4 Years Quit Smoking

4 years, a month and some…
My Quit Date: 8/6/2007 9:20 AM

So I didn’t post up my 4 year Wahoo! … in all fairness, it was during my holidays, I just finished moving into a new place. And I was on the road with the kid.

Being away from the habit, I don’t miss it. It’s so nice not having those little thoughts that keep plaguing every moment. It’s nice not having the dependant actions around that little tube filled with plant leaves and over 500 chemicals. It’s so nice to not throw money away at something that only momentarily clouded my perception and falesly removed stress. It’s so nice being free.

I don’t need to schedule my actions and think ahead for that. I don’t need to start thinking ahead of where I need to be so I can satisfy the craving. I don’t need to check my pockets for them and all other accessories before I leave. I don’t need to think of ‘what place is open in case I run out’.

Easy to do? No. Setbacks? Yes. But anything worth while (including yourselves individually) is worth working on. And it is work. If not, it would be called play. The best way to get here, is not give up, don’t stop quitting.

I’ve gained freedom, perspective, and control.

And I’m still here,
Pearce

The Numbers

Cigarette free for 1101 days.

If there was no quit, I’d have breathed in the crap from 13212 smokes.

Based on average 1mg of nicotine per cig, that’s a total of 13.2 kilograms total. Lethal single dose average is around 40-60 mg. Averaged out, that’s around 264 lethal doses. I would have inhaled enough nicotine to kill 264 people, that’s about a third of SARS mortality to date.

King Size cig is 85mm or 8.5 cm… Lined up, that would be 1123.02 kms. Which is the diameter of one of Saturns moons, Dione.

Most of the time, I don’t think about it at all. But occasionally, the nico-demon rears up, I’ve gotten a lot better of ignoring it, and it’s a lot quieter.

I still get cravings.

I still have nicotine dreams where I wake up feeling guilt that I have broken my quit and I have to go through the withdrawl all over again.

It’s been 3 years and five days. This is my quit.

I’m still here,
Pearce