What 40 years of smoking does to you

8 years ago I quit. You can read about my initial experiences from the link I supplied at the bottom, posted just 4 days after I quit. I just read it again myself and I can see I was uppity, tense and obviously struggling.

But I did say this back then...

"There are no surprises and there will be no turning back. I'm staying here."

I also made it clear I was not 'quitting' or 'trying to quit', I HAD quit. I had made that decision before I quit, as odd as that sounds. But I was adamant about it. I had a plan.

And it worked. I am still a non smoker and can categorically state, 8 years on, I do not miss them. 

But there are a couple of interesting things about what 40 years of smoking do to you.

I have never owned a really nice car, certainly never a brand new one, but just recently, I paid cash for a brand new one. On the road for $44,485. Now in surprising irony, according to my stats on this site (which I have only just revisted as part of their quit campaign), I have saved exactly $45,833 by doing so. Related? You decide.

Still on about what 40 years of smoking does, on a more serious note, about 3 years ago I enjoyed a helicopter flight. It was an emergency flight that took me from my home in regional SA to Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide. I arrived by 2pm, ashen and quite pale apparently, before receiving a stint by 5pm... for a heart attack.

Doctors were quite blunt in their assessment that the likelihood was that smoking was the primary cause. Doctors were also quite clear that the 5 previous years of not smoking, quitting as I did in 2018, is likely to have saved my life.

So 40 years of smoking may have got me a helicopter ride... but 8 years of not smoking let me live long enough to drive my brand new car.

Worth a thought.

As I said in the link below, don't tell yourself you will quit or you are quitting, tell yourself you have. 

https://www.icanquit.com.au/community/staying-quit/2018/02/luke-warm-turkey/