In previous diaries, some of the GUS regulars have mentioned that they started smoking when they were in high school. It sort of makes sense that that would be the time for people to take up smoking. For some people, smoking probably signaled adulthood to them especially if their parents or other adults in their lives smoked. For others, it may have been an act of rebellion or defiance - smoking meant they were getting away with something.
GUS (Gave Up Smoking) is a community support diary for Kossacks in the midst of quitting smoking. Any supportive comments, suggestions or positive distractions are appreciated. We avoid discussion of political issues here. If you are quitting or even thinking about quitting, please -- join us! GUS Library at dKosopedia is organically evolving, and stocked with free-range information: quit-smoking links, helpful GUS diary writing tips, and the GUS Buddy List.
High school is the period in our lives when we most want to exert our individuality and try to be “different“ sometimes just for the sake of being different. I never smoked in high school but looking back on that time in my life I can remember wanting desperately to be unlike most of my classmates just because I found them all so boring and conventional. I can remember poring over fashion magazines with my best friend trying to find clothes that nobody else in our high school was wearing so that we could be different and, therefore, special. Of course, it never occurred to us that if the clothes could be found in magazines, someone somewhere was wearing them. I’m sure there were probably other teenaged girls in towns all over the country doing the exact same thing, thinking they were one-of-a-kind and special, too.
What’s fascinating to me now is that as much as we may want to be unique and interesting, we also want to find others who are like us in some way. The very reason most of us signed up on Daily Kos is that we want to connect with people who share our political views and beliefs. This diary series is also another example of like-minded people joining over a common goal: to stay smoke-free. But even within that common experience, there are many different ways to accomplish that goal and to deal with all of the side-effects and pressures. That’s one of the things that comes up in almost every diary - the fact that everyone really is different and that what may work for one person may not necessarily work for someone else. Everyone is truly unique in that respect. Some people are lucky enough to quit cold turkey and almost never give it a second thought. Others may need a doctor’s supervision along with nicotine patches or medication like Chantrix. Others may be able to manage with nicotine gum. Some people decided to quit because of the expense or the fact that they were just tired of being dependent on a habit that had stopped working for them. Others were forced to quit when they ended up in the hospital with a serious health problem.
What has become apparent to me recently is that just because someone may want to quit does not necessarily mean that it will be easy or even possible. It has nothing to do with strength or determination or resolve. It truly does have to do with everyone being different - some people are more addicted than others. I believe that in this, as in everything else, being different is okay. If we were all the same this would be a sad, predictable world. If you are trying to quit smoking and it doesn’t work this time, please don’t think of yourself as a failure or as deficient in any way. You’re just doing it your own way - like a true non-conformist.
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