Posted on 08/09/2017 9:27:30 PM PDT by American Constitutionalist
Most smokers have to learn the hard way. Smoking is as hard to quit as addicting narcotics are.
2 packs a day and made it to 80 years old. I’m not seeing a problem here.
My mother’s baby sister and best friend both died at 55 from lung cancer from smoking. My mom would have given her left arm for them to be hacking and wheezing 80 year olds.
Just curious because you don’t say; is there some reason to link your smoking and the Subclaivian Steals Syndrome?
You only mention that Nicotine would cause a problem with your new stint.
I gotta ask. Why should I give up something I enjoy because you had health problems? It makes a mockery of your handle.
Gonna throw in a few thoughts about this, knowing that I’m amongst adult friends whom I believe to be of above-average intelligence.
I’ve smoked since I was a kid. A wee one. My Mom who, passed away recently of unrelated-to-smoking illness, would have me light her cigs for her when I was little girl. That’s where it began and I’ve often wondered, due to my believing that’s the only thing I ever did right in her eyes, if I’ll ever kick it.
The first time I quit, I made it to day three, IIRC. I was never told about the extreme trembling (rattling the walls while lying in bed), but I made it through! The same day, the Twin Towers came down. I went to my Mom’s during my lunch hour to watch more news and, of course, I lit up again because … well, looked like we were going to war and seemed like life could’ve been cut short at the time and so on. ‘Course, I still had to light up hers anyway! Did that until she died, actually.
After having had a failed back surgery that left me with a paralyzed leg (mostly recovered), and having a disorder of the brain’s largest nerve (known affectionately as the “Suicide Disease”) and a host of other health problems, I’m pretty much stuck in a chair all day on most days trying to do something to help someone else to make my life meaningful in some way until the Good Lord takes me home.
The very last time I tried to quit was last year. Two or three days into it (quitting, that is) is when my Mom got taken to hospital for the final verdict, my daughter moved in a for a tumultuous, to say the least, year and a half, and my husband’s employer of 20+ years laid off everyone and locked up shop forever. So, yes, I lit up a cig.
Ha. I have a fear now of trying to quit!
I struggle mostly with it on the moral level because I fear it may displease Our Lord and Savior and that causes tremendous guilt. It became unbearable at one point and there was a load of praying. Then, while driving to see my Mom for one of the very last times in this life, I was listening to a call-in show on American Family Radio. I had been praying desperately for an answer from God about smoking. A lady called in saying that she had been praying for answer from above because she couldn’t kick it. She said she got her answer clear as a bell: “I don’t condemn you, but you may die sooner.” Now, take that however you wish, but it answered my question and eased my conscience a bit.
In the end, I have worse things than nicotine out to get me. I don’t fear pain anymore. It’s become my closest friend; always, always around. Matter fact, here right now after having forced me from my sweet slumber at 2:30 this morning. I certainly don’t fear death, as I know I won’t be alive to experience it and I know in Whom I have believed. If a person has lived a very painful life, death is looked forward to as a final and forever painkiller. A joyous release. I don’t wish to die anytime soon, but I won’t be complaining any when it finally comes knocking.
Guess I just wanted to throw out that there are people who smoke, or do other things, for reasons unapparent that we may not understand. Who thinks of a 5-y/o lighting up for Mom? (You know what? I damn near feel obligated to smoke. No kidding. It’s something more than the nicotine.) Also, who knows? Worse things could be in their life than lighting up a smoke.
There are tons of things I won’t do and I live my life by the Ten Commandments. I see people do things I know I wouldn’t do and always take a second’s pause to ask what could be in the person’s life that causes them to do such and such. Hell if I know what pain could be lurking underneath the outward action.
I guess in the end it’s about grace. Having enough of it to extend to another and say, “I hope the best for you” and actually mean it.
My hat’s off to the quitters: I congratulate all of you!
My hat’s off to the smokers, too: I hope the best for you! Hope you’re lighting up at ninety-two!
Kindest Regards,
SC
Years ago, I was on a fly in fishing trip in Canada in the middle of nowhere. One stormy evening we get a knock on our door. Everybody in the group looks at one another, like WTF. A guy from a lodge 30 miles down the river system was having withdrawals. I was smoking at the time, so I gave him a pack and he went on his way
Some years later I decided to quit. I quit smoking but got hooked on the nicotine gum. Went to Canada and left the gum at home. After a couple days I had no further cravings.
Glad to hear you kept your parts.....
Hope you are feeling better......
BTW, I smoke only vegan based, gluten free, low calorie, non-GMO cigars......I’m OK.... :^)
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-07/cigarette-butt-roads-could-help-reduce-pollution-waste/8775566
5 days in. Again. The damnedest part? I had quit for over 5 years until election night 2008..started smoking again the next morning. I truly thought we’d be rid of him after one term. 2012 did me in. Slowly crawled back..and have procrastinated and tried quitting one more time. This has to be tge one...I wish us well in our efforts.
Good advice. I lost my mom to lung cancer, and her sister to throat cancer, both in their mid 60s. Both were heavy smokers.
I quit cold turkey in March of ‘86.
The company I worked for provided me a new Chevy Caprice.
It smelled so good, I couldn’t bring myself to smoke in it, so I quit.
I vape and sense that I’m getting addicted. I look forward to it at the end of the day.
Maybe it’s just the yummy flavors.
My grandfather died at age 72. He battled emphysema for the last several years of his life because he was a chain smoker. Watching him wheeze and gasp for air was not a pleasant sight. That is probably why I never smoked.
That was a thoughtful and ibsightful post. Thank you and I wish you well.
I think that man is not smoking tobacco.
I suspect I am going to get flamed for post this but here goes:
Overall, I would say that my relationship with tobacco has been much more fulfilling than whatever I “enjoyed” with any of the women I dated over the years.
At least my briar and corncob pipes never nag me, even while expecting me to pick up the check.
I have never smoked cigarettes, but I have been a pipe and occasional cigar smoker since I was in college.
Today, I’m 59, semi-retired in decent health. I have accumulated a lovely collection of pipes over the years and I enjoy them maybe every other day.
I never get nicotine cravings, nor do I rely on tobacco for stress relief.
Case in point: I quit entirely for about six months before and after the election, which I’m sure we will all agree was an incredibly stressful time for patriots and conservatives.
I suspect I quit because I associate tobacco with comfort and relaxation, which were certainly in short supply with the threat of a Hitlery administration looming.
Finally, around late March, I finally felt an appetite for a cigar, then a pipe. Now, I continue to indulge in moderation.
Generally, I’ve found that a little tobacco helps enhance a good mood and generally helps me think. A cigar after a heavy meal is a wonderful treat.
So, my experiences with tobacco couldn’t be more different than those of cigarette smokers. I have heard much the same from other pipe and cigar smokers.
The one word we rarely hear in the ongoing tobacco debate is “moderation.”
Side question. Why are the smoking Nazis not outraged when someone smokes pot?
“hard to quit.”
Not for me and I didn’t want to quit. I quit when I had my wisdom teeth out. The pack sat on the coffee table the whole time I was quitting.
I just decided that I had to win.
That's how it was for me. Smoked for 30 years and woke up one morning and said "I'm not going to smoke today." That was almost two years ago. No gum, patches, vaping, anything. Cold turkey. Not a single puff.
Funny thing, I wasn't even planning on quitting. I still had 8 packs left in the carton I had just bought. It was as if God reached into my brain and turned off a switch.
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