Today I decided to quit smoking. Once again. In a very very dark way it’s hilarious how that decision actually filled every part of my body with pure terror. I only had my last cigarette some 10 minutes ago and I’m actually shaking and feeling really sick. Not because of the cigarette but because a part of my mind refuses the idea and is telling the rest of me I can’t do this. That I can’t just give up using the drug that has been there for me for years and years.
Still, I have to do this. I’ve had a terrible cough for weeks now and even though that’s partly because I had a nasty flu a couple of weeks back I know smoking certainly isn’t helping any. I’m so tired of coughing endlessly until every muscle in my system hurts and I feel like throwing up.
How did I ever end up becoming a smoker anyway? It’s one of the three most retarted things I’ve done in my life and I’ve done quite a few of those – believe me. Still, I have a bunch of fond memories that are closely related to smoking. The cigarettes have been there for me when it has felt like the rest of the world has united against me. They have comforted me when I’ve felt miserable. They have celebrated the high points of life with me. But this friendship comes with a price that I’m not willing to pay; it’s clear that it will eventually take my health. So, farewell old friend. You’ve become a powerful enemy.
The blogger is going cold turkey now so excuse me if I’m in lousy mood for a few days. If any of you smokers out there would like to share this experience with me, please report yourself and we can quit together.
Good Luck Jouni !! If I can do it, so can you !!
The trick is you have to tell yourself you can do it! You definitely can do it! That’s the way I’ve quit…
First I made myself aware of the bad influence of smoking on my health, this during a couple of months. Every time I woke up and smoked my first cigarette in the morning with some coffee, I really noticed I felt a bit sick after that… plus every time I had one of those laughing-kicks (those good ones - with tears on your face) I really noticed some uncomfortable feeling in my lungs, a feeling that easily could become pain… so I let all those impressions grow till I really didn’t want to smoke anymore. So the last evening I smoked the rest of my packet of cigarettes, was aware of that slight sickness again… usually the next morning I’d have run out for cigarettes, but I just didn’t do it. I told myself that I was not an ex-smoker, but a non-smoker. So I errm… cried the whole day, that was funny actually. In the evening I decided to stay at home (it was a Friday) and I watched a crappy movie on tv, it was about a girl dying from aids or something dramatically like that… and with every sentence I started crying again. My housemates were staring at me like "What the fuck…?" But after that, I had quit smoking. Just told myself every time again "Not an ex-smoker, a non-smoker… I can do it, it’s just cigarettes, remember how sick you felt…"
It worked for nine months. I started smoking again because I thought I gained some weight… =/ But I’m sure you’re not a girl who complains about 0,5kg, so that shouldn’t be a problem! And another beautiful effect of quitting is that you have such a clear sleep and a lot more (nicer!) dreams…! Already after a couple of smoke-free days. Good luck!
Thanks Narsil for your great input. Yeah, I’m sure I’m going to be a whiny little bitch for a few days now and I do feel like shit at the moment - already!
I’ve actually done this before so I’m pretty familiar with how it goes. First 2 days are the worst ones and after that the "I must smoke NOW"-feeling wears down little by little. If I can do this for 2 weeks the rest of it shouldn’t be a problem anymore. Then I just have to be careful not to slide back into smoking again. That’s what happened the last time when I quit; I slowly starting smoking again because I told myself that "one cigarette after lunch isn’t something I couldn’t handle."
A big mistake. For an ex-smoker lighting up a cigarette is just like shooting heroin must be for be for a recovering junkie. You can’t just do one. Eventually it leads to another and before you even notice how it happened you’re pumping that shit into your system again just like before.
Two friends of mine quit at the same time and made this deal:
The first person to smoke a sigarette has to pay for a shipment of records from juno.co.uk worth about 500€ for the other person.
None of them has smoked since. I guess it’s both the fact that they will loose the bet and that they will have to pay for someone elses records that keep them away. (and that they don’t want to smoke..).
If you want to we can do it one-way.. if you smoke again, you buy me 500€ worth of records from Juno :) You need the motivation Jouni!
Hey Tjoohoo, I miss you already !!
Jouni, the best piece of advice I can give you, is to try to spend as little time as possible with smokers.
I cut a whole group of smoker friends out of my social circle for 6 months and started hanging out with non-smokers. First of all, it kept me from thinking about smoking, second of all, I didn’t want to bother my non-smoker friends. It just came naturally :)
good luck man
you’ll see how much money you’ll save ;)
good luck!! hmmmm, this topic makes me thinking about the same…..hmmmmm. hmmmm………
Today has been pretty hard but I haven’t smoked a cigarette. ^_^
Tjoohoo, the problem with a deal like that is the fact that I don’t really have to keep it. Ok, I could promise you 500€ if I smoke but then again do you really think I’d tell you if I sneaked out in the middle of the night for a cigarette? I’m quite honest, but not that honest! :D
Camille, all of my best friends are smokers so I can’t really do that or I won’t be leaving the house at all. Most of them have tried quitting themselves several times so I’m pretty sure they’ll be quite supportive though. :)
Nounours67, thanks!
Mike, Just think about the 8e / pack you paid in Paris! :D
Still counting? =)