Ready to be done

Today marks my 6th day smoke free. I have been reading the quit stories of others to help me during my quit, and I must say I have been so inspired, I decided to join this site and share mine. I smoked my first cigarette when I was 14. I am now 32 and have been a pack a day smoker for many years. I had tried to quit a few times in the past, but obviously it never stuck. I was successful with the patch, right before vapes hit the market in a big way. Once I discovered those, I thought "Great! I can use this and have my cake and smoke it, too!" I was wrong. Every one I got would break, leak, or otherwise be a huge pain, so I just went back to cigs after a year of being tobacco free.

Now, I am simply tired of spending all of my money to feel like garbage. My last cig was last Thursday night. I put on the patch Friday morning and all has been going well. I have continued reading about quitting and other people's stories, and the more I read the more I learn that NRT is just prolonging the inevitable. I took off the patch this evening and I am ready to face withdrawal and just get it over with.

As far as for already being smoke free for 6 days, my breathing has greatly improved, my sense of smell is better than it has been in ages. There is a factory near my work that makes tortilla chips, and I had never smelled it before! I am excited to be able to run, which is something I have never said before.

I am glad to be tackling this addiction now so that my young children do not grow up thinking smoking is fine because dad does it. My father smokes and has since he was young, and that definitely helped me rationalise it as a rebellious youth, but I hope to set a better example for my kids and maybe I can set an example for him, too.

Not smoking feels great! Stay strong!