>>2570934I smoked for a looooooong time. Started with Camel Wides at 12, regular smoker at a half pack a day by 19, and finished with Spirits like so many others. I've had such a brutal relationship with cigarettes over the years, lots of my best friends smoke and many of the best memories were enjoyed with a cigarette in my hand but honest to god the health effects were just not fucking worth it.
I had quit for 4 years when I relapsed into nicotine addiction due to a super stressful dream job I got. Smoking was one of the few things that felt like calmed me down, and it suppressed my appetite which meant I was able to eat fewer lunches and get more work in... I thought that was a win-win for a long time hahaha.
Anyway, did that for just 2 months and it was like those 4 years off never even happened, I felt the itch so bad again and was totally hooked. I needed to go through the whole withdrawal process again, kicked it off with a big send-off solo backpacking trip in '21 where I just went fishing lakes for 25 miles as I dwindled down to my last fag.
"End of the Line" I called it, and that was the last one I had. I still think about it all the time, how easy and comfy it would be to light up again on a cool fireside night, but I have to remind myself that I've got shit I wanna do with my life still and each cigarette robs me a little bit of that. Training for my first mountain marathon this August and I've never felt better in my life. It's really worth it to quit some time anon, I did it by reading Allen Carr's "Easy Way to Quit Smoking". Obviously if you love it, you love it and I don't fault ya for it, that shit is comfier than fucking anything, but once you live without it, it's like you unlock another level in life.
