Life
There is no such thing as one puff. There is no such thing as one cigarette. There is no such thing as one pack. The only thing at the end of a cigarette is another cigarette. There is not a single way they improve your life and you pay for every single one.
Fresh air seems a good choice.
You are right there is no such thing. Fresh air is a great choice I'm 4 days into a quit attempt this time with NRT i have tried a few times cold turkey i must be on like attempt twenty. It is so hard with so many temptations and yes cigarettes for me just cause more misery. I don't know if you've seen that nicorette ad where there's a lady in a room and she's kick boxing a huge cigarette trying to knock it over but it just stands there it's kinf of like that, if you can distract the mind with something else other than a cigarette then that's good progress. All we can do with quit smoking is to keep trying.
It truly is as easy or as hard as you make it. I am 9 days tobacco free, 3 days totally nicotine free. I will never be a smoker again. It is all in your mind. Like Red-67 says, you cannot crave something you do not want.
We have been tricked into thinking there is something precious or tempting about cigarettes. Our bodies know that there is nothing tempting about poison and death. If you think you are depriving yourself of cigarettes you will continue to want them. If you think about how you are rewarding yourself with better health, more money, and an end to the slavery of addiction, there is no temptation to smoke and there is no need to distract yourself from cigarettes.