Update - 2nd year anniversary

Update all - it’s my 2nd year quit on 1 January 2021. I have another year added to my tally. Thought I would patch in and update as I think of my quit at this time every year and I also think about this group. And the lovely people who supported me like Happiness, PuffNoMore, Nuts and others.

So what was year 2 like ? Better than year 1. All the noise is totally gone now. I have had those moments where I have declared “oh I wish I still smoked I would have one right now”. But I don’t mean it. I know I will never pick up a cigarette again. I can’t. I am an addict.

What I will say is I learnt a bit more about myself this year without cigarettes as apposed to my first year when I was getting through it all. When I quit I felt like such a crazed addict. Well I was an addict. It was a horrific experience for me and continued for many months in this vein. But I made that first year somehow.

In the second year I have been able to reflect more on the role smoking played in my life and how I smoked away every emotional experience. I kind of felt a bit under skilled to be in the world as a non smoker. I just had no other coping mechanisms for life and emotions. But I have had to just figure it out on the fly. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Quitting smoking after 30 years is still in my top 5 proudest achievements. True. And I will celebrate that every year that I stay clean and smoke free.

So all those out there considering their quit. Make a start, keep going, keep trying. Then Do all that over and over again until you get there. A smoke free life is a good life, it’s clearer, it’s cheaper, it smells better and there is no shame to lug around or whatever else you smoke away to avoid feeling. It is a journey.

Over and out until next year.

Shamrock ☘️