Quitting Smoking

Hey Guys,

Been a while and at the moment I am going on a personal journey of my own. A couple of weeks ago I decided I needed to take control of my life, grab it by the balls and quit those god awful cigarettes for good.

I have been a smoker for the most part of my life. I first had a smoke when i was 15. My mate stole some cigarettes off his mum and we found a cool spot to hide and try our first dart. This was the start of something massive. It was so hard to start smoking. I remember the horrid taste, the reactions my body gave off and the feeling of general unease, un-wellness and light head that come with it. When I look back on it I think of how terrible these things really are.

Over the years these things have cost me countless amounts of money. They are currently retailing at about $1.05 AUD per stick here in Australia. The government has really cracked down on smoking and cranked up the pricing. I believe there is going to be another 20% rise soon. What a waste of money. I was not a heavy smoker but I would be able to get through 10- 15 a day so that would be about an average of $90 per week. Yuck. Then my other half still smokes and would easily compete with that. Try $180 a week on out of your pay packet.... Doesn't make sense does it? I wont name anyone that I know but I do know people who smoke about 30+ cigs a day on their own. So $210 a week or an average month of $840 just to smoke.

Ok so my motivation is not what I mentioned above, money doesn't really phase me too much at all (I mean yes its a nice to have but Im not really materialistic). My biggest motivation to quit is health and long jeopardy. Sure I have done a tonne of damage to my body by smoking for so long. But with two kids I really want to stay around for as long as I can to see them grow up and see what they can achieve. I gave up smoking about 2.5 years ago for about 14 months, then took them back up again. This was one the back of seeing two close friends die of the big C. No-one knows and will know why they died but they were former smokers and left their families behind. About a year before this unfolded one of my favorite people that I had in my life growing up died of lung cancer. This is a gimme that the smokes caused this and this was one of the hardest things to watch.
So my health has been suffering because of these things of late. Constant flem, clearing my throat all the time, sinus issues and other things that a smoker would expect. I love sport and fitness and play basketball weekly and I was finding it hard to run out a game (albeit I am getting older :p). So I made the decision to give up

I weighed up the options of giving up and what I have tried before. First off Champix. This drug is pure Evil, my suggestion is unless you smoke 60 cigs a day, do not use this product, you can do it without it. This drug was developed as a phyc drug, every patient stopped smoking when taking it so they seen a money making opportunity and put it out in the marketplace. No good comes form Champix. It has so many side affects its hard to list them here. Personally the last time I tried them I went to a dark place like id never been to before, and never want to go to again. I was left feeling angry, empty and not myself. As soon as I stopped the recovery was evident but took me a while
Alan Carr's quite smoking book - This is what got me the 14 months. This book is a gem, it is like a slow hypnosis and once you read it once or twice you will never forget his tips, tricks and routines. I suggest buying or downloading this book/ ebook and giving it a go. Its a great foundation to reversing your smoking
Cold Turkey - This time I decided to give up cold turkey. I woke up one morning 2 weeks ago and decided not to smoke. This stint lasted 4 days then I went away on a camping weekend and had a few. Then a few days later on the Tuesday night I came home from basketball absolutely spent. So Wednesday morning I said to myself this is it, lets do this. It is now Sunday and I am still off the smokes. I do not want to smoke again and my head is in the right space to get to my first goal of 4 weeks.

You may be wondering how I feel right now. Well I feel proud, I feel proud I made this decision and thats one thing I find it hard to feel. From now on I focus on my health, my well being and the immediacies around me. I no longer have to clear my throat 100 times a day, there is way less mucus and my throat is not as swollen and I find it easier to breath and swallow. I am now on day 5 and the benefits I am feeling right now are sensational. I think to myself to go back to all that is stupid. Am I getting cravings???? Yes I am and have got cravings, but I understand exactly what they are. Nicotine is a drug, your body thinks it depends on this drug. When you take away that drug your body responds and it makes you feel briefly uncomfortable. This might seem like the worst thing in the world at the time. But rest assured a craving will not kill you. They will become easier and easier to handle as you work your way through them, you will rise above and the thought, the habit and desires will leave you in a few weeks.

Where too now? I now find it easier to pickup stuff to distract myself. For instance write a Steemit post, do some research or play with my photography work. I am joining a gym early this week (I set myself a goal of 1 week so I knew I could afford it by not smoking) and I plan to enjoy life that little bit better going forward without that evil s**t dictating my life. Wish me luck as I try to figure out what comes next and navigate through this

If you liked this please feel free to share and like (upvote) and even share your story in my comments :)