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. If you are quitting or even just thinking of quitting, please join us! We kindly ask that politics be left outside.
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A message to ALL quitters (and would-be quitters): You don't have to avoid GUS if you have a failed quit. We won't give you a bad time or nag you. We consider the failed quits as "practice" for the real quit.
Ten years ago today, I had my last cigarette.
I had decided---on a whim, really, after a nasty chain-smoking marathon session putting together an issue of the magazine I was working on at the time---that I should finally quit. No advance plan, no time to think it through or talk myself out of it, I would simply not buy a new pack of cigarettes that day, or ever.
I was over it. It was time.
I went home and methodically smoked my way through the last pack of smokes I would ever buy, one after the other, like it was my job. God forbid I waste a penny of that $6.50 I had already wasted buying them! At the end of the pack, I took the last one out on my deck with a little glass of wine, staring into the trees and wrapping my head around the reality that this was it...because it was, that mental switch had already flipped, I was done. Sitting in the dark, I took the last draw on the last one and defiantly stubbed it out in my little wine glass.
With that gesture, after a rocky, confusing, mostly unpleasant, personally expensive 22-year relationship, nicotine and I finally called it quits.
Exhale.
Deep breath.
Easy enough. Just stop, right?
HA! Tell that to your brain and body.
I won't get into the nitty gritty details of how NOT easy it was, not today. After all, I've already shared those in all their glory more than once, right here at GUS, in the more than 260 diaries I've posted over the entire five-year history of the community (which, I just realized, I've been a part of for just a little more than half of my quit time). Been there, done that.
Instead, I'm trying to put ten smoke-free years into perspective.
When you quit smoking, you save money. If you're a heavy smoker, like I was, you save a LOT of money. Seven years in, I'd saved enough to put a down payment on my house. I'd never have been able to afford the place if I hadn't quit. I can thank quitting for literally putting a roof over my head.
When you quit smoking, your whole life changes, in ways you didn't anticipate. You really have to re-learn how to be in the world, re-learn how to do a thousand thousand things without smoking in the picture. Sometimes it's hard, confusing, or stressful. Sometimes it makes you depressed and anxious. Sometimes you backslide or get stuck. Sometimes it's unexpectedly, completely awesome. You learn to focus on that last thing, and figure out ways to cope with the others, until they start wafting away like that last cloud of smoke drifting into the air, finally vanishing.
When you quit smoking, your health starts improving right away. You may not notice it at first---especially if you are quitting without nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) and are feeling the physically and emotionally unpleasant side effects in full force---but good things start happening within twenty minutes. How's that for instant gratification? In my experience, smokers are big on instant gratification, so this should be an appealing feature. Of course you don't have to wait ten years to start feeling better, though the rewards for sticking to a quit really start paying off decade down the road:
10 years after quitting
The risk of dying from lung cancer is about half that of a person who is still smoking. The risk of cancer of the larynx (voice box) and pancreas decreases.
Sweet! Now I've got that 15-years quit cardio benefit to look forward to. And in just over a year, I'll have been quit half as long as I smoked. Milestones are good.
When you quit smoking, you change the way other people experience you as a person. I have a niece entering high school in a few weeks...she doesn't even remember me as a smoker, which is great. I have friends who have never known me as a smoker, someone who has to take a bunch of smoke breaks or always smells suspiciously of mints & Febreze, with hints of ashtray. I don't have to deal with the negative first impression that some people get when introduced to someone who smokes, or cope with unsolicited advice about my tobacco use from family, friends, or total strangers "who just mean well." It's a relief.
So---if you're still smoking, and looking for a sign to quit? Consider this your sign.*
Delaying things won't make it easier, it will just postpone the inevitable---after all, as I used to remark with smoker's gallows humor, well all end up quitting eventually, whether we want to or not, har har har---why not start YOUR ten years (or more) right here, right now?
August 20th is a lucky quit date, I'm telling you.
*I swear to God, as I typed these words, my dog started wagging his tail in his sleep. Even my DOG agrees it's a sign!
Who's Your Little Buddy?
1BQ, 2thanks, 3rdGenFeminist, 417els, A Man Called Gloom, Abra Crabcakeya, Actbriniel, addisnana, AfroPonix, aishmael, Alise, Alpha99, also mom of 5, ambeeeant, American in Kathmandu, amk for obama, andsarahtoo, angry marmot, Anne933, anodnhajo, aoeu, AoT, aquarius2001, arcadesproject, Archie2227, arodb, Arthur Wolf (in memoriam), assyrian64, Aunt Acid, awkawk, b4uknowit, BadKitties, bamablue, BARAKABETH, barnowl, b barrie, bdizz, beatpanda, beefydaddy18, betterdemsonly, BFSkinner, bgblcklab1, BigAlinWashSt, Bike Crash, BirderWitch, BJKay, bleeding heart, blingbling65, blue husky, Blue Intrigue, bluedust, BluejayRN, BlueJessamine, BlueMississippi, Bluerall, bluestatedem84, BoiseBlue, boudi08, Brahman Colorado, breedlovinit, BrenP, BrianParker14, Bronxist, broths, BrowniesAreGood, bsmechanic, Buckeye Nut Schell, buddabelly, Bugsydarlin, bumbi, BusyinCA, cactusgal, cagernant, Carol in San Antonio, CathiefromCanada, CathodeRay, CDH in Brooklyn, Cedwyn, cee4, Cen Den, ChocolateChris, 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GreenMountainBoy02 (in memoriam), greylox, grndrush (in memoriam), GrumpyWarriorPoet, GuerillaLiberal, GulfExpat, gzodik, Haningchadus14, Haole in Hawaii, HappyinNM, henlesloop, here4tehbeer, HeyMikey, hideinplainsight, High Tide, hiliner68, history first, hold tight, Homers24, Hugh Jim Bissell, hulibow, I love OCD, I said GOOD DAY sir, Im a frayed knot, imisa, Indexer, indubitably, indyada, Interceptor7, Inventor, Isaacsdad, ItsaMathJoke, itsbenj, itsjim, Jahiz, James Earl, JamesEB, janl1776, Janeo, jarbyus, JayinPortland, jayjaybear, jbalazs, JBL55, jbou, Jeffersonian Democrat, jillwklausen, jmadlc55, jmonch, Joes Steven (aka Steven), john keats, john07801, johngoes, johnny wurster, jsfox, just another vet, JVolvo's Mom (in memoriam), jwinIL14, Kai99, kailuacaton, Kamakhya, kat herder, katchen, Kelly of PA, khloemi, Khun David, Kitsap River, kittania, kos, KrazyKitten, Kristina40, Ksholl, labwitchy, ladypockt, Lahdee, LamontCranston, langerdang, LarsThorwald, LA rupert, last 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sowsearsoup, SpecialKinFlag, spmozart, spotDawa, SpotTheCat, StateOfGrace, Statusquomustgo, stiffneck, stonekeeper, suesue, sunbro, Super Grover, susans, Syoho, tallmom, tarkangi, Tay, tdslf1, teknospaz, The Eyewitness Muse, The grouch, The Technomancer, The Termite, theatre goon, TheGeneral, TheStoopingRabbit, tigerdog, TigerMom, Tim DeLaney, tiredofcrap, TomP, tonyahky, Toyotabob7, TracieLynn, TreeFrog, triciawyse, tripodisblack, trs, trueblueliberal, TrueBlueMajority, ttanner, Tulsonian, Turn VABlue, Turtle Bay, Tyto Alba, uc booker, UncleCharlie, Unduna, Unforgiven, ursoklevar, USArmyParatrooper, VA02 femocrat, Vacationland, valadon, Vayle, vc2, Vetwife, vgranucci, Via Chicago, Village expects idiot home soon, viral, vulcangrrl, waytac, webranding, Wee Mama, weelzup, Wes Opinion, Whimsical Rapscallion, willy be frantic, willy mugobeer, Wood Dragon, wolfie1818, Wordsinthewind, Wreck Smurfy, x, xopher, yet another liberal, Zotz
Have you had some experience with the effects of smoking, and want to write a GUS diary or host an open thread? Please sign up in the Butt Can (Tip Jar), and name the day and time that works for you. The weekly GUS Diary Schedule is below, with regular hosts in bold. There's an open slot just calling your name!
Wed PM: Vacationland (You Are Here)
Thu AM: anodnhajo
Thu PM: Open
Fri AM: flumptytail
Fri PM: Open
Sat AM: Open
Sat PM: Open
Sun AM: gchaucer2
Sun PM: Open
Mon AM: Homers24
Mon PM: Open
Tue AM: gchaucer2
Tue PM: Open
Wed AM: Homers24
If you can spare a few hours, please consider hosting GUS. It doesn't have to be a permanent slot; it can be a one-time deal or just an open thread! Not sure where to start? Just ask for help in the Butt Can (Tip Jar). Seriously, it doesn't have to include specific elements or require all sorts of fabulous diary formatting skills. The regulars will make sure stuff gets carried over from diary to diary, so if you want to just tell your story or provide an open thread and host for a few hours, that's cool too. You do not need to be perfect, you do not need to become a regular, and you would make some quitters very happy.