Since most people preach it, but they never actually ‘Take a walk in someone else’s shoes’, I never bothered to put my viewpoint up. Though, I reckon its bout time – This is my story, underway…
Like most children, of smokers, I started to mimic my parents’ dirty habit (I didn’t inhale) at a young age. I grew out of it before I started school; where my friends weren’t allowed over my house. However, one neglected to tell her parents mine smoke. After our sleepover, she was banned from my house. Her parents accused us of trying to get her to smoke, because she smelled of smoke when she got home. We were only 11.
In school, I learned bout all the issues of smoking. We had the whole shebang, scared the shit out of me, I swore I’d never inhale. I started to inhale when I was 13. I didn’t start because it was a forbidden 'fruit'; my parents weren’t authoritarians. In my social group, I was the only one who did smoke; can’t blame it all on peer pressure and advertisements. I did it because, I thought it was ‘grown-up’ – I wanted so desperately to be like my parents – I enjoyed smoking.
With each hit I took, it felt like it was filling a gap in me. This gap was never there before, but smoking was the only thing that could feed/fill it; I wanted more. Didn’t realize it was due to the addiction, didn’t really care either. I was smoking 2 packs a day by the time I was 18.
I have been told to quit by perfect strangers, on numerous occasions. In my opinion, it’s hypocritical. Non-Smokers haven’t one clue what smokers go through. Ex-Smokers, well think for a second. When you were told, did you listen? No, not until you were ready to come to terms with yourself.
When I was 20, I decided I didn’t want to smoke anymore. Not because of what people had said, things I read, or a commercial. I just didn’t like it, how it makes me act, things I have to do because I need a fix…etc.
1st – I tried to quit for the first time – Cold turkey. 8 hours later, I forgot how to function I was so dizzy it was either have a cigg or pass out. By passing out I am using sleep as an excuse – It will be like I never tried. I need a job, and I need an operational body that can work for me – not against. I can’t put my family on hold just because I’m addicted to something. That would be letting them down a great deal more than I have already.
2nd – Decided to try a second time by replacing it with something I wouldn’t mind. Puzzles and movies worked pretty well. So, I set up a 1k-piece puzzle and got every DVD in the house. Went through the whole stack in a month, which was more than what the DVD player could handle. It went kaput. Then I finished my puzzle. The only thing it managed to do was cut down my smoking. Yah ok, until I grabbed a beer. Smoking and drinking go hand in hand. A smoker will smoke a minimum of 2(x) as much as normal when drinking. So, I changed that as well – Only occasional drinking.
3rd – Saw an advertisement bout tips on quitting, so I checked it out. Stuff I had already done was there. My biggest problem was the smell – I can’t get rid of it – There are 3-6 smokers here at any given moment. The only way I’ll ever be able to quit, while living with smokers that won’t quit, is gradually. I decided for the third attempt to use a time span. Which has been working well so far. It takes me, on average, 2 days to smoke a pack now. Recently, as suggested for my mental issues, I adapted a quit list (yep another one!) for when I doubt wanting or being able to quit…
Like most children, of smokers, I started to mimic my parents’ dirty habit (I didn’t inhale) at a young age. I grew out of it before I started school; where my friends weren’t allowed over my house. However, one neglected to tell her parents mine smoke. After our sleepover, she was banned from my house. Her parents accused us of trying to get her to smoke, because she smelled of smoke when she got home. We were only 11.
In school, I learned bout all the issues of smoking. We had the whole shebang, scared the shit out of me, I swore I’d never inhale. I started to inhale when I was 13. I didn’t start because it was a forbidden 'fruit'; my parents weren’t authoritarians. In my social group, I was the only one who did smoke; can’t blame it all on peer pressure and advertisements. I did it because, I thought it was ‘grown-up’ – I wanted so desperately to be like my parents – I enjoyed smoking.
With each hit I took, it felt like it was filling a gap in me. This gap was never there before, but smoking was the only thing that could feed/fill it; I wanted more. Didn’t realize it was due to the addiction, didn’t really care either. I was smoking 2 packs a day by the time I was 18.
I have been told to quit by perfect strangers, on numerous occasions. In my opinion, it’s hypocritical. Non-Smokers haven’t one clue what smokers go through. Ex-Smokers, well think for a second. When you were told, did you listen? No, not until you were ready to come to terms with yourself.
When I was 20, I decided I didn’t want to smoke anymore. Not because of what people had said, things I read, or a commercial. I just didn’t like it, how it makes me act, things I have to do because I need a fix…etc.
1st – I tried to quit for the first time – Cold turkey. 8 hours later, I forgot how to function I was so dizzy it was either have a cigg or pass out. By passing out I am using sleep as an excuse – It will be like I never tried. I need a job, and I need an operational body that can work for me – not against. I can’t put my family on hold just because I’m addicted to something. That would be letting them down a great deal more than I have already.
2nd – Decided to try a second time by replacing it with something I wouldn’t mind. Puzzles and movies worked pretty well. So, I set up a 1k-piece puzzle and got every DVD in the house. Went through the whole stack in a month, which was more than what the DVD player could handle. It went kaput. Then I finished my puzzle. The only thing it managed to do was cut down my smoking. Yah ok, until I grabbed a beer. Smoking and drinking go hand in hand. A smoker will smoke a minimum of 2(x) as much as normal when drinking. So, I changed that as well – Only occasional drinking.
3rd – Saw an advertisement bout tips on quitting, so I checked it out. Stuff I had already done was there. My biggest problem was the smell – I can’t get rid of it – There are 3-6 smokers here at any given moment. The only way I’ll ever be able to quit, while living with smokers that won’t quit, is gradually. I decided for the third attempt to use a time span. Which has been working well so far. It takes me, on average, 2 days to smoke a pack now. Recently, as suggested for my mental issues, I adapted a quit list (yep another one!) for when I doubt wanting or being able to quit…
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