Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 839
. . . ...
2/29/2020 at 9:21 AM
I started and stopped young. My take may or may not be useful, but either way, here it is. The year was 2006/2007ish.
I started smoking at 18 after a friend of mine introduced me to flavoured cigarillos at the time. Though it started there, my job at a convenience store put everything else tobacco-related at my fingertips. So I started carrying around a pack of menthols and cigars, then menthols only. Then non-menthols became my daily fix.
I don't think I smoked more than 2 a day, maybe 3 or 4 towards the end of the endeavour.
Things went haywire for a few months so I liked having the crutch. But after things settled, I realized that I didn't like that I was essentially engaging in a hidden addiction. I didn't tell a soul, and if people knew, it was because they were trusted OR they figured it out.
So one day on the way home from work I decided that enough was enough. I took the pack I was carrying (about a half pack, and a lighter) and I pitched it in a dumpster in a back lane. You know, one of those old beige beasts that I wouldn't be compelled to go digging in later lol.
Of course, I fell off the wagon the next day. However, following the initial pack, I never could get through an entire pack again.
After the first relapse, that pack was pitched a day or so later. Then replaced again 2 or 3 days later lol. But even though the cycle repeated, the timeframes eventually lengthened in-between. Days to weeks, weeks months. Months to years. To now, when I don't recall the last time I picked up a cigarette. And I have no desire for one either, no matter what life throws my way.
The only time I struggle with is early fall, really. Such was the time of year of good times in the past, which I associate with smoking. Pumpkin spice season is when I have to be on my guard to avoid doing something dumb and nostalgic.
I'm a minor case if there ever was one. But I will say this . . . don't be your harshest critic if you find yourself with a smoke in your hand again. That just fuels a negative cycle, which means more smoking.
Rather than beat yourself up, try instead to pick up where you left off.
Humans are not perfect, stuff happens. We can try this again tomorrow
On a somewhat related note, it's interesting to me that 2 of the stepping stones for me (cigarillo singles, menthol cigarettes) are now illegal for sale in Canada. However, I don't like what I am seeing in the vaping industry. On the bright side, however, it seems that the regulators are FINALLY starting to step into this area. Though, not before they were able to hook a new generation onto a new flavour of an old habit.
Edited by Simonwalcal, 2020-02-29 09:27:48