't realize just how much time you waste smoking until you quit!

5) Just do it. Pick a date and say "That's it!" More importantly, stick to it. Trust me, when you start hitting milestones you won't want to go back. One day, one week, one month, 6 months, one year. When you hit them you won't want to start over. The bigger the milestone, the easier it is to not repeat it.

Feel free to pm me too if you have any questions on how I did it. I'm happy to share my success because I like it when others succeed too. See? There's the altruism I mentioned earlier. That's your reward for reading all this!

- N. "Soylent" White