Peachy's Ramblings & Muses

Sept. 9, 2010 UPDATE

As of today it’s been 4 and 1/2 weeks since my last cigarette. It now feels normal to not smoke. Another benefit I’ve just become aware of is increased productivity because of not smoking. Before, I’d get sidetracked with whatever I was doing so I could smoke. Now, I stay active and stay with the job, and don’t even think about smoking. I had heard that in the workplace smokers are more productive…B****SH*T…not true, and you smokers don’t kid yourself about this. You will be 150% more productive if you don’t smoke.

As of 7:30 PM this evening, it will be exactly 2 weeks since I had my last cigarette. I must tell you I’m turning into one of those bad-assed reformed smokers. I can’t stand the smell of it, can’t even stand the smell of dead ciggies in an ashtray.

But, I’m not going to preach to smokers. I’m simply going to relate what it’s like to not smoke after 40 years of this nasty, ugly, dependent, messy, life threatening habit. IT IS WONDERFUL!! I thought I was smelling just fine, and food was tasting okey dokey…it wasn’t until I was off cigarettes for a week or so that I began to realize just how much pleasure I’d been missing because of the 4,000 toxins in cigarette tobacco that I was forcing into my unsuspecting nose and tongue, not to mention into my lungs and everything else…poor body.

The positive sides of non-smoking are incredible…I breathe better, sleep better, and the feeling of being in total control of me is exhilarating. I sort of suspected all these years that cigarettes were controlling me more than I was controlling them. But, fact is, the addictive nature of nicotine numbs the senses, and obscures the addictive properties. Unlike other drugs, so I’ve seen because I’ve not taken them, there is an obvious side effect. People can see the craziness results…not so with cigarettes. There’s no major change in personality so it seems quite benign. Wrong..

Now as to how I did it – Chantix and their Get Quit program. What I learned though is that even though Chantix helps enormously by blocking nicotine receptors in your brain, attitude is of the utmost importance. I had to want to stop smoking…I had to want to be done with the habit. So surprise surprise…it wasn’t anywhere near as hard as all the horror stories I’ve heard about quitting smoking. If a smoker approaches breaking the habit in a sensible and intelligent way, I think it’s easier to get rid of the nicotine addiction than it is to get rid of the psychological addiction. I now understand influence of advertising, as well as sublime propaganda of the tobacco industry.

I’m also inclined to believe now that the horror stories about quitting smoking have been perpetuated and handed down from generation to generation. The tobacco industries have no interest in disavowing this myth, so therefore, no effort has gone into that aspect of it. If the tobacco companies were forced to advertise that quitting isn’t as hard as they’d have you believe, more people might be tempted to throw their ciggies away.

Since I don’t think that news about how easy it is to quit is going to be publicized anytime soon though, I am announcing here and now: QUITTING SMOKING IS NOT AS HARD AS SOME PEOPLE WOULD HAVE YOU BELIEVE! A right attitude is most of the battle, and trust me, if you quit you will be so proud of yourself you won’t be able to stand it!

Last but not least, friends and family have helped me go through this process, and I am forever grateful for them. Friends here on FB have written me so many encouraging words, and that’s been very important.