55 days
660 cigs not smoked
Time saved 2 days 18 hours
Now that I am nearing the 2 month mark for my quit I am looking back and how the hell I managed to do it. I enjoyed smoking. I never really wanted to quit. I did knew that I should but was I telling myself to put it off because I was busy or stressed or what have you.
I hope my process helps others because I am still here despite the ups and downs.
I started by having a commentary every time I smoked. I always told myself how bad it was and I would think about all of the bad things it does to me. I did this for a good 6 months before the day came. I decided on quitting for one day. That day was awful. I was very tired all day and slept for most of it. In retrospect sleeping that day away was what saved me. Once I had a day under my belt it was much harder to go back. When day two began I thought about how I had made it a whole day and decided on one more hour. then another hour...and another. By the end of day two I was worn thin. I had my packet half finished still sitting by the door. I would go outside with it and just smell them. I would take a few deep fresh breaths and go back inside. I would place them right back in their spot. I don't think I said to myself "I am going to quit" so my process was a matter of trying for one more hour. If I had looked at it as a life long thing I am certain I would have caved. That just seems to big for me.
The days progressed one bit of time after one bit of time. Day four hit and I had massive cravings. That is when I found this site. From that moment on any cravings that were about to do me in were push through by reading and sharing in the struggle. I learned that I am stronger because of you. When you have a good or bad day or just want to be silly, you improve my ability to stay quit. I have never been so fond of people I have never met before!
As the days and weeks went by I kept reminding myself that I can smoke at any time so there is no rush to do so. Starting back up is easy so what is waiting 10 minutes and then waiting another.
What makes my quit work for me is that I have decided that if I start up again that I will be a smoker for life. When I want to have a puff I think to myself "am I ready to make this choice for life?". It is quite a profound way for me to combat the "just one puff" nag in my head. I don't get to have just one puff. The choice I make in any given moment is for life. So my choice in this moment is to not smoke. I will worry about the next moment when it comes.
I have had some bad days but now all my days have a bit of good in them as long as I am quit. I have had 2 days and 18 hours more of time to just live life. Imagine yourself smoking for 2 day and 18 hours straight! Or at the beginning of every month smoking for a whole day. 24 hours of just smoking. It's madness right?
I am saving time. I am saving money. Most important, I am saving my life.
For every hour you don't smoke, you are saving time, money, and you are saving your life. I don't care if you are on your first quit or your 20th quit, your life is worth saving! (Time and money are pretty cool too!)