Hi Zep and everyone.....
This is really an important post. My quit has become on obsession with me. It took me 41 years to take the plunge and it has been a time of revelation and joy.
It was a fairly easy quit if I compare it to many of the others I have seen on the board.....but it does not make it any less valued. It has been an awakening...it has been a truth faced and it has made me a lot stronger person. I know that I may never have the desire to quit again nor may I ever get a chance to quit again should I take a puff. I have learned that all quits are different......this one was a joy...if I had to do it again, the next could be terrible. I have learned that this quit is mine....I did it by myself and, by the same token...I am the only one that can keep it. If I go back to smoking, it won't be because a crises has occured or a job lost or someone did not say hello to me today......it will be because I ignored all that I learned and all that I was taught and took a puff....all by myself. This quit has made me a stronger person and a healthier one....It has made me happier and prouder......and i never ever want to forget that I smoked or let anything get hazy in my mind, because I know and have learned that I'm only one puff away from not only a full fledged addiction.....but I could possibly be only one puff away from my death.
Linda.........After smoking for 41 years...I have been smokefree for one year, one month, two weeks, three days, 8 hours, 56 minutes and 22 seconds. 8287 cigarettes not smoked, saving $1,243.12. Life saved: 4 weeks, 18 hours, 35minutes.