Hi everyone 
Happy New Year !
I finally kicked smoking. I'm one month and some days off smoking. From day one this quit was different than the hundred previous quit attempts. I was so sick and tired of being sick and tired. But it was more than that. A switch went off in my mind which made me grow in understanding. It was the knowledge that attachment to pleasure breeds suffering. I had understood this truth intelectually for some time, yet only once I completely integrated it did this knowledge begin to serve me. As a cigarette smoker, one is literally the same as a heroin addict; the effect of the drug isnt the same, but the addiction is. As a tobacco user you live with constant craving. I couldn't live with it anymore. I wanted freedom from craving.
I'm glad I'm free of that constant craving. I feel free now. I have more money. I have a better time at the gym. I have a better time overall. I breathe better and its bliss to be able to breathe like I do now. All this air I can get in, its so beautiful. My taste buds are way better, food is delicious. Watching movies is more fun, meditation is way deeper, all physical activity is more pleasant. I feel calmer and my heart feels healthier. My sense of smell is really amazing now too and I also smell better myself
I still get cravings. I got one just this morning after work. But its nothing compared to the cravings you get when you are going through acute nicotine withdrawl. This is completely controlable. What these cravings are basically is 8 years of conditioning from smoking cigarrettes and getting that instantanous hit in the brain, the sense of pleasure and relief. My brain still remembers it, but it will soon forget I know the damage I've done can be repared.
You have to relearn to live like normal functioning humans do without a dug addiction. It really is that amazing of a change. Its like turning into your old true and authentic self. Its really energizing. Its the right thing to do.
Future is looking good: after 8 years of smoking I'm done with it! I'm 23 and off tobacco FOR EVER. Everytime I see a cigarette or think of one I see it as handcuffing myself. I enjoy a sense of freedom and of mastery over myself that I didnt have when in active addiction to tobacco. My principles and my mind are stronger now. I feel wiser.
I wouldnt trade this freedom for anything, much less a thrill as cheap as inhaling the chemical nicotine and 10,000 other unkown chemicals which hook you immediatley, waste your hard earned money, and cause serious harm to your body.
Thank you for reading !
How long have you been off tobacco and how do you feel?
Peace and love
1 month and still quittin'
