I just wanted to stop in to say hi. It has been a while since I have been on here. It is the end of the year and in sales that means three months of crazy - certainly no time to be sitting in my garage inhaling poison.
For those of you that dont know my story, I smoked for almost half my life, started at 16 - finally quit for good at 34. I am on my 4th real (and this time forever) quit. I quit for 8 months, then about a year when I was pregnant. Then had another 8 months until I ruined that quit this past summer and now I am on day 81 of my real life.
I thought my last quit was my forever quit but I think I needed to learn the hard way what one puff will do to me. I am now fully aware.
For those of you at the begining of this journey, or quitting again (like I have so many times), I do promise that it gets easier. I really dont think about smoking at all anymore even with a husband that is still a smoker. And I have no desire to smoke. I finally let go of any inclination that smoking brought me joy. I now see it for what it truly is. A disgusting, smelly, time draining, money sucking, death sentence. Not much to enjoy once you tuly strip the false emotion out of it.
I have also put my addictive personality to good use. I am now running and exercising up to 5 times a week. I decided that I didnt just want to quit. I wanted to live the lifestlye i always imagined for myself. I was a runner in high school before I started smoking. I wanted to rediscover that girl that I had tucked away for so many years. On thanksgiving morning I ran a 5K turkey trot. And I ran it in 29:09, that is about 9:20 per mile. Not too shabby for a girl that smoked a pack a day for the majority of her adult life. I have actually lost about 7 pounds since I quit smoking.
Anything is possible. You just have to finally believe it. I thought for so long that I would never be able to be a non-smoker, that it would always consume my life, that it was always going to make me cranky to be around my husband or other smokers, that I was never going to feel "normal" and that that empty feeling would never go away. That all finally went away..when......well, on the day I let it. It helps to get a few months out and let you brain chemistry rebalance itself a bit, but really you have the power to think different the moment you let yourself.
Everyone of you is strong enough to fight this battle but it is when you finally get some clarity you will see the simplicity of the matter. You can never smoke again and thats it. You have this whole amazing life waiting for you. Quitting will only enhance your life and in ways that you will never imagine. So celebrate your new life and dont allow the negative thoughts in. They aren't even real, they are created by your addiction. Smoking never will, never has and is never going to make anything better or more enjoyable...that is your job! And you can do it this very second.
Happy Friday, enjoy your weekend and go out there and live your life...the way you have always wanted to!
And happy 700 to someone who has always believed in me and I am sure many of you - Tommy - you are a rock star and I am sure have saved more lives than you will ever know - including mine 🙂
Take care,
Jaime (like James) a very happy quitter!!
