Two Years and I'm Still a Non-Smoker

It's hard to believe it's only been two years since we quit smoking. It feels like much longer, despite the fact that I smoked for more than 20 years, too.

I was thinking about that the other day when a friend asked about "that book I read to quit smoking". I happily told him to pick up "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" by Allen Carr (I hope I spelled all that right, though I doubt there is another guy with a similar name that wrote a book about stopping smoking).

As I was saying...this made me think about what it was like when I smoked, and what it's like now (after a couple years being smoke-free). First of all, I still don't miss it. I don't have any insane cravings and I don't envy smokers at all. If anything, in this winter season I find myself shaking my head when I see some poor bloke standing outside in the drizzling, windy, cold - suffering just to "feed the beast". Meanwhile I'm warm and cozy and couldn't be bothered.

Last month, we had dinner with some friends. One of them is a smoker and actually excused himself during the dinner to slip outside for a quick smoke. Aside from the fact that it really isn't polite, I was stunned as I realized that he was actually a little embarrassed that he had to interrupt the social occasion because of his addiction. At that moment I remembered that I had felt that way myself many times as a smoker. I was again reminded that I wasn't missing a thing.

What it's like now.
I love that I can sit inside on a day when the weather is inclement, or sit inside and snuggle down with a book for hours uninterrupted! I love that my car still smells NEW and my clothes smell like nothing. My mother also quit a couple years ago, and one thing that is really obvious now is that at family gatherings, the whole family stays together longer. Before, when a few of us smoked, we would sneak off after tea or dinner and have a smoke, or two, or three...leaving the family indoors (especially when the weather was less than pleasant), and essentially cutting the family time short. Now the family stays together and there is no nervous agitation to step out.

Sadly now there are even more reasons to quit, like the fact that the crappy, cheap brand costs almost $4.00 a pack now. We used to smoke American Spirit (the natural brand) and they're up to $6.00+ a pack. Wow. I don't think so. I can think of a lot better things to spend my money on, thanks. A friend of mine quit 6 months ago and put the money she would have spent each day on cigarettes in a jar. She bought a new laptop a couple months ago. =)

And now the domestic cigarettes have a flame retardant in the actual cigarette itself (as if they weren't toxic enough before!). Yeeeaaaah, this would be a good time to pick up that book if I were a smoker. Seriously.

Anyway, I thought I'd update since it's been a couple years in case you were wondering if I was still a non-smoker. I'm happy to report that I am and expect I'll continue to be. The air is so much clearer from where I'm sitting now.