Quitting Smoking was an Easy Choice.......

Although i found myself on a quit site the first day i woke up and didn't feel like a cigarette due to bettering my health with a lung cleanse, I instantly saw that what i had doubted for years was possible... I could quit smoking if i really wanted to.

One of the fears of quitting is the time left on your hands. What will you do to fill those voids?

I had quit my part time job at the same time, so had multiple hours to fill yet also a further incentive to quit given i now had a choice to work or retire. Surprisingly enough i quit with no regrets and very easily. The decision whether or not to retire took months to solve, but as the months passed and i was happily engaging in my writings here , socializing and going out to play cards at the local seniors meeting place i decided to simply play it by ear. No pressure, just a what may come attitude. I knew i would try retirement until the fall, after summer months of freedom to enjoy the lake and things i had been previously restricted from. The truth is, i don't enjoy them the same. Before, they were a reprieve and something to look forward to, now it just doesn't hold the same allure. Now 280 days in i am more sure that i will remain a nonsmoker for life than sure of what my employable future holds. It requires weighing the pros and cons.... ie. social contact with other workers, money, (not really the most important at this time) or keeping active for exercise and health reasons. At the same time freedom to visit family in another province, my enjoyment of contributing to this site, my comfort with my own company and playing games online as well as social evenings at the bar playing poker or line dancing . Do i want to give any of it up? I worked all my life to be able to enjoy retirement and my kids seems to have no concept of the dollar. Sometimes i feel my generosity is abused. I am a saver after many hard years, and happily a minimalist. It is the security that is nice. I am content to just look at the mirror and know that not perfect, i am honest , fair and hard working. I am approachable, as many young ones approached me at the bar asking advice. I loved dancing and being free and it reflects on you. I gave up that scene a few years ago feeling too old, although at 61 i still feel 16 at times. How old do you feel? I think my generation and every generation thereafter ages slower than our ancestors who to me always looked and acted old.

I guess i am rambling at this point, but the point is that quitting smoking really has no debate. The pros list for continuing on a path of self destruction will be pretty bare. We weight our options in other life altering decisions, what is so hard to accept and embrace this one? Accepting it with your heart makes it even easier than you imagined. Do it for yourself, loved ones or what ever reason that you hold dear. Nothing can ever top this one significant decision in your life. Just do it. You will never regret it.