I have been smoking cigarettes for over 6 years now or, well up until four months ago when I decided to quit!
First things first, I never liked the smell of cigarettes, and always told my parents that it would never happen, I would never start to smoke.
Well, as you probably already figured out, I started smoking. This happened pretty quick after high school, mostly because all of my friends were smoking, and I had very bad self esteem, so I thought I would fit in better if I had a cigarette every now and then.
At first I didn't smoke that much, maybe a few cigarettes a day, but as time goes, the addiction started taking over and suddenly I was smoking at least a pack a day.
This continued up till the summer two years ago. This was the summer when I met this amazing girl, who I now live with. Just as me, she was smoking.
As I continued spending time with her, I figured I should probably quit smoking because I felt very un-fresh smoking as much as I did.
I had a hectic summer with my work and therefore me quitting never really happened.
About half a year after this attempt to quit, my girlfriend succeeded in quitting and I started working at kindergarten.
At kindergarten it was forbidden to smoke during my work days, which ment I had to go from smoking a pack of cigg a day to going 8 hours with out a single cigarette.
This went surprisingly good! I figured it were all just in my head, and because I was prepared and psyched to spend 8 hours a day without smoking, I succeeded without any problems.
This brings us up to four months ago, when I decided to quit. Why did I quit?
After about a year and a half of me working at kindergarten with these daily eight hour breaks from nikotin, I believed I could quit.
So why?
I wanted to smell and breath the fresh air, to save some money and most important of all, to prove to myself I could do it!
I decided on a date when I should quit, and when the day finally came four months ago, I was really positive about it.
As eager as I was, and as my self esteem have grown bigger, I decided to not just quit cigarettes but all nikotin products!
The first week I barely slept, I was just laying in my bed, staring at the ceiling whilst sweating.
I had problems waking up in the mornings, an early morning cigarette with the coffee was my passion and motivation to get up.
Now as I had no cigarette I felt empty, I started noticing how I always had my cigarettes to support me with everything I did.
After every meal, with every coffee, when I was celebrating, when I was down or stressed... The list goes on, I had a cigarette for everything!
It's been some though months I have gone through, I have been having lots of problems focusing on stuff as all I could think about was the cigarette.
Somehow I made it through the first month which were by far the most difficult time for me. And because all the suffering I have gone through I have decided to never ever smoke a cigarette again.
Today I still feel the urge to have a cigarette, but nowhere near as bad as it's been. I can even go a few days without thinking about a cigarette, then I realise, "Wow, I haven't even thought about cigarettes for a few days!" which for me is some great progress.
Also I'm getting better with waking up in the mornings, as I before enjoyed the cigarette with my morning coffee, I now really enjoy the fresh air outside, as I breath all the outside smells are coming back to me.
And at first it might not seem like it but, I'm saving lots of money, a pack of cigarettes are over 6€ in Finland, that will add up to a monthly fee of 180€ if you smoke a pack daily. Crazy!
I made a pros/cons list for you guys, there are probably a bunch more advantages and disadvantages for a smoker but I guess these are the ones I mainly focused on.
Pros & Cons for a smoker
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Intercourse | Unhealthy for both you and others around you |
| A reason for a break | Bad condition |
| Stress relief | Very un-fresh |
| Routines | Worse anger management |
| - | Expensive |
| - | Carcinogenic |
