If I can quit. A donkey can quit.

Well, where do I begin? The first day I smoked, I smoked around 7 cigarettes and I didn't even puke. I loved it so much that I made a commitment to myself to be a smoker for at least a next few years. I was 18 at that time. From that day forward, when I woke up, I smoked 2 cigarettes, with tea - one, a talk on the phone, 1 or 2 more, another coffee, another 2, you know - the usual. All hardcore smokers understand what I am taking about.

Then it got worse when I started playing guitar and joined a band. But the strange thing was I never needed anything, no drugs or anything. All I ever wanted was alcohol and cigarettes. So I decided to stick to it real good! Heartbreaks, good news, bad news, nice, ugly, sad, happy, birthday, long weekends, going to the toilet, after shower, every opportunity I got, I always had my hand to my mouth.

I come from a family so dysfunctional that if a normal person will hear my story, they will want to crawl under their bed and cry. So, smoking became my refuge.

Few thousand cigarettes later, when I was 24, I decided to quit for the first time. I failed miserably. I went for a health check up, doc said I was healthy as a horse, so on my way back I bought a lighter and a pack. I did not care at all.

But after trying to quit for about 50 times, I finally gave up the addiction because at that time my doc did not give me a clean bill of health. I had started having problems with my heartbeats and respiration. I always thought if Steven Tylor, and other son-of-a-gun can pull it off, and still be smoking at their age, I thought I was pretty much immune to it too. Sadly, it wasn't the case. I was only 29.

Then I started walking, then a bit of exercising, then taking lots of cold shower when I felt the urge, and instead of smoking I switched to a glass of red wine or two a day. That really helped a lot me in the beginning. When ever I felt down, worried sad or got any negative, I'd take my music with me (mostly new musics) and go for a run.

14 months later, without even 1 single slip up. I am happy to say that I am a non-smoker. And I want to wish you luck in solving your own little Rubik's cube. Because if you ask me, quitting smoking is nothing but a big .. mind game. Good luck, you'll get there one day for sure! If not, your Doc will get you there, the choice is yours. Ha ha..!

You don't need fancy patches, or drugs. Just go cold turky! Then you can really see what a monster you have become. It will make you hate your addiction even more. But I did download Alen Carr's book, its free. Gud luck!