Three-and-a-half years after I quit smoking, I was curious to see what having a smoker in my home would be like. Remember my sister Texas, who recently came to visit?
She smokes. And I'm sure some of you are thinking, "Didn't you ask her not to smoke in your home?"
And no; no, I didn't. After smoking myself for thirty flippin' years, asking another smoker not to smoke in my home would be being an a**hole.
So! I grabbed my old ashtrays, which made the move to this house with me (just in case, dontcha know), out of the far corner of a kitchen cabinet, battened down the hatches, and prepared to be tempted to smoke again.
And I can honestly say I didn't want to smoke at all.
Oh, I was fairly sure that was how it would be. When I quit, after all, even though it was during one of the most chaotic times of my life, I QUIT. I had a hard time the first few months, not because I wanted a cigarette so badly, but just because I was so damn EMOTIONAL, but honestly? It was like a switch was flipped. I quit when I had four-and-a-half cartons of cigs in my house. I just ... stopped.
In case anyone's wondering what particular method I used: Cold turkey. With the help of this book.
Done is done.
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6 comments:
Good for you! Literally and otherwise!
"Chaotic time"....Are you talking about losing Rocky? I went back and looked at his picture. What a regal looking cat at sixteen years! Fu Manchu whiskers! A cat who was particular about which mouse parts should be consumed! Anyone can see how he would leave a hole in someone's life, for sure.....Ginny
I'm happy for you. I know you've said before that you don't tell other smokers not to smoke around you, and while that's admirable, I don't think anyone (who cares for your wellbeing) would think poorly of you for asking them not to smoke in your house. I'm not telling you what you should do--just giving you some encouragement in case you change your mind about your guests. I guess I'm a bit appalled that people in your life don't automatically go outside out of respect to you.
Ginny, Rocky died the year before, although I was still mourning his passing. Gosh, wasn't he a great cat? I was house-hunting for my first house at the time I quit, and it was just crazy crazy. Work was nuts. Plus, there was the mass shooting here the DAY I quit, and just ... yikes.
and Kate, I know this is going to reflect on me poorly, but back when I was a smoker, if someone asked me not to smoke in their home, of course I would comply, but I would be a bit ... miffed. I mean, it's *only* smoke, right? ha.
Bottom line, I wanted to see my sister. Smokes and all. And it was important to my brother that she be here. And frankly, if I had told her she couldn't smoke in the house, I don't think she would have come. Life is full of compromises. :)
Glad to hear it, I have never made it past a year and a half. This time I think is the last but twice this week I have mentally reached for a smoke. Passed quick tho, 5 months now.
ha, fmcetc., I always say that I'll never start smoking again, just so I don't have to go through quitting again. Only doing that once, thankyouverymuch.
I do still have dreams where I'm smoking, though. Although instead of good dreams, like, "Yay! I'm smoking again!", they're AWFUL dreams, like, "Oh, NO! Whhhhhhyyyy did I start smoking again?"
And seeing as how my sister-in-law just died of lung cancer and my brother has battled throat cancer, well, that just reinforces my decision to stay quitted.
Congrats on five months! Buy yourself something pretty.
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